The Conversion Corral

[scottyrocks]

Another fantastic conversion!

I don't often have the time I'd like to pore over these threads and posts, but as I scrolled down through, this image stood out:



Fascinating, how subtle/slight choices in dimension (plus felt color, plus ribbon treatment, plus shirt color, plus... coffee mug?!) can make such a difference in the outcomes.

I can't tell that this hat is quantifiably different from others that you have posted-- that suit you well-- but boy howdy, does it look great! I love its 'softer' lines and creasing, the brim-to-crown proportion, the whole thing. Whatever's going on here just plain works.

Nicely done.

~ S.

Not being critical here, but offering an observation based on my own experience with working with western hats, in general:

My westerns tend to have softer creasing than my fedoras because westerns, in general, tend to be considerably thicker than fedoras. This makes it more difficult to put sharp creases into them. I have tried, but even with multiple steamings, they just tend to relax afterward and stay more softly creased.

 

[scottyrocks]

I had a similar thought. It would be great to have a service where I could have my internet hat purchases sent directly to a trusted hatter who could clean, reblock, replace sweats and ribbons, etc. as needed. The problem is the huge initial investment in blocks, flanges, machinery, etc. To have this make sense they would have to do a large volume or charge a fair bit.

Back to this hat, I bet Terry makes something special out of it with all that crown and brim to work with.

Wouldn't you want the hat in your hands first to see what you think it needs?

Regardless, we already have that service. Why not contact one of our amazing hatters and ask if, when you make a purchase, it could be sent to them instead of you? I would think this would have to be done with each hat purchase that you believe needs a hatter's touch.

 

[T Jones]

Not being critical here, but offering an observation based on my own experience with working with western hats, in general:

My westerns tend to have softer creasing than my fedoras because westerns, in general, tend to be considerably thicker than fedoras. This makes it more difficult to put sharp creases into them. I have tried, but even with multiple steamings, they just tend to relax afterward and stay more softly creased.

Not being critical here, but offering an observation based on my own experience with working with western hats, in general:

My westerns tend to have softer creasing than my fedoras because westerns, in general, tend to be considerably thicker than fedoras. This makes it more difficult to put sharp creases into them. I have tried, but even with multiple steamings, they just tend to relax afterward and stay more softly creased.

Okay. I see which hat he's talking about. That particular hat is a Resistol Western that started off as a thinner felt OR clone. I took it apart and reblocked it, reflanged the brim, and made my own version of a Strat clone out of it. The felt is thin and no where near the weight of the Stagecoaches I usually work with. Whenever I do my versions of Strat clones I purposely put softer creases in them with a little wider pinches. That's what I prefer with those styles

Resistol Western, in question. I still have to find a matching 3/8 ribbon to finish this the way I want.

Another thin felt hat Strat clone conversion that I put the softer crease in. This one's a Bradford

But if I wanted to put a sharp deep crease in a heavy weight Western like a Resistol Stagecoach, I can do that too, and make it stay that way. No problem.

Resistol Stagecoach

10X Thoroughbred that I took apart and reworked into to a longhair Western with a tight Montana pinch.

...and it's true that we do have a lot of amazing hatters here. Some of them were very helpful to me, and a special thank you to Art Fawcett.

 

[ruvort]

Okay. I see which hat he's talking about. That particular hat is a Resistol Western that started off as a thinner felt OR clone. I took it apart and reblocked it, reflanged the brim, and made my own version of a Strat clone out of it. The felt is thin and no where near the weight of the Stagecoaches I usually work with. Whenever I do my versions of Strat clones I purposely put softer creases in them with a little wider pinches. That's what I prefer with those styles

Resistol Western, in question. I still have to find a matching 3/8 ribbon to finish this the way I want.

Another thin felt hat Strat clone conversion that I put the softer crease in. This one's a Bradford

But if I wanted to put a sharp deep crease in a heavy weight Western like a Resistol Stagecoach, I can do that too, and make it stay that way. No problem.

