Sunrise Hat Company felt (nutria) and hatters’ tools

[jlee562]

I ordered an in-stock 220 gram natural, cc has been billed, but nothing has been shipped out. No snow in Berekely that I'm aware of....

A little overcast today....I think the dude actually live by one of my friends.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I ordered an in-stock 220 gram natural, cc has been billed, but nothing has been shipped out. No snow in Berekely that I'm aware of....

Mine all shipped the same or the next business day. I also received a shipping confirmation email on them all.

There might not be snow in Berkeley, but there’s plenty of other abnormalities there. It’s a cool place to visit, but not sure I could live there...and I know for certain I never had the grades to get into UCB. Saw some great concerts at the Greek Theatre back in the day.

 

[belfastboy]

I was golfing in San Diego and asked the pro if they ever had to worry about golfers cancelling due to bad weather. He replied..."hell yes, we get people cancelling if it is a little bit overcast...luckily it never happens that often." Maybe its raining in the Bay area.

 

[Gobi]

The one I worked on was a mid grey and while the felt was thick the crown and brim were very soft and malleable. I almost considered a bit of shellac on the brim but gave it a fairly deep flange and that gave it the stiffness it needed. What colour did you work with? Was it stiff as well as thick?

Mine is Natural. It's fairly soft and flexible. The brim is stiffer than the crown but not overly stiff, you can move it around and bend it. I have one in Honey that I haven't started on yet but it's just a touch more stiff than the natural but I dont think it'll be overly stiff like a board.

How long does Sunrise take to ship out once you for your order?

Both of mine were on my doorstep before I even began to think about keeping an eye out for them.

 

[Tukwila]

Both of mine were on my doorstep before I even began to think about keeping an eye out for them.

I have yet to see an email that mine shipped... confirmation of the order, and billing to my credit card, but that's it.

 

[jlee562]

I was golfing in San Diego and asked the pro if they ever had to worry about golfers cancelling due to bad weather. He replied..."hell yes, we get people cancelling if it is a little bit overcast...luckily it never happens that often." Maybe its raining in the Bay area.

Oh we're having a cold week, but it's "bay area cold" which is like low 50's

 

[belfastboy]

Oh we're having a cold week, but it's "bay area cold" which is like low 50's

We share similar weather. but just coming out of a cold snap which is our usual one week of winter. It dipped to below freezing for the better part of a week but at least it stopped raining and the sun came out.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have yet to see an email that mine shipped... confirmation of the order, and billing to my credit card, but that's it.

Send them an email or give them a call. They’ve always been very responsive to me and haven’t made me wait long for replies.

 

[Tukwila]

Send them an email or give them a call. They’ve always been very responsive to me and haven’t made me wait long for replies.

I did send an email and they responded right away. Said they were running behind this week but my hat body and felt swatches should go out Monday. Perfect.

 

[Gobi]

Well there's $150 down the drain. Steaming the crown in a pot of boiling water. Top of the crown was touching the water. Washed the color right out. It started as a small circle and turned into this.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Well there's $150 down the drain. Steaming the crown in a pot of boiling water. Top of the crown was touching the water. Washed the color right out. It started as a small circle and turned into this.
View attachment 311790

Ouch! I’m so sorry. What do you think about dyeing the felt? As that type of dyeing usually doesn’t go full thickness you would want to mostly have the felt finished, dye it, and the give it a final block etc.

If nothing else someone else here might want to take on the project and allow you to recoup at least some of your money?

 

[belfastboy]

Well there's $150 down the drain. Steaming the crown in a pot of boiling water. Top of the crown was touching the water. Washed the color right out. It started as a small circle and turned into this.
View attachment 311790

If you are willing to experiment (if Sunrise will not give you a refund/replacement) I have dyed a few hats a darker colour. If you use an acid dye for protein fibres (wools, felts etc) you can darken it. About $6 bucks for a pack of dyes.....and they come in a wide range of colours. If you decide to go that route I will share with you what I have learnt.....many..."what not to do's" But the felt should not have done that. I have immersed felts in boiling water to try to shrink and the dye did not do this.

 

[belfastboy]

Ouch! I’m so sorry. What do you think about dyeing the felt? As that type of dyeing usually doesn’t go full thickness you would want to mostly have the felt finished, dye it, and the give it a final block etc.

If nothing else someone else here might want to take on the project and allow you to recoup at least some of your money?

