Bertie.Wooster
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 121
- Location
- London, UK
I am thinking of purchasing a new iron. Should I purchase a steam or a dry iron? I am buying one only for hatmaking. I already have a jiffy-style steamer.
Try the thrift stores. I have a decent steam iron I paid less than $10 for, and I've seen the fancy new ones that work vertical for a little less than $20.I am thinking of purchasing a new iron. Should I purchase a steam or a dry iron? I am buying one only for hatmaking. I already have a jiffy-style steamer.
I agree with Mustang Mike on this one. Buy a good quality steam iron. Also very handy for those little touch ups when you don't want to fire up the Jiffy.I am thinking of purchasing a new iron. Should I purchase a steam or a dry iron? I am buying one only for hatmaking. I already have a jiffy-style steamer.
Any brand or model recommendations?
This is the one that I use and I really like it. You have a button to provide a lot of steam. I would also but the Teflon sole plate for it as well, I use it for ribbon swirling.Any brand or model recommendations?
This is the one that I use and I really like it. You have a button to provide a lot of steam. I would also but the Teflon sole plate for it as well, I use it for ribbon swirling.
Reliable 3000IS 3/8-Gallon Professional Ironing System, Made in Italy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00170HVFO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_U2JUCb4QBE83Y
Yes, give us a review. The only other i have seen is $50 from china in metal and it too designed as a keatherI'm not sure I'm going about sharing this the correct way, but trust it will be relocated to the correct place if not. I've been a shopper on the discount shopping app, Wish.com for a while. Certain really inexpensive things for autos, trucks and SUVs are now available on eBay and Amazon for very close to the same price, but I still watch Wish for new things they bring up.
Today I ordered an item that looked like it may make a tolerable brim cutter until I can afford a rounding jack. It measures and guides from the brim to the blade, not from the crown, so will be better for sizing down brims than trying to cut a freshly blocked and flanged felt. I'm wondering if I can figure a way to use the flange block to guide the initial shape, then size it after taking that hat off of the block. We'll see.
Wish sells it as a leather cutter, but I fail to see why it would not cut felt just as well. I paid $10 for it this morning while my wife was behind the wheel on our way to church, plus $7 for express shipping. I'll post more about it after it arrives and I have a chance to try it out.
I thought I'd share it now though, in case anyone else want to brainstorm with me on ways to make it pay.
Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!
(I wore my Panama for a premature straw hat day this morning)
I hope my file upload worked.
That item is a leather strap cutter and I don't think it will work well for cutting felt on a hat body but I may be wrong. First, notice that for leather use the leather is going between the two wooden pieces that is coming out the side of it. In leather working the only way it works is if the edge is already straight and requires that you first straight edge it with a knife and straight edge ruler. You won't be able to get the hat body felt between the pieces of wood without first using scissors and cutting into it. You would have to have the felt ride on top of the wood that comes out the side. It will require the brim to be stiff a bit in order to pull it through without causing the felt to bind up. Also, note that hat bodies do not come with perfect edges on them, which is why we using the rounding jack to index off the crown. If you want to use this kind of tool then you want a different type of leather strap tool called a draw gauge and they are made by CS Osborne. I have seen Bob of Black Sheep Hatworks post a picture to his Instagram account showing the draw gauge in use to cut the brim. Link to BSHW picture: https://www.instagram.com/p/BlYH_JCgl0W/I'm not sure I'm going about sharing this the correct way, but trust it will be relocated to the correct place if not. I've been a shopper on the discount shopping app, Wish.com for a while. Certain really inexpensive things for autos, trucks and SUVs are now available on eBay and Amazon for very close to the same price, but I still watch Wish for new things they bring up.
Today I ordered an item that looked like it may make a tolerable brim cutter until I can afford a rounding jack. It measures and guides from the brim to the blade, not from the crown, so will be better for sizing down brims than trying to cut a freshly blocked and flanged felt. I'm wondering if I can figure a way to use the flange block to guide the initial shape, then size it after taking that hat off of the block. We'll see.
Wish sells it as a leather cutter, but I fail to see why it would not cut felt just as well. I paid $10 for it this morning while my wife was behind the wheel on our way to church, plus $7 for express shipping. I'll post more about it after it arrives and I have a chance to try it out.
I thought I'd share it now though, in case anyone else want to brainstorm with me on ways to make it pay.
Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!
(I wore my Panama for a premature straw hat day this morning)
I hope my file upload worked.