Resistol Stagecoach

10X Thoroughbred that I took apart and reworked into to a longhair Western with a tight Montana pinch.

...and it's true that we do have a lot of amazing hatters here. Some of them were very helpful to me, and a special thank you to Art Fawcett.

That Bradford looks amazing. Would you be willing to share your process and tools you use? I'd love to do some reblocking like this, but unsure where to really start.

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[T Jones]

That Bradford looks amazing. Would you be willing to share your process and tools you use? I'd love to do some reblocking like this, but unsure where to really start.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

Thank you buddy. I'll be a little busy today visiting the grandkids but send me a PM and remind me. I'll be happy to help you out with what I can.

 

[Winston Carter]

Okay. I see which hat he's talking about. That particular hat is a Resistol Western that started off as a thinner felt OR clone. I took it apart and reblocked it, reflanged the brim, and made my own version of a Strat clone out of it. The felt is thin and no where near the weight of the Stagecoaches I usually work with. Whenever I do my versions of Strat clones I purposely put softer creases in them with a little wider pinches. That's what I prefer with those styles

Resistol Western, in question. I still have to find a matching 3/8 ribbon to finish this the way I want.

Another thin felt hat Strat clone conversion that I put the softer crease in. This one's a Bradford

But if I wanted to put a sharp deep crease in a heavy weight Western like a Resistol Stagecoach, I can do that too, and make it stay that way. No problem.

Resistol Stagecoach

10X Thoroughbred that I took apart and reworked into to a longhair Western with a tight Montana pinch.

...and it's true that we do have a lot of amazing hatters here. Some of them were very helpful to me, and a special thank you to Art Fawcett.

Nice. I am getting where I like a high pinch on my westerns too. Everyone has a bunch of cattleman style hats and also I have to to work a cattleman crown quite a bit to fit my head. The center is usually to low to pull the hat down to my ears in the back. Cone head.

 

[T Jones]

Nice. I am getting where I like a high pinch on my westerns too. Everyone has a bunch of cattleman style hats and also I have to to work a cattleman crown quite a bit to fit my head. The center is usually to low to pull the hat down to my ears in the back. Cone head.

I guess I'd have to say that a Montana Pinch is my preferred crease for a Western. Some of these guys can pull off a Cattleman much better than I can. Although, I have one that I converted some time back that I should probably get out and wear around more often. I'm not the biggest fan of a Cattleman so I don't wear it as much as I should...

 

[Winston Carter]

I guess I'd have to say that a Montana Pinch is my preferred crease for a Western. Some of these guys can pull off a Cattleman much better than I can. Although, I have one that I converted some time back that I should probably get out wear around more often. I'm not the biggest fan of a Cattleman so I don't wear it as much as I should...

Excellent hat and ribbon.

 

[T Jones]

Excellent hat and ribbon.

Thank you, buddy!

 

[bond]

This hat recently came my way in need of both a sweatband and a crown ribbon plus there were a couple 2 or 3 moth divots to fix up. But the felt i thought to be very nice and pliable like , a cross between say a nice 1950s Borsalino and a similar vintage stratoliner. Plus it has a nice wide 2 3/4 brim which I liked .
Anyway here is my interpretation of this fine old dobbs with respect to the infamous “Cross Country”.

 

[scottyrocks]

Okay. I see which hat he's talking about. That particular hat is a Resistol Western that started off as a thinner felt OR clone. I took it apart and reblocked it, reflanged the brim, and made my own version of a Strat clone out of it. The felt is thin and no where near the weight of the Stagecoaches I usually work with. Whenever I do my versions of Strat clones I purposely put softer creases in them with a little wider pinches. That's what I prefer with those styles

Resistol Western, in question. I still have to find a matching 3/8 ribbon to finish this the way I want.

