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bashing straw
- Thread starter armod
- Start date
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barrowjh
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,398
- Location
- Maryville Tennessee
Steam and Patience
Get a tea kettle going, boiling along at a steady production of steam, but not boiling over. Steam it a small portion at a time, hold it over the steam only a moment or two, then pull it back and you can only work it for a moment or two also. duhh, keepa da fingers outta da steam.
The straw is unlike felt, which will absorb the steam such that you can work with, say, a quarter of the crown at a time, and stays warm for a few moments longer. Instead, the shellac on the straw heats up and softens faster, but it also cools and re-hardens faster, so that if you try to steam a quarter of the crown at a time, the spot where you start is already cool by the time you get steam to the far side of that quarter, so working with too much is just frustration.
Take it slow, steam a little and quickly but carefully change the bend at that one spot, blow it to cool, then back to the steam. I have successfully used this method to change a stiff 'sherriff's hat' center crease to a raked C-crown, looks great.
Only one drawback - the straw wants to go back to that original crease, because that was likely set with the full hat steamed (or warm and wet). So, if you are returning the hat to its original shape, you should have great success. If you are altering from that, then you may have to re-visit your shaping from time to time, as it will 'relax' out of your new crease over time in warm humid conditions (such as normal sweat evaporating through the hat!).
Get a tea kettle going, boiling along at a steady production of steam, but not boiling over. Steam it a small portion at a time, hold it over the steam only a moment or two, then pull it back and you can only work it for a moment or two also. duhh, keepa da fingers outta da steam.
The straw is unlike felt, which will absorb the steam such that you can work with, say, a quarter of the crown at a time, and stays warm for a few moments longer. Instead, the shellac on the straw heats up and softens faster, but it also cools and re-hardens faster, so that if you try to steam a quarter of the crown at a time, the spot where you start is already cool by the time you get steam to the far side of that quarter, so working with too much is just frustration.
Take it slow, steam a little and quickly but carefully change the bend at that one spot, blow it to cool, then back to the steam. I have successfully used this method to change a stiff 'sherriff's hat' center crease to a raked C-crown, looks great.
Only one drawback - the straw wants to go back to that original crease, because that was likely set with the full hat steamed (or warm and wet). So, if you are returning the hat to its original shape, you should have great success. If you are altering from that, then you may have to re-visit your shaping from time to time, as it will 'relax' out of your new crease over time in warm humid conditions (such as normal sweat evaporating through the hat!).
warmentrout
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 133
- Location
- South Bend IN
armod said:
I've had some good luck reshaping a palm straw hat. It had a cattleman crease, which is a basic "cowboy" hat with the brim turned up on the sides and a crease down the middle and the sides of the crown. Please pardon me if you already know that. It had a fair amount of stiffener in it and I had little success with steam. So I held it under a warm shower for several minutes until it was thoroughly soaked. I then reshaped it to a fedora It actually turned out better than I had hoped. Sorry no pics and my camera / computer set-up is not functioning. I'm not sure such extreme measures would be necessary with a panama
barrowjh
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,398
- Location
- Maryville Tennessee
hmmm, I would be afraid to soak the entire hat, afraid of what that would do to the leather sweatband, but apparently warmentrout had no trouble with that, doesn't mention it. Are we reading you correctly, the soaking did not cause a problem for the leather sweatband?
HarpPlayerGene
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,682
- Location
- North Central Florida
Well, I'm somewhere in between the two of you on this.
This seems to be an area where people are a little squeamish. I'll do what I can to explain my method. (Also see my latest project BEFORE and AFTER photos of a straw I just brought around.)
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=29646&page=167
I use tap water and run my fingers under the stream and then dab/wipe it on the hat in the areas I need to work. NOTE that many of these older Panamas are dirty, so sometimes I use those blue Shop Towels wet to wipe away dirt and moisten the hat at the same time. The spray bottle method would work just as well.
I'm not going for 'soaked' or 'soaking wet', but once I've gotten the straw dampened right through and through, a let it sit for just a couple minutes and then dab off excess water with a dry towel. Then I start working the now pliable straw into the desired shape(s).
You'll notice the straw is drying as you work with it, allowing your shaping to start to firm up a little. If a brim is really wild, I'll put the hat on my ironing board and on a medium/low setting I'll use an iron over a wet handkerchief to flatten the brim somewhat.
Once I've got the hat starting to see things my way, I use a hairdryer on a low setting and from about a foot or more away to speed up the drying while I am shaping the hat - sometimes wearing it during this process so I get it right.
You will feel the straw begin to stiffen and really hold shape at this point. Also the foxing that becomes very apparent when you first wet the straw begins now to diminish - going back to its original patina after a couple hours of sitting and drying further.
After the hairdryer, I usually set the hat upside down so the brim doesn't droop. If anything, I like an upswept aspect to the side portions of my brims. I also don't like toooo much downward snap in front so this seems to be the way to get that right. For Optimo crown hats it's a little trickier. I've sometimes used a couple of books spaced enough apart that the crease can rest unmolested while the hat does its final set-up.
