Shaping Fed Deluxe IV

[Carlisle Blues]

I will be receiving my new Dark Brown Fed Deluxe IV in a couple of days.

How bad can I screw up the hat regarding shaping.

I figure it will take several times for me to get the shape I want. Does the felt have a memory.

This my first time so please be gentle with your answers.

My wife said I could put it on her head, but, I told her I would have to bash her; I meant the hat.

I think she expects an apology.

 

[univibe88]

I recently got my first open crown - a Campdraft - and I was a bit nervous like you. Yet I figured it out in no time flat. The felt is very resilent; you can't mess it up.

I just dry bashed mine and I can still pop it open and rebash it any time I want. I think if you steam or mist it, it will make the felt more pliable but will set it more. However while it's damp you can reshape it all you need.

 

[kaosharper1]

Don't worry. Akubra's are tough. I've rebashed my Fed III into different styles 3 times. It still looks great. I used some water with mine on the top of the crown. My understanding is that the Fed IV is a little softer than the III which was pretty stiff when new. It has also soften significantly over the last year, and is now quite soft, but still has its shape. A Fed is a great hat to learn how to bash.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Thanks a lot for the replies

I guess trial and error are the watch words.

 

[JohnnyB53]

I got my first fedoras (since the unlined corduroy trilby and the wool felt porkpie I had as a kid) this past November--an Akubra CEO and a tawny fawn Fed IV.

My recommendation for the Fed IV is to take it easy, and let you and the hat find the contours and bash that look best on you. Do dry bashes and don't do any hard creasing at first. You will find that when you first get started, your creases may be off-center (mine were) and you'll want to correct them and get a feel for how the hat sits on your head before you do much dramatic sculpting.

When I first got mine I was sure I wanted an Indy bash so the first thing I did was put a pretty firm crease in the front. But it was off center by about 1/4". I have since steamed and rebashed the hat about 6 times, and the elongated C-crown I have now looks *great* on me, but up close I can still see a faint line where my first erroneous crease was. I also bashed it into a low, wide C-crown at one time and while it shortened the crown height to manageable proportions, the crown sides were *too* vertical for the hat to look its best on me.

When I first steamed out *that* crease, it left noticeable lines when I went to an interim soft center crease to let the felt recover for a bit. Bear in mind that the tawny fawn is a light color and will show changes more easily than black, brown, or carbon grey. I have since found you can go a long way to steam out previous bashes if you get a hard curved surface inside the crown (I use a softball) and use something (some use a wine glass; I use a piece of 2" ABS plumbing pipe) to roll around over the crease you want to smooth out.

Anyway, when I rebashed as an elongated teardrop it camouflaged the old creases of round C-crown and it looks great.

Everybody's advice on this thread is valuable: The Fed IV is a great hat to learn how to bash and Akubra felt is very resilient. But if you overdo a bash it can be hard to remove all traces of it. That's why I recommend you go slow, try some various gentle dry bashes to find the general look you like best. Then when you're sure of what you like and you're *sure* you know how to center the hat on your head, go ahead and bring out the spray bottle or steamer and crease it a little harder if necessary to put in a more precise shape. I have a Fed IV moonstone on the way, and that's what I intend to do even though I've successfully bashed the fawn Fed IV and a choc. brown DM Adventurer. I want to explore various center dents, pinches, and crowns before settling on a style.

One more thing: Put on surgical gloves--particularly when bashing lighter color felts (fawn, moonstone, sand, silverbelly)--so you don't get oily finger residue on the felt where you did the most manipulation.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Excellent suggestions!!!

Never thought of the gloves; makes a great deal of sense.

I was thinking Center Dent at first. I will get to "know" the felt. Definitely dry this all seems doable and exciting.