Leather cutter. Brim won't be round.I'm not sure I'm going about sharing this the correct way, but trust it will be relocated to the correct place if not. I've been a shopper on the discount shopping app, Wish.com for a while. Certain really inexpensive things for autos, trucks and SUVs are now available on eBay and Amazon for very close to the same price, but I still watch Wish for new things they bring up.
Today I ordered an item that looked like it may make a tolerable brim cutter until I can afford a rounding jack. It measures and guides from the brim to the blade, not from the crown, so will be better for sizing down brims than trying to cut a freshly blocked and flanged felt. I'm wondering if I can figure a way to use the flange block to guide the initial shape, then size it after taking that hat off of the block. We'll see.
Wish sells it as a leather cutter, but I fail to see why it would not cut felt just as well. I paid $10 for it this morning while my wife was behind the wheel on our way to church, plus $7 for express shipping. I'll post more about it after it arrives and I have a chance to try it out.
I thought I'd share it now though, in case anyone else want to brainstorm with me on ways to make it pay.
Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!
(I wore my Panama for a premature straw hat day this morning)
I hope my file upload worked.
I'm not sure I'm going about sharing this the correct way, but trust it will be relocated to the correct place if not. I've been a shopper on the discount shopping app, Wish.com for a while. Certain really inexpensive things for autos, trucks and SUVs are now available on eBay and Amazon for very close to the same price, but I still watch Wish for new things they bring up.
Today I ordered an item that looked like it may make a tolerable brim cutter until I can afford a rounding jack. It measures and guides from the brim to the blade, not from the crown, so will be better for sizing down brims than trying to cut a freshly blocked and flanged felt. I'm wondering if I can figure a way to use the flange block to guide the initial shape, then size it after taking that hat off of the block. We'll see.
Wish sells it as a leather cutter, but I fail to see why it would not cut felt just as well. I paid $10 for it this morning while my wife was behind the wheel on our way to church, plus $7 for express shipping. I'll post more about it after it arrives and I have a chance to try it out.
I thought I'd share it now though, in case anyone else want to brainstorm with me on ways to make it pay.
Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!
(I wore my Panama for a premature straw hat day this morning)
I hope my file upload worked.
Also, note that hat bodies do not come with perfect edges on them, which is why we using the rounding jack to index off the crown.
If you are okay with it referencing on the brim edge (requires a symmetrical brim...modifying an already completed hat?), and you’re looking to not spend too much, then why not just use the existing M&F Western Brim Cutter?
Or you can contact @humanshoes and get one of his rounding jacks.
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Did you ever see that movie, Heartbreak Ridge? Clint Eastwood is a hard drinking Gunnery Sgt., trying to get a bunch of misfits that seem to have enlisted in the army thinking there would never be another war, combat ready. They don't take him seriously until he fires some AK rounds over their head (not in any of the training manuals, I expect). After that he gives them a big talk about how, in the field, you have to improvise. The Army is sure to lay some kind of cluster on them, but they need to improvise and get the job done.
That's why I do it. I'm Gunny Sargent Highway! Well, other than the fact I'm not as tall. And, come to think of it, I'm not as good looking. I don't have as much hair, either. Enough said on that.
Improvising does seem to be in my nature. The truth is, though, the ten bucks really got my attention. I improvise because I'm cheap. I was getting more and more interested in hats, then ordered and read Henry Ermatinger's book, Scientific Hat Finishing and Renovating. He made it sound like a beginning hatter could start with a few tools, and learn as he goes. I'm a carpenter, or more properly a remodel carpenter, or handyman in an earlier vernacular, because my skill set branches into several trades, not just carpentry, per se. I've always worked with my hands, but there was a lot of back, legs, shoulders, etc. involved too. I'm 61. The back always hurts. Both shoulders have had rotator cuff surgery with less than stellar results (grim ones in my left, weak shoulder). I don't think I can do what I do for very much longer, and I don't possess the kind of nest egg needed for a cushy retirement.
This is fun, and I enjoy it immensely, but I'm in no position to take on an expensive hobby. I feel a strong pressure to get a real, monetary return on what I spend, and I think I have a business plan developing that will be enjoyable, as well as economically rewarding, and I don't see anyone else in the industry doing what I plan to do. I became very excited after reading Ermatinger's book, but then experienced a real downer calculating cost for hat blocks, flange blocks, a special sewing machine for seat band,
I’d edit your post if I were you. Have you ever seen what happens when a Marine is misidentified as a soldier? The Marine Corp and Army are not interchangeable.
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