These techniques all came from a tutorial video I once watched online. A guy who really knew his stuff. For the life of me I can't remember how to get back to it to link for you guys. Wish I could. It made the whole deal look so easy that it took all the fear out of it for me. The recent hat I received which was bent up all to hell took about ten minutes to restore.
G'luck!
This seems to be an area where people are a little squeamish. I'll do what I can to explain my method. (Also see my latest project BEFORE and AFTER photos of a straw I just brought around.)
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=29646&page=167
I use tap water and run my fingers under the stream and then dab/wipe it on the hat in the areas I need to work. NOTE that many of these older Panamas are dirty, so sometimes I use those blue Shop Towels wet to wipe away dirt and moisten the hat at the same time. The spray bottle method would work just as well.
I'm not going for 'soaked' or 'soaking wet', but once I've gotten the straw dampened right through and through, a let it sit for just a couple minutes and then dab off excess water with a dry towel. Then I start working the now pliable straw into the desired shape(s).
You'll notice the straw is drying as you work with it, allowing your shaping to start to firm up a little. If a brim is really wild, I'll put the hat on my ironing board and on a medium/low setting I'll use an iron over a wet handkerchief to flatten the brim somewhat.
Once I've got the hat starting to see things my way, I use a hairdryer on a low setting and from about a foot or more away to speed up the drying while I am shaping the hat - sometimes wearing it during this process so I get it right.
You will feel the straw begin to stiffen and really hold shape at this point. Also the foxing that becomes very apparent when you first wet the straw begins now to diminish - going back to its original patina after a couple hours of sitting and drying further.
After the hairdryer, I usually set the hat upside down so the brim doesn't droop. If anything, I like an upswept aspect to the side portions of my brims. I also don't like toooo much downward snap in front so this seems to be the way to get that right. For Optimo crown hats it's a little trickier. I've sometimes used a couple of books spaced enough apart that the crease can rest unmolested while the hat does its final set-up.
These techniques all came from a tutorial video I once watched online. A guy who really knew his stuff. For the life of me I can't remember how to get back to it to link for you guys. Wish I could. It made the whole deal look so easy that it took all the fear out of it for me. The recent hat I received which was bent up all to hell took about ten minutes to restore.
G'luck!
Daoud
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 293
- Location
- Asheville, NC
I got a pretty decent Panama on eBay a while back- I didn't care for the way it was shaped at all. Since I bought it fairly cheaply, I decided to experiment a bit. I got a spray bottle filled with distilled water and saturated the crown of the hat, then had my way with it. Definitely different than working with felt, and you can certainly make sharper definitions than you can with felt. I'm very happy with the results- turned the hat from something I didn't like at all to a very presentable hat I'm very fond of.
barrowjh
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,398
- Location
- Maryville Tennessee
Looks great, armod, you did good work! Frankly, I enjoy working with my hats, there is a satisfaction feeling from work that turns out right. HarpPlayerGene's idea about selective use of water (rather than soaking the entire hat, risking damage to a leather sweatband) is one I should try, as it would be safer than using steam. I used warm water and towels to clean off the 'sherriff's hat' prior to reshaping it, and just did not think about taking that process a bit deeper, to wet the straw enough to reshape it without using steam.
I gave my felt bogart a little extra definition about a week after I bought it and enjoyed it.
then a day or two ago I completely reshaped it to the way i wanted and now I'm just hooked. I want to buy more hats so I can put new bashes in them.
I think its because you can see and feel yourself doing it that gives you that feeling of having created something
then a day or two ago I completely reshaped it to the way i wanted and now I'm just hooked. I want to buy more hats so I can put new bashes in them.
I think its because you can see and feel yourself doing it that gives you that feeling of having created something
HarpPlayerGene
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,682
- Location
- North Central Florida
armod said:this brim looked like a little girls frilly socks and the pinch was unbalanced (not sure if it was poorly bashed or from the way it was stored)
but here's the finished result on my own head
That looks SUPER, armod. Just the amount of snap I prefer on a hat of this sort. That is a very graceful line as the eye travels around the outer edge of that brim. :eusa_clap A few of my Panamas have a more pronounced swoop and I don't fool with them because they are really old, but the way you did yours is my favorite look for the brim.
CRH
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,272
- Location
- West Branch, IA
barrowjh said:
Considering that a properly fitted hat should start loose.......
In my experience leather sweat bands can handle water well. Repeated exposure to dirt and sand and water (mud) will blow out a sweatband quickly if not properly kept clean and lubricated - like your shoes.
I've worn out exactly one leather sweatband in my life and it died the same death as most of my shoes......... the leather was ready for more but the threads that hold the thing together gave up the ghost.
Some hats are better off worn to death :cheers1:.
