Photos of hatters tools

[DOGMAN]

Cool. How much cash changed hands?

The block was marked $25,talked them down to $15.The flange was $20,got it for $10.

 

[tonyb]

Great deal, DOGMAN. Congrats.

 

[1mach1]

I finally found a Garve hat stretcher.

 

[DOGMAN]

Cool, the stretcher looks to be in good shape.

 

[bsaguy]

That is cool. Nice find.

 

[Hatter4]

John Galt - re: your Post 1464 - You posted photos of finishing powders. Here are my finishing powders. The jars are full plus the small cans. They came from National Hatters Supply - Brooklyn, NY.

 

[1mach1]

Dogman, bsaguy, thank you. It's in nice shape, and works as designed. Plus, it looks great on my desk.

 

[tonyb]

I can't see a self-respecting retail hat shop being without a full-crown stretcher. Even if what they're selling, mostly, is cheap woolies, that hat ought to fit comfortably. With few of us being exactly a size whatever, and with there being so little consistency as to size from manufacturer to manufacturer (and even within each manufacturer's lines), a device to bump a hat up a fraction of a size would seem a necessity. And a full-crown stretcher is really about the only good way (or least-bad way) of doing that in a quick and simple way.
But I'd be willing to bet five bucks that most hat retailers, even those who sell more hats than, say, cowboy boots and silver belt buckles, ain't got one. Hope I'm wrong about that.

 

[John Galt]

Thanks Oliver! I'd love to visit and look at your collection in its entirety, but I'd probably make a mess with all the drool...

I've been swamped with trials in my "real" job, but am taking next week off to catch up on other pursuits. That includes working on some space issues - depending on progress, I may post some photos..,

 

[besdor]

Tony, most new retailers don't have stretchers because they aren't made anymore.

 

[tonyb]

Not as a mass-produced item, for sure, Steve. I suspect it's been 50 years or more since the type pictured above has been in regular production. But I believe some of our specialty craftsmen friends and associates make 'em to order out of wood, mostly, so of course they don't have the heating element some of the old metal jobs had. And I bet they don't come cheap.
A friend bought one recently, off eBay, I think. Didn't pay all that much for it, either. Has a pretty good sized dent in it, which he plans to have a body-and-fender man address.

 

[tonyb]

Speaking of stuff hat retailers ought to have, but often don't ...

"Initialling" devices. I have yet to see a Cummins perforator that didn't look to be at least 70 years old, although I suppose they may well have been making them more recently than that. But surely those gold-leaf embossers are being made these days, right?

 

[bendingoak]

I finally found a Garve hat stretcher.

That one looks just like the one I have.

 

[alanfgag]

It's a nice tool to have... congratulations!

 

[hatsRme]

You're on the move, now , Harv! I have managed to stumble across a couple of those. I didn't see a power cord, but if it does heat up, don't "cook" the sweatband. I never use the heat from fear of that happening. Use it in good health!

 

[navarre]

Speaking of stuff hat retailers ought to have, but often don't ...

"Initialling" devices. I have yet to see a Cummins perforator that didn't look to be at least 70 years old, although I suppose they may well have been making them more recently than that. But surely those gold-leaf embossers are being made these days, right?

I'm with you Tony, haven't seen anything close to a modern punch but the gold leaf embossers are easier to find. You can find them on Ebay and I am pretty sure JW can still hook you up with one.

 

[Geoffrey Stern]

My rounding jack prototype. The handle & head of this one are made of hickory. It still needs a little finish sanding, polyurethane, drilling, gluing & screwing, but the structure is all there. It will accept just about any "exacto" type cutting implement, and has a brass scale that goes to about 9 inches. It does not yet have the brass adjusters for cutting dimensional brims, but that may be an option at some point in the future if I develop the methodology or find a machinist who could make them for me at a reasonable price.

I believe that I can make & sell these for $175.00 (which is $100 less than the going rate for the lowest end rounding jacks available elsewhere) without losing money. Your thoughts?

"Faint hat never won fair lady."

tJohn - Did you ever produce this rounding jack and if so is it available for purchase?

 

[besdor]

The hat initial machines using the gold leaf are much rarer than the older Cummings perforated machines. I have seen only one National Hatters initial machine on EBay but plenty of the older ones. None of these are made anymore.

 

[Hatter4]

All three of the hatters here in Lancaster county pa still use the Cummings inital machines. 1] Irishtown hatters (amish) 2) Flying cloud hats (amish) and myself 3) Ogden hatters.They have the regular Cummings, and I use the Cummings jr. All are over 100 years old and still working fine.

 

[tonyb]

All three of the hatters here in Lancaster county pa still use the Cummings inital machines. 1] Irishtown hatters (amish) 2) Flying cloud hats (amish) and myself 3) Ogden hatters.They have the regular Cummings, and I use the Cummings jr. All are over 100 years old and still working fine.

I use the "Junior" model as well. If there is any advantage to the smaller characters, it is that they allow for a more elaborate message, or at least a longer one. I've had customers ask for messages like HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY FROM SNUGGLE BUNNY (all caps, you know). Getting the spacing right when you string so many characters together can be a challenge, but I've devised a method. Can't do this with a ventilated sweatband, for obvious reasons. But you essentially end up with one.