Most insoles on the market are made from simple foam & plastic, stamped out in seconds. VKTRY Carbon Fiber Insoles are highly engineered, taking over 2 hours to make a single pair. VKTRY's patented shape and design consists of multiple layers of carbon fiber, bonded together to produce a customized spring strength to optimize your performance, protection and comfort. This brief video lays out the entire process, start to finish, of how our performance insoles are hand-crafted and meet aerospace-grade quality standards. We assemble, QA check and ship this premium product from our headquarters right in Milford, CT. Equip yourself with the best sports gear available - there's no substitute for VKTRY Performance Insoles!
VKTRY Insoles Manufacturing Step-By-Step:
1. Carbon Fiber – The baseplates for VKTRY Insoles utilize multiple layers of aerospace-grade carbon fiber in different weaves (twill and unidirectional), different weights (GSM - grams per square meter), and different lengths (more layers, shorter lengths in the midfoot to provide increased support & stability).
2. Cutting the Carbon Fiber - A roll of refrigerated carbon fiber is laid out on a Gerber Table where a powerful vacuum system holds it firmly in place. The precision CNC-guided blade cuts at about 45 inches per second. The process utilizes ply nesting software to minimize waste (i.e. - cutting scraps).
3. Staging the Carbon Fiber Layers – Our Gold VKs come in up to 5 unique Pro Levels (i.e. – spring strength). For example, the baseplate of a VKTRY Gold Pro 6 is made up of 6 layers of carbon fiber (different lengths and fiber orientation). This is the step when the carbon fiber components are laid out.
4. Laminating the Carbon Fiber Layers – We use “pre-preg” carbon fiber, which means that the material is pre-impregnated with an epoxy-based bonding resin. Each carbon fiber layer is hand-laid into a mold, one on top of the other.
5. Vacuum Sealing – Then the molds are “bagged” and vacuum sealed to remove any possible entrapped air between the layers of carbon fiber to improve the bonding process and strengthen the product.
6. Autoclave Baking – The bagged molds are placed inside an autoclave under high heat and pressure for over 2 hours. This process ensures that the carbon fiber layers are well-bonded with no air pockets for superior product strength and durability.
7. Unmolding – Once the autoclave baking process is completed, the molds are unbagged and the insole baseplates are carefully removed from the molds.
8. Trim & Polish – At this time, the insole baseplates have been properly bonded. We utilize a soft grinding wheel to remove any carbon fiber flashings and polish the nearly finished product.
9. Grip Tape Application – VKTRY Insoles perform better in certain sport shoes with a “grip tape” covering the front part of the baseplate. This provides not only traction in the shoe, but another layer of protection for the carbon fiber.
10. Quality Control Inspection – The carbon fiber baseplates go through several levels of inspection: visual check, weight check, flex test, contour check, etc. to ensure that you get the premium quality you expect from VKTRY.
11. Bonding the Top Cover to the Baseplate – We utilize multiple top cushions to customize the fit for different sports shoes. We apply a state-of-the-art adhesive to bond the tops to the bottoms.
12. Labeling & Boxing – VKs are customized for you and your sport. For example, a size 9 VKTRY Gold Insole comes in 15 unique variations (due to different top covers and Pro Levels). So, we label the insole to identify it properly.