Again, thank you very much

 

[Winsor]

Shaping Feds

Hey Carlisle from Marblehead, MA:
I have shaped 2 Fed 3s, 2 Fed 4s and several other open crown Akubras.
My suggestion is to locate the front CENTER of the hat by ranging across with a ruler or straight edge from the rear seam and put a small paper clip on the ribbon. THEN, wear the hat in the mirror and adjust the paperclip by sliding it along the ribbon until you are sure you have the center AS YOU ARE WEARING it. Line it up with your nose. That should be the center of your crease and your pinch. As you work the center dent, etc. watch for symmetry and have a critical eye to avoid an asymmetrical shape or center dent (which can always be fixed over time). As someone said, avoid a tight pinch until you have your shape nailed down, probably over several sittings/wettings. Also, I have worked with steam and also only with distilled water (available at CVS, etc. by the gallon) and I recommend that you avoid steam to avoid tapering the crown. I use a plain small spray bottle bought at CVS and some old clean towels to keep the water from making a mess. Give it time to saturate the felt in the areas you want to work. Obviously use your hands, one inside from beneath and one outside, take your time and hold your shape by hand for a while and the hat will respond. If you wash your hands first oil staining should not be an issue. I have successfully shaped Tawny and Moonstone colors. Remember to have a spot to rest the shaped hat to dry, like on an upside down bowl so it doesn't accidently pick up an unintended dent on the brim. Finally, if you need to make the hat slightly smaller, use felt strips under the sweatband bought at a fabric shop, cheap and no adhesive needed. I'm always putting felt in or out depending on the crazy hat fluctuations (or my head fluctuations?).
Good luck!
Mark

 

[Chuck Bobuck]

It's not as hard as you think, but you can get ready for it by checking threads here. If you like the diamond bash there's a thread devoted to it with lots of photos. Also, the what are you wearing thread has plenty of photos. Many akubra threads also, Dry bash first.

 

[MattJH]

I made a thread not too long ago including a YouTube video of me shaping mine. It may help you.

 

[KatintheHat]

I wondered who put that thing on YouTube.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

You guys have been great

Thanks for all the help:eusa_clap

 

[JohnnyB53]

Well, I got my moonstone Fed IV Deluxe yesterday and I've been following my own advice, but it's hard to do. There are so many ways to bash and mess around with these hats, but I already have a C-crown Adventurer and an elongated teardrop tawny fawn Fed IV, so I'm trying to take it easy with the new one. Right now I have a center crease and front dents, but definitely not a tight pinch. In fact, the moonstone color on the Heritage felt makes for such a lush, luxurious look that I'm inclined to have no sharp pinches or abrupt edges. Every curve is gentle and makes the entire form of the hat flow.

Where I've put the most shaping is the brim. I have a decided down curve in the front, while I'm training the sides from the middle on back to flare upward. Between the grey color, the black ribbon, the flared brim, and the center dent crown, it almost looks like a homburg from the rear. From the sides and front it's another story. It's taking on the look of a very nice pre-war fedora in a classic pre-war color, ribbon width, and bash.

I have another reason to stick with the crease/dent bash: My dad was born in 1909, so this is the kind of hat he would have gotten into as a young man. I remember some of his fedoras when I was a little kid, but by the '60s the brims and crowns had downsized a bit. Since he was generally conservative and older by that time, he never got into the stingy brims or excessively tapered crown hats. I always remember him in a mid-grey fedora with a center crease and front dents.

BTW, Heritage felt for open crown hats feels miles deep and has a substantial, luxurious feel. Yet when wearing it the hat feels like a second skin--conforms naturally and comfortably to the head.

 

[Thwack]

I got my first Fed IV, dark brown, a few days ago. It took me about a half an hour to bash it and get everything just the way I wanted it. If you just move it gently you shouldn't have any problems centering and evening everything out. Hell, if I can do it then anyone can.

A good tip about centering things is to gently put a paper clip on the ribbon (a loose paper clip) in line with your nose. That way you can take the hat off and put it on the table and still know where the center should be.