Snowflake & Star Vent Hole Template

[ChicagoWayVito]

I just created these two templates and cut them out on a laser cutter. I hope to try them out soon. The thought is that I could mark the felt with powered chalk or a disappearing fabric marker and only the hole marks would be left behind. Just need to get a small leather punch and try it out. The actual designs measure about 1.5" squared. I will post back here after I have actually used them. The pink surface was just some insulation foam to help show the patterns.

 

[job]

Cool template. Whats the size?

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

Whats the size?

Both measure about 1.5" wide and 1.5" tall on the design.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

They are both great. Have you read the Campaign Hat Thread?

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?16998-Now-Forming!-the-Campaign-Hat-Corps/page44

I am not sure of the actual page, but this will get you into the thread.

I have considered putting such a design into a couple of my hats, but was working out the pattern.

Fed

 

[RJR]

Very nice,PM sent.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

They are both great. Have you read the Campaign Hat Thread?

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?16998-Now-Forming!-the-Campaign-Hat-Corps/page44

I have not read that thread yet. I did read one about vent holes not being useful to cooling your head but I am in this for the nice look it can give a hat. Its an extra design element.

Very nice,PM sent.

Replied to your PM!



By the way, what other designs have you see on hats for vents or what designs would you like to see? If you have a cool suggestion and I make a template from it I will PM you for your address and send you one.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

I have not read that thread yet. I did read one about vent holes not being useful to cooling your head but I am in this for the nice look it can give a hat. Its an extra design element.

I have read both ways on the usefulness of vents for cooling. Maybe this depends upon the size and number of vents.

I also like the look and value the history of the designs. But another reason for sharing the link with you was a discussion of methods. Particularly the use of a super heated needle to make the actual holes. Reading that thread should yield a number of nuggets which you might find helpful.

Historic placement of the design, variations and sizes were all interesting.

We expect photos and comment regarding the results. You also might cross post onto that thread - might spur activity and obtain useful comments.

Good luck with your project!

Fed

 

[RJR]

Vito,there was a thread discussing a vent die that was purchased by Major Moore at the Beaver Hat auction.It was also apparently used by Banana Republic on some hats.
I don't remember what thread it was but I'd bet that RBH will remember it.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

But another reason for sharing the link with you was a discussion of methods. Particularly the use of a super heated needle to make the actual holes. Reading that thread should yield a number of nuggets which you might find helpful.

Oh, nice! I will definitely read through that tonight. Thank you.

Vito,there was a thread discussing a vent die that was purchased by Major Moore at the Beaver Hat auction.It was also apparently used by Banana Republic on some hats.

This discussion I do remember and seeing the vent die. I always wondered if it needed two pieces that fit together for punching the holes.


I stumbled across another pattern last night that I can only best describe as a sun/sunburst. If I get time today I will design it and maybe even laser it out today. Once I have a picture of it I will post it here.

 

[Ordinary Guy]

We had a user here (Aureliano) who put in for a patent on a tool to use for venting.....

I don't know if they ever got into the manufacture or not....

here is the thread where he discussed it, unfortunately he has removed the pics but the info is here..

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?62817-Vent-holes-on-my-Stratoliner&highlight=star+vent

 

[Feraud]

I've wondered what ever happened with the venting tool..

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

So I was looking through one of the Vintage threads here and found a bunch of vent designs so today I created some templates based off of what I saw. Here they are:


I plan on testing out various methods to make the holes in a few weeks as I need to purchase some felt hat bodies first. Methods I will try are: 1) Leather hole punch 2) Heated Needle 3) Laser cut the design in the felt

 

[RJR]

Nice work.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

How are your vents working?

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

I have been remiss in working on ventilation holes. I did do a quick test tonight and the results are promising. No pictures worth posting yet as I just played with putting holes in felt without a design. This is what I have tried so far:

1. 1.0mm hollow leather hole punch
2. Unheated awl
3. 1.00mm hollow leather hole punch & Unheated awl

1.0mm leather hole punch worked great, just don't use it on wood as the wood will inevitably clog the hole. I did use it on a self-healing cutting mat which was awesome. If using just an awl, don't bother using it unheated as it does make a hole but it is not clean at all and the felt seems to close in on itself. While I liked the leather hole punch I think the 1.0mm is just a little too small, maybe 1.5mm to 2.0mm is better. So after using the leather punch I then used the unheated awl to make the diameter larger and that gave me the best results so far. With a larger punch I may not even use the awl.

Next test: Heated Awl (I may do this one tonight)

I would not leave the hat on the block and punch holes into it as it will destroy the block and leave it pock marked all over. I do think though that if I took a hat block to sacrifice by first cutting the rounded top off and then cut the bottom into two halves that I could then cover the 3 pieces with some self-healing mat and then that would give a piece to use to work the crown and the two sides. You just need to a support attached and long enough that the hat doesn't get crushed.

Hopefully at the end of next week I can share a picture of a hat that has ventilation added as I have 5 days of hat making coming up next week.

I also recently got trained on a CNC milling machine so there is a chance I could make a vent die. I will pursue that option later.

Cheers!

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

Decided to quickly try the heated awl and the results are that I wouldn't recommend it. There is carbon that builds up during heating the awl and that gets left behind on the felt. For black felt, no problem but lighter ones like the Powder Blue I tried it on it ruined it. I think the best option is to punch them out, either one hole at a time or with a die that cuts.

 

[Rick Blaine]

I need a set of those!

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

I need a set of those!

Hi Rick, sorry was away from internet access the past couple of weeks. If interested in some templates send me a PM. I will tell you though that I have been having some mixed results with chalking the felt with the template. The template works great the issue is once I start hammering the leather punch that the chalk doesn't maintain the shape and it starts to smear making it difficult to identify the next hole punch location.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

Update: 1.5mm leather hole punch works great. The only issue is with using chalk as the marking agent. Once you start hammering the punch into the felt the chalk doesn't hold the shape and starts smearing.

Does anyone have suggestions for marking the felt with something other than chalk? It needs to work on dark felt colors.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

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A while back I made some vent templates above. I had been trying to use the template holes to mark the felt with chalk and then using a leather hole punch to make the holes. Chalk is not a good idea as with the pounding it spreads out. So I used some low tack masking tape to hold the template on the felt and then used a 2.0mm leather hold punch. That combination works great (see picture below). I just need to update the templates to have a larger hole size for the hole punch as I was also punching through the thin plastic as well. Once I update my templates I will be laser cutting a bunch out

In the picture I put the vents on the brim only for testing, the hat body in the photo is one that I use for my testing. It is a second from Winchester.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Feedback is always welcome.