Making a Western hat by hand?

[thundurchasur]

Welcome, spent a week in your neck of the woods this spring til we got spooked by the weather trying to kill us.....6 hour lightning storm, tornado alert 3 miles to the north of us and tennis ball sized hail stones. ….sent us back to NMexico. May visit again when feeling braver or luckier.

LOL... welcome to Texas. I'm in Hondo, about 45 miles west of S.A. right on Hwy. 90.

 

[thundurchasur]

This is a candidate for a project hat. It's a cheap Resistol wool felt hat in need of a new look.

 

[belfastboy]

LOL... welcome to Texas. I'm in Hondo, about 45 miles west of S.A. right on Hwy. 90.

Damn, I think we drove through there. On a brighter note we stayed at Kickapoo State Park and saw the bats......all 3 million of them. And I saw my first live armadillo....my wife would not let me capture it and bring it home.

 

[thundurchasur]

Damn, I think we drove through there. On a brighter note we stayed at Kickapoo State Park and saw the bats......all 3 million of them. And I saw my first live armadillo....my wife would not let me capture it and bring it home.

Have you ever been to Big Bend National Park?

 

[belfastboy]

Have you ever been to Big Bend National Park?

Yes, it hit 106 degrees and I lived to tell.

 

[thundurchasur]

That's a good lookin' hat. Nice work.

 

[thundurchasur]

Wow... I've seen some really nice looking hats on here. I'll be 67 here next month and need something to do with my time and hat making appeals to me. I may decide differently once I get into it but, for now, I like the idea of being able to make something that is worthwhile, looks nice and could become a family heirloom.

This is a Resistol wool felt that needs some TLC (and a good cleaning). My objective is to use it to experiment and possibly a total new look. It's a project hat so not too worried about what could go wrong.

The hat in the photo is a 7 1/2 but it's pretty tight, probably due to being hauled around all summer in the bed of my black truck under a black hard cover in the plus 100 degree south Texas heat. My good hat is also a 7 1/2 and fits just fine. The opening size is roughly (tape measure) 8 inches long by about 7 inches wide.

1. Which hat block would best serve me for re-blocking and maybe eventually wet blocking a new hat body for western hats. If I can get the hang of it, I'd like to make one.

2. I'd like to open the crown up on this hat. Could it ever be a candidate for something like a derby?

3. What basic tools do I need? I'm on a small fixed income so this is something I'd like to "ease" into, knowing how expensive hobbies can be.

Open to all ideas, recommendations, etc.

 

[Bamaboots]

Open to all ideas, recommendations, etc.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/making-a-western-hat-by-hand.92987/

 

[Frunobulax]

Wow... I've seen some really nice looking hats on here. I'll be 67 here next month and need something to do with my time and hat making appeals to me. I may decide differently once I get into it but, for now, I like the idea of being able to make something that is worthwhile, looks nice and could become a family heirloom.

This is a Resistol wool felt that needs some TLC (and a good cleaning). My objective is to use it to experiment and possibly a total new look. It's a project hat so not too worried about what could go wrong.

The hat in the photo is a 7 1/2 but it's pretty tight, probably due to being hauled around all summer in the bed of my black truck under a black hard cover in the plus 100 degree south Texas heat. My good hat is also a 7 1/2 and fits just fine. The opening size is roughly (tape measure) 8 inches long by about 7 inches wide.

1. Which hat block would best serve me for re-blocking and maybe eventually wet blocking a new hat body for western hats. If I can get the hang of it, I'd like to make one.

2. I'd like to open the crown up on this hat. Could it ever be a candidate for something like a derby?

3. What basic tools do I need? I'm on a small fixed income so this is something I'd like to "ease" into, knowing how expensive hobbies can be.

Open to all ideas, recommendations, etc.

The only thing I would caution against is to assume wool will behave as fur felt would. I don't think lessons learned on wool will translate as nicely once you up your game. I wouldn't bother with it.

 

[thundurchasur]

Thanks Bama. I was up till 2:00 a.m. reading it. I'll be ordering the book that Yahoody was talking about. I really like the hat that Cornshucker77 posted on page 10. Is something like that possible?

 

[thundurchasur]

The only thing I would caution against is to assume wool will behave as fur felt would.

Point taken but I want to do something to it, maybe open the crown and flatten the brim, stiffen it up and start from scratch.

Are the rabbit fur felts good for learning on? If not, what would you recommend?

 

[belfastboy]

Point taken but I want to do something to it, maybe open the crown and flatten the brim, stiffen it up and start from scratch.

Are the rabbit fur felts good for learning on? If not, what would you recommend?

If you have patience then scour Ebay for cheap beater rabbit fur western hats, (or sometimes you can score a partial beaver fur). I have found a few and have had great fun rehabilitating them.....some success, some failure but always a ton of fun.

 

[belfastboy]

If you have patience then scour Ebay for cheap beater rabbit fur western hats, (or sometimes you can score a partial beaver fur). I have found a few and have had great fun rehabilitating them.....some success, some failure but always a ton of fun.

I consider cheap, $25 or less with low shipping.

 

[Frunobulax]

Point taken but I want to do something to it, maybe open the crown and flatten the brim, stiffen it up and start from scratch.

Are the rabbit fur felts good for learning on? If not, what would you recommend?

I would recommend you follow @belfastboy's advice. I have never built a from-scratch hat from a fur felt hood. My experience comes from repairing, refurbishing, and rebuilding damaged and aged hats I find. I have completely torn down, reblocked/resized and rebuilt several hats, but never actually "made a hat."

 

[thundurchasur]

I have completely torn down, reblocked/resized and rebuilt several hats, but never actually "made a hat."

I've been looking online but haven't found any "bargains". It's looking like this wool felt hat isn't a good project hat.

 

[Moviehats]

Point taken but I want to do something to it, maybe open the crown and flatten the brim, stiffen it up and start from scratch.

Are the rabbit fur felts good for learning on? If not, what would you recommend?

I found some cheap wool blanks when I first started. Now I can't stand using wool.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I've been looking online but haven't found any "bargains". It's looking like this wool felt hat isn't a good project hat.

Since you’re taliking about reblocking the felt and practicing “making” a hat, you can get a smaller hat (cheaper and more plentiful) and size it up.

 

[thundurchasur]

. . . get a smaller hat (cheaper and more plentiful) and size it up.

I wear a 7 1/2 LO. I know that to size up I will lose brim size so how small is too small?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I wear a 7 1/2 LO. I know that to size up I will lose brim size so how small is too small?

I like all sorts of hats. I mostly prefer westerns with brims of, say, 3 to 3 1-2 inches in width. Most hats in size 7 1/8 and bigger with a 4” brim can be sized up and made into my 7 5/8 LO. If you want a 4” brim then your options are fewer.

 

[thundurchasur]

Most hats in size 7 1/8 and bigger with a 4” brim can be sized up and made into my 7 5/8 LO. If you want a 4” brim then your options are fewer.

I'm seen some really cool hats on here for sure. So I wear a 7 1/2 so I need to have a 7 5/8 block to allow for the sweatband? The more I see of the 3 and 3 1/2 inch brims, the more I like them.

Do you know anything about hatbodies.com?