I am a fool for punishment! If you can't get satisfaction from Sunrise shoot me a message.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I am a fool for punishment! If you can't get satisfaction from Sunrise shoot me a message.

I’m assuming this was for @Gobi

Rick at Phoenix had a problem with mottling on my sunrise in pewter. I told Sunrise about the issue and sent them a photo. They immediately offered me a full refund or a replacement felt; they let me keep the flawed felt either way. At that time I ordered my sage felt and sent it to Gannon. So far, I couldn’t ask for better service from Sunrise.

 

[Tukwila]

I'm ignorant here. What is the purpose of steaming the top of the felt right on top of a pot of boiling water as shown above? Just extra steam before blocking?

 

[Gobi]

You have to saturate the hat with steam to get it to stretch down over the block. Some people put the whole hat in hot water prior to blocking.
My natural body got much more wet than this one did and it turned out great. I'm wondering if the natural is actually un-dyed fur? I assumed it was dyed to a "natural" color, maybe it's just coincidence.
Sunrise has offered a replacement. I'm worried it will happen again though if there is a problem with the dye they use.
I took a pic this morning after it has dried. Wow!

 

[Tukwila]

You have to saturate the hat with steam to get it to stretch down over the block. Some people put the whole hat in hot water prior to blocking.
My natural body got much more wet than this one did and it turned out great. I'm wondering if the natural is actually un-dyed fur? I assumed it was dyed to a "natural" color, maybe it's just coincidence.
Sunrise has offered a replacement. I'm worried it will happen again though if there is a problem with the dye they use.
I took a pic this morning after it has dried. Wow!
View attachment 311870

Thanks. I didn't know it took that much steam to block a hat. Maybe steam the whole thing and then make a hat from the new color (or lack of color/dye)?

That is an issue if the replacement has the same problem. Wow, is right.

 

[BobHufford]

I took a pic this morning after it has dried. Wow!

I echo your wow! Kudos to the vendor on the replacement, but I too would worry about the "fast"-ness of the dye. Perhaps this would make a good start for an artificially distressed hat that you could sell for twice what a new, clean one would sell for.

 

[belfastboy]

You have to saturate the hat with steam to get it to stretch down over the block. Some people put the whole hat in hot water prior to blocking.
My natural body got much more wet than this one did and it turned out great. I'm wondering if the natural is actually un-dyed fur? I assumed it was dyed to a "natural" color, maybe it's just coincidence.
Sunrise has offered a replacement. I'm worried it will happen again though if there is a problem with the dye they use.
I took a pic this morning after it has dried. Wow!
View attachment 311870

I have immersed entire felts in water just under the boil to no ill effect. Both of them were black and a great deal of the black dye leached out into the bath water. But the felt dried with no effect on the overall depth or evenness of the dye. Some thing else is going on with this Sunrise felt. On the one Sunrise dress weight I made up had to stop the pouncing fairly quickly and much sooner than I wanted as it started to mottle. I have a Granite on order so it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Thanks. I didn't know it took that much steam to block a hat. Maybe steam the whole thing and then make a hat from the new color (or lack of color/dye)?

That is an issue if the replacement has the same problem. Wow, is right.

The thicker or stiffer the felt, or the smaller the body, the more force it takes. I blocked a thin and soft religious market size 6 3/4 Borsalino rabbit fur to 7 5/8 with surprising ease. I’ve also fought for days trying to get a 7 1/2 western from the 1980s to completely block up one size to 7 5/8. As I recall, I never did get it to go the last 1/8” or so and the very top of the crown was not filled by the block. I’ve used lots of steam, but I’ve never immersed a felt in boiling or hot water.

Sunrise, under a different name, also makes hats using these felts and I’d hope they would be aware of any pervasive problems. I’ve had Art, Rick, and others have quality issues with Winchester’s beaver felts and have to start over with a new felt midway through a build. It seems that they all have a considerable reject rate. Neither VS nor Gannon had any problems with the Sunrise felt. The mottling that Rick experienced was also due to our experimenting and pouncing the felt very thin attempting to replicate vintage felt and I didn’t really consider it the fault of the felt. I sent Sunrise photos and asked if they had any tricks for addressing the mottling and that’s when they replaced it all on their own.

Until we get a larger sample size we won’t know the true faults of the felt/dye. I sure hope it’s not an issue experienced by a significant number.