Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

[shopkin]

Sanding is one-half of the equation. The other half is the shellac to give you something to sand against. Without a stiffener you are just brushig the fibers back and forth with the sandpaper. That can pull on and increase the pile instead of removing it.

 

[belfastboy]

Sanding is one-half of the equation. The other half is the shellac to give you something to sand against. Without a stiffener you are just brushig the fibers back and forth with the sandpaper. That can pull on and increase the pile instead of removing it.

The Millinery Whse western weight felts have plenty of shellac in them. Stiffness is never the issue.

 

[belfastboy]

Interesting. I’ve definitely got something wrong in my process then.

This is 1000 grit on the top of the crown, 600 on the sides. It’s so hard to get accurate pictures of this stuff. Is this not overpounced?

View attachment 583397

If that is a now a mottled finish then yes, over pounced and you have exposed the shellac core. Or it might be shadows. How would you describe it? Have you tried spritzing it with denatured alcohol? Have you tried luring it? That sometimes helps even out a mottled felt. But sometimes if you have gone too far there is no coming back from it. The issue with exposing the shellac core is you don't know you are close until you actually get there and expose it. Usually no warning signs!

 

[belfastboy]

The Millinery Whse western weight felts have plenty of shellac in them. Stiffness is never the issue.

I make hats for women using millinery grade felts, 120gr and little to no shellac. There is no issue on the pounce and after the pounce, if necessary I will add some shellac to the brim if it needs more substance. But never have to add it before the pounce.

 

[Darrell2688]

I make hats for women using millinery grade felts, 120gr and little to no shellac. There is no issue on the pounce and after the pounce, if necessary I will add some shellac to the brim if it needs more substance. But never have to add it before the pounce.

I am working on two felts right now that I am making for women, both felts are 160G smooth felts, one felt is a bottle green and that felt is so soft, I don't think that it has very much shellac in it at all, I blocked it on a 58cm block, I put the hat and block up on a shelf and the brim just droops over the edge of the shelf, I will have to apply shellac to that hat all over to get it to hold some shape. Right now it has a real wide floppy brim.

 

[T Jones]

Interesting. I’ve definitely got something wrong in my process then.

This is 1000 grit on the top of the crown, 600 on the sides. It’s so hard to get accurate pictures of this stuff. Is this not overpounced?

View attachment 583397

Well, on the bright side, you could always sell it as 'distressed' and maybe get more $$$ out of it. There's also another method to getting a smooth finish out of those MW Western weight rabbit felts. We had a conversation on this a couple of pages back. You can sand all day on these felts and not get the result you want and probably end up over sanding. I've got some of those very same felts and I ended up with a nice smooth finish on mine. After you block it and cut your brim, set your hat on fire and let it burn just long enough to cinge the hairs, a few seconds. Then put it out. Afterward, sand it per MW specs. It reduces the sanding effort and reduces the risk of mottling which comes from over sanding. This method is used mostly on thick felted Western hats. Some hatters use this method to activate the stiffener for a stiffer Western hat while other hatters use it to get a smoother finish after pouncing. I do it mainly to get a smoother finish, although I didn't get the activation of the stiffener that I expected. After firing the felt and pouncing it, iron it to get everything nice and smooth. Here's a picture of mine. It's the same felt you have. This finish on mine is smooth, almost like a dress Western. As I said, I only fire a felt body on an as needed basis, and this was one of those instances. All in all, I actually these MW Western felts. They're a breeze to block.

 

[belfastboy]

This is a vintage Knox straw I picked up from Brent. I loved the funky flat top. Posting here as I switched out the dowdy brown pug with my version of a puggaree

It is a deconstructed silk tie, pleated twice and joined with a 'keeper' as I dislike the tapered ends of a true pug. I have huge supply of vintage silk ties that I pick up on the cheap from my favourite vintage clothing seller. They make for great ribbons on hats when I want a splash of colour that the vintage grosgrain cannot supply.

 

[T Jones]

This is a vintage Knox straw I picked up from Brent. I loved the funky flat top. Posting here as I switched out the dowdy brown pug with my version of a puggaree View attachment 585278 It is a deconstructed silk tie, pleated twice and joined with a 'keeper' as I dislike the tapered ends of a true pug. I have huge supply of vintage silk ties that I pick up on the cheap from my favourite vintage clothing seller. They make for great ribbons on hats when I want a splash of colour that the vintage grosgrain cannot supply.

