Cheap Hat Stretchers...

[fatwoul]

Since I'm still not sure how many of the FL members are also on COW, I will post this here too:

I found a guy on eBay who sells hat stretchers. I don't know the rules about posting eBay stuff on here if I'm not the seller, so I'll leave that out, but if a link to the guy's store is acceptable I will do so, so just let me know.

They're $13 each, which makes them half the price of a Hat Jack. I think he makes them himself. Thick wood, about 1.5 inches, so good for those of us with low-taper/untapered fedoras.

Nice guy to deal with, and the stretchers seem to be built well enough for the job. A bit rough and ready, granted, but at that price who cares, and if they aren't quite the shape you want, you can always take a sander to the untreated wood they're made of and put a different curve on them yourself.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

fatwoul, Forgive my ignorance, but what is COW? I did a search on COW and came up with over 52 million sites. Could you narrow it down a bit?

 

[cooncatbob]

Club Obi-Wan, where all the Indiana Jones nutters hang out.lol

Bob.

 

[Duck]

COW = Club Obi Wan

I have a hat stretcher just like that one!! Works great!! If it is from the same seller I got mine from, the shipping was very sloooow.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Thanks! I just bookmarked COW.

 

[apipeguy]

COW- MOO!?

JT, thanks for asking. I read that more than once here. Fatwoul, thanks for the info.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

It took me awhile to figure out what COW was...and now I just sort of chuckle to myself when I see someone else wondering "What the heck..." It's one of the abbreviations or "passwords" that seem to turn up ONLY on Fedora Lounge...makes you feel like a member the Secret Order of Water Buffalos or similar when you see these acronyms & abbreviations and your brain just automatically interprets them for you.

 

[barrowjh]

I bought the 'hallet' stretcher made of cedar for approx $10-12, and shipping was FAST. I've got mixed feelings on it; the cedar is nice, but it is made very flexible - too flexible maybe, so I am not real happy with it.

 

[fatwoul]

lol Sorry guys, I just figured COW was something people here may have been familiar with. Yes, it's where the Indy nutters hang out, but they're a friendly bunch, and I just happen to love those specific bashes, and those untapered, high-crown feds.

I have a hat stretcher just like that one!! Works great!! If it is from the same seller I got mine from, the shipping was very sloooow.

Yeah? Maybe I was lucky, then - I got mine in less than a week.

I bought the 'hallet' stretcher made of cedar for approx $10-12, and shipping was FAST. I've got mixed feelings on it; the cedar is nice, but it is made very flexible - too flexible maybe, so I am not real happy with it.

I guess mine is probably cedar/pine too, and I'm sure there are much better ones around, but because this one is quite thick, I've tried flexing it and it seems pretty solid. So far its already done a terrific job on the hat I got it for.

 

[carter]

I found a guy on eBay who sells hat stretchers.

Looks just like the hat stretcher sold by David Morgan Hats.

 

[cooncatbob]

lol Sorry guys, I just figured COW was something people here may have been familiar with. Yes, it's where the Indy nutters hang out, but they're a friendly bunch, and I just happen to love those specific bashes, and those untapered, high-crown feds.



They're lots of COW members here, in fact Mark the guy in charge here was one of the founders of Cow I believe.
I was kidding about the nutters remark except for the guys who take screen captures of the DVDs so they can get their hat just like Indy's in the Cairo chase scene, they're nuts!! lol
Bob.

 

[fatwoul]

Looks just like the hat stretcher sold by David Morgan Hats.

That's a Hat Jack - which lots of stores sell, often badged with their own company stencil. there are several differences between the Hat Jacks and these stretchers:

1) These ones are clearly home-made. They still have stickers on them from the home improvement shop the metalwork was bought from.

2) These ones are half the price, because they don't have the same finishing, and the metal crank isn't covered in a rubberised shell.

3) The Hat Jacks I have seen are narrower, and they have a lip on them. That's good if you have a tapered hat, and you want to keep the stretcher from falling into the hat as you tighten it, but for untapered hats, the lip tends to be more of a nuisance, and a lot of people end up sanding/sawing the lip of entirely.

They're lots of COW members here, in fact Mark the guy in charge here was one of the founders of Cow I believe.
I was kidding about the nutters remark except for the guys who take screen captures of the DVDs so they can get their hat just like Indy's in the Cairo chase scene, they're nuts!! lol
Bob.

Yeah, I know you were kidding, but never a truer word spoken. I'm not really with the guys wearing hats with no sweatbands in them at all, just so they can duplicate the Cairo bash (or S.O.C. bash as they call it). No sweatband sounds very itchy and uncomfortable. [huh]

 

[RBH]

hey FATS! Looks like a deal to me.
I am [was] a member at C O W. Havent posted in awhile so..... I guess I'm a nut!
Anyway This stretcher looks like a winner to me, it almost is like the one I have from Bailey's.

 

[fatwoul]

hey FATS! Looks like a deal to me...

Hey RBH - being a COW nut like me, you get the importance of a thick hat stretcher with no taper on it, don't you? I was so pleased to find one after all the Hat Jacks I looked at had a taper/lip on them.

COW's still doing well, by the way. Like here - it's a friendly forum, although those guys are more about their scuffed leather jackets than their morning suits. lol

 

[dzacca]

Last year I found a cheap hat stretcher on eBay, no taper, made with cedar wood. I'll try to find out the seller name and post you some pics (as soon as I'll be able to post pics again...)

 

[dzacca]

Ok, found it.

This is the one I bought last year, it's sold for 13,95 (buy it now), or 11.95 (standard auction)

 

[fatwoul]

This is the one I bought last year, it's sold for 13,95 (buy it now), or 11.95 (standard auction)

Yeah you win that one looks nicer!

Thanks for adding it to the thread - be good for other newbies like me to see the options in one place somewhere.

 

[dzacca]

Yeah you win that one looks nicer!

Thanks for adding it to the thread - be good for other newbies like me to see the options in one place somewhere.

I'm far to be an expert

Just wanted to share my experience. I bought his one and I found it to be quite good. Being made of cedar it's also good for keeping moths away from your hats