Additive Inn
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Extendable shoe heel, designed and 3D printed

A shoe heel in stacking parts for Factorem: a mounting head, extension pieces that twist-lock together and a treaded outsole, designed for manufacture and 3D printed in ASA and TPU.

Client
Factorem
What it is
A shoe heel in parts that stack to different heights
What we did
3D design for manufacture over revisions, then 3D printing
What the client got
The 3D files and the heel parts printed in black ASA and TPU
Start a prototype (opens WhatsApp) Send a brief
Kinds of part, a mounting head, an extension piece and an outsole
3
Footprint, matched to the physical heel sample
48 x 53 mm
Tread patterns drawn for the outsole
2

What we brought

  1. What we can do

    Matched to the real heel

    We checked the model against a physical heel sample and brought it to the same footprint, 48 by 53 mm, with a steeper slope on top.

  2. How we look after you

    One set of parts, several heights

    Extension pieces stack between the mounting head and the outsole and lock with a twist, so adding or removing one changes the heel's height.

  3. What you get

    Designed, then printed

    Once the design was settled, we 3D printed the heel's parts in black ASA and black TPU in our studio.

The build

How we built it

5 steps, from the brief to the finished piece. Pick a step to jump to it.

The brief

Step 1 of 5

Starting point
A physical heel sample and a 3D reference
Our scope
3D design for manufacture, then 3D printing in ASA and TPU

At Additive Inn, our 3D printing studio in Singapore, we designed and 3D printed an extendable shoe heel for Factorem. The heel is made of parts that stack, so the same parts can build a heel of different heights.

Revisions to the heel

Step 2 of 5

We split the heel into a mounting head, extension pieces and an outsole, and checked the model against the physical heel sample. Each revision went to Factorem as renders, with every part named.

  1. Revision 0

    A mounting head with four holes, extension pieces that join with a twist lock, and an outsole with a protrusion removed. The extensions stack to different heights, and the outsole was drawn with two tread patterns.

    Render +2 more

  2. Revision 2

    The model now matches the physical heel sample, 48 by 53 mm, and the top of the heel has a steeper slope.

    Render +1 more

The print

Step 3 of 5

We 3D printed the heel's parts in our studio in black ASA and black TPU.

How the heel goes together

Step 4 of 5

The parts stack in a line: the mounting head on top, one or more extension pieces, then the outsole. Each extension piece has a round boss on top that locks into the piece above with a twist, so adding or taking away a piece changes the heel's height.

RenderMounting head, extension piece and outsole.
RenderThe outsole tread and the twist lock.

The final build

Step 5 of 5

Factorem received the 3D files of the heel and its parts printed in black ASA and black TPU. The same mounting head and outsole take one or more extension pieces, so one design gives several heel heights.

RenderDifferent heights from stacked extension pieces.

More product development

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