Pretty neat.

 

[belfastboy]

Pretty neat.

Thank you.

 

[T Jones]

Thank you.

You're welcome buddy. I actually like that hat.

 

[belfastboy]

You're welcome buddy. I actually like that hat.

Brent had it listed on Ebay and when I was perusing his listings came across it and thought...."I gotta have that hat". I live in a very rainy locale and don't need another straw but damn I had to have it!

 

[LorenWho]

This is a vintage Knox straw I picked up from Brent. I loved the funky flat top. Posting here as I switched out the dowdy brown pug with my version of a puggaree View attachment 585278 It is a deconstructed silk tie, pleated twice and joined with a 'keeper' as I dislike the tapered ends of a true pug. I have huge supply of vintage silk ties that I pick up on the cheap from my favourite vintage clothing seller. They make for great ribbons on hats when I want a splash of colour that the vintage grosgrain cannot supply.

Love it! Looks very sharp.

I have been doing something similar. I have a small stack of printed silk tie panels from way back when I was in the necktie business. Can't remember why I salvaged them or why I held onto them for so long, but I am glad that I did. I ordered some pug hooks and have put together a few, though they are the tapered end type.

 

[belfastboy]

Love it! Looks very sharp.

I have been doing something similar. I have a small stack of printed silk tie panels from way back when I was in the necktie business. Can't remember why I salvaged them or why I held onto them for so long, but I am glad that I did. I ordered some pug hooks and have put together a few, though they are the tapered end type.

For whatever weird reason I have never liked the tapered ends on pugs. I have come up with my version thereof. I have used them on a number of ladies hats where I have sari silk (but not pleated) for the crown ribbon and covered the seam with the keeper. I like the pleats on the silk ties as it adds a bit of a third dimension.

 

[TWKundrat]

I just finished making this steamer table for a local hat shop. It was a fun project and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

[belfastboy]

I think I may have won the lottery today. OK, not the Power Ball but a pretty good one. Found a guy with a 3D printer, mad skills and he is always looking for projects. Spoke to him today and he is going to make me flanges for about $60 US. His blocks will be about the same. He will use ABS rather than PLA as it can take the heat of a steam iron. I took him a sample today to use as the template. Stay tuned.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I think I may have won the lottery today. OK, not the Power Ball but a pretty good one. Found a guy with a 3D printer, mad skills and he is always looking for projects. Spoke to him today and he is going to make me flanges for about $60 US. His blocks will be about the same. He will use ABS rather than PLA as it can take the heat of a steam iron. I took him a sample today to use as the template. Stay tuned.

Sounds great. I just bought a RA 3-D block earlier today and it would be great to have more options. The flange availability at that price is huge!

 

[belfastboy]

Sounds great. I just bought a RA 3-D block earlier today and it would be great to have more options. The flange availability at that price is huge!

The plan is I will supply him with the block & flange models to use as his templates so he should eventually have a fairly broad range of offerings.

 

[T Jones]

The plan is I will supply him with the block & flange models to use as his templates so he should eventually have a fairly broad range of offerings.

Interesting.

 

[LorenWho]

I think I may have won the lottery today. OK, not the Power Ball but a pretty good one. Found a guy with a 3D printer, mad skills and he is always looking for projects. Spoke to him today and he is going to make me flanges for about $60 US. His blocks will be about the same. He will use ABS rather than PLA as it can take the heat of a steam iron. I took him a sample today to use as the template. Stay tuned.

What is the largest dimension of a flange that can be used to make a 2 5/8” brim for an average sized head?

 

[belfastboy]

What is the largest dimension of a flange that can be used to make a 2 5/8” brim for an average sized head?

I have a client that I block his hats on a 63cm long oval block. Just buy a flange that suits the head size with a 2 5/8" brim, but you would have to specify the degree of brim cupping. How steep do you want the cupping? If you have a flange with a gradual slope that is 2 7/8" wide you could use it but you would end up with a very gentle slope on the cupping.