Photos of hatters tools

[John Galt]

Bought this all wood stretching block earlier this month, at a rarely good price:

 

[John Galt]

A couple of vintage (probably very old) felt duffers, in various widths, on very old one-piece unlaminated hat blocks.

Wish the dark brown one was a hat body - the felt is smooth, soft & ancient.

Also, for comparison, one of the Langenburg blocks with the straw hat body & resin overlayment.

 

[Hatter4]

congratulations John nice find.

 

[John Galt]

Thanks Oliver! Hopefully is will be repairable without much hassle.

 

[bloc]

Got myself a Cummins Initial Machine. Very pleased about it. But it doesn't work well, I guess it is pretty old. Took it to pieces and looks like the problem is the pins that punch the letters. I imagine they should all be the same length? And pointy? And straight? Any thoughts?

 

[John Galt]

If there is a good one, or one that could be mocked up good enough to make a model, it could probably be used to mold replacement pins.

 

[tonyb]

Got myself a Cummins Initial Machine. Very pleased about it. But it doesn't work well, I guess it is pretty old. Took it to pieces and looks like the problem is the pins that punch the letters. I imagine they should all be the same length? And pointy? And straight? Any thoughts? ...

Does it not work at all? Are some of the pins not piercing the leather (or whatever other material), or making no contact with it at all?

When I got mine only some of the pins were doing what they were meant to do. Some pins left divots in the leather, but didn't punch clean through. But now it works fine, after getting what was very likely its first real workout in half a century or more. I used typing paper where the leather would go and repeatedly put it through its paces. Freed up everything . And I got a little confetti in the bargain.

As to the condition of the innards on yours ... those pins do indeed look damaged. Some of them, anyway. Have you experimented with those pins? To determine that those shorter pins are indeed broken and aren't meant to be shorter?

 

[kingrat]

Very good idea.

 

[fedoracentric]

A couple of vintage (probably very old) felt duffers, in various widths, on very old one-piece unlaminated hat blocks.

Also, for comparison, one of the Langenburg blocks with the straw hat body & resin overlayment.

I am curious why the blocks were covered like that.

 

[navarre]

Hey Bloc,
Mine didn't work well when I got it either. A good cleaning looks to be a must. Mine had a lot of bent pins that need to be straightened. Make sure to clean the holes in both base plates that the pins pass through as well.
I believe the pins are supposed to be shorter, either from back to front or front to back. It has to do with how it punches due to the pivot. The holes are punched in succession from the top of the letter down. I believe it is to ease the amount of force you need to use when pushing down. It has been a few years since I took mine apart so I do not remember where the short pin were placed, but when you have it assembled and press down the pins furthest in (top of the letter) should touchdown first. Did you keep track of how they came out?
Good luck, if you have it that far already, I sure you can make it work.

 

[DOGMAN]

Last weekend estate sale find 2 hat stretchers.The electric I got a great deal on $65,the wood was $22.50.

 

[RJR]

Wow Chuck you had a great day!

 

[Hatter4]

Does it work? looks like you got a good deal. good luck with them.

 

[tonyb]

I am curious why the blocks were covered like that.

Suppose you have a size 7 1/8 No. 35 block, but what you need is a 7 1/4 or 7 3/8.

Put a "cap" on that 7 1/8. Stretch a beater hat body over it good and tight and then tack or staple it down and cut off the brim. The thicker the donor hat body, the greater the size increase, of course.

I can see how it might also help stretch more usable life out of a block that was splitting and cracking. (At the very least those cracks wouldn't "telegraph" through to the inside surface of the crown on the hat one was reblocking or building from new.) I know of a person who does really nice work restoring blocks you might have thought were beyond salvation. I suspect he would scoff at my suggestion.

 

[bloc]

Does it not work at all? Are some of the pins not piercing the leather (or whatever other material), or making no contact with it at all?

When I got mine only some of the pins were doing what they were meant to do. Some pins left divots in the leather, but didn't punch clean through. But now it works fine, after getting what was very likely its first real workout in half a century or more. I used typing paper where the leather would go and repeatedly put it through its paces. Freed up everything . And I got a little confetti in the bargain.

As to the condition of the innards on yours ... those pins do indeed look damaged. Some of them, anyway. Have you experimented with those pins? To determine that those shorter pins are indeed broken and aren't meant to be shorter?

Thank you tonyb, that's encouraging. As you say only some of the pins were piercing the leather and some were just making an impression and some were not doing anything at all. Perhaps I should give it more of a work out before I look to getting new pins.

 

[bloc]

Hey Bloc,
Mine didn't work well when I got it either. A good cleaning looks to be a must. Mine had a lot of bent pins that need to be straightened. Make sure to clean the holes in both base plates that the pins pass through as well.
I believe the pins are supposed to be shorter, either from back to front or front to back. It has to do with how it punches due to the pivot. The holes are punched in succession from the top of the letter down. I believe it is to ease the amount of force you need to use when pushing down. It has been a few years since I took mine apart so I do not remember where the short pin were placed, but when you have it assembled and press down the pins furthest in (top of the letter) should touchdown first. Did you keep track of how they came out?
Good luck, if you have it that far already, I sure you can make it work.

Thank you navarre, good news that you too got yours working well. I will clean all the bits and pieces and experiment with different placements of the pins. Unfortunately I didn't see which pin came from where. I'm sure I will get it working. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for the advice.

 

[DOGMAN]

RJR,it was a great day.Hatter4,I finally plugged it in,the light came on and it heated up.

Last weekend estate sale find 2 hat stretchers.The electric I got a great deal on $65,the wood was $22.50.

 

[Hatter4]

Dogman, I am glad it works, I am sure you will enjoy using it.good luck with it.

 

[Hatter4]

Bloc, Have you tried to put it back together yet? let us know how you make out with it.

 

[hatsRme]

Dogman be careful not to COOK the sweatbands when using your stretcher. I never use the heat on either of my stretchers because of this. Moreover, when used regularly (back in the day) the heating elements were always burning out, and replacement elements' pricing was always prominently displayed by the manufacturer.

As for the $65 price tag... That was NO stretch!