Another thin felt hat Strat clone conversion that I put the softer crease in. This one's a Bradford

But if I wanted to put a sharp deep crease in a heavy weight Western like a Resistol Stagecoach, I can do that too, and make it stay that way. No problem.

Resistol Stagecoach

10X Thoroughbred that I took apart and reworked into to a longhair Western with a tight Montana pinch.

...and it's true that we do have a lot of amazing hatters here. Some of them were very helpful to me, and a special thank you to Art Fawcett.

Beautiful hats, Terry.

I guess 'tight' is relative, as far as pinches are concerned.

 

[belfastboy]

Wouldn't you want the hat in your hands first to see what you think it needs?

Regardless, we already have that service. Why not contact one of our amazing hatters and ask if, when you make a purchase, it could be sent to them instead of you? I would think this would have to be done with each hat purchase that you believe needs a hatter's touch.

I have done just this with a number of my Ebay purchases. I clear it with the hatter first to make sure he is okay with receiving it and to check on the turnaround time. Saves me one postage charge and some time.

 

[T Jones]

Beautiful hats, Terry.

I guess 'tight' is relative, as far as pinches are concerned.

Thank you, Scotty.

 

[T Jones]

Did some tearing down and reblocking on this Kevin McAndrew Western. This hat was gifted to me from a fellow Lounger. I really liked the hat and I was going to leave it as is until I got a good look at it from the side. It originally had a Cutter Crease and it had a very radical front to back taper that I couldn't live with. So I took it apart and reblocked it on a straight sided dome and went with a Cattleman Crease instead. I thought I would like the Cutter crease but I didn't like that front to back taper. Anyway, I left it Western and went with something more along a look that was somewhat similar to Clint Eastwood's hat in "A Perfect World". I put the original sweatband back in, but only temporarily for now. It's pretty much toast but it'll work for a little while until I get some more sweatbands. I didn't put the original sweatband bow and size tags back in it yet for obvious reasons. The crown came out nice with no front to back taper at all. I'm not quite finished with it, though. I'm going to change out the original ribbon for a 3/8 matching ribbon if I can find one....

Before: Notice the taper

On the block:

Off the block and creased into its current Cattleman:

Clint Eastwood's hat from the movie, "Perfect World"

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Did some tearing down and reblocking on this Kevin McAndrew Western. This hat was gifted to me from a fellow Lounger. I really liked the hat and I was going to leave it as is until I got a good look at it from the side. It originally had a Cutter Crease and it had a very radical front to back taper that I couldn't live with. So I took it apart and reblocked it on a straight sided dome and went with a Cattleman Crease instead. I thought I would like the Cutter crease but I didn't like that front to back taper. Anyway, I left it Western and went with something more along a look that was somewhat similar to Clint Eastwood's hat in "A Perfect World". I put the original sweatband back in, but only temporarily for now. It's pretty much toast but it'll work for a little while until I get some more sweatbands. I didn't put the original sweatband bow and size tags back in it yet for obvious reasons. The crown came out nice with no front to back taper at all. I'm not quite finished with it, though. I'm going to change out the original ribbon for a 3/8 matching ribbon if I can find one....

Before: Notice the taper

On the block:

Off the block and creased into its current Cattleman:

Clint Eastwood's hat from the movie, "Perfect World"

Looks great, Terry! I like it better with the cattlemans too. I’m constantly impressed at your ability to take old hats and make them your own.


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[Mustang Mike's Hats]

Hate it when this happens. Can't see the images.

Anyone know why this happens on occasion?

 

[T Jones]

Looks great, Terry! I like it better with the cattlemans too. I’m constantly impressed at your ability to take old hats and make them your own.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thank you buddy! Yeah, I think I'm liking the Cattleman better, too.

 

[T Jones]

Hate it when this happens. Can't see the images.

Anyone know why this happens on occasion?

That's strange. Hopefully somebody has an idea why that happens. I haven't a clue buddy.

 

[BobHufford]

I think I'm the Cattleman

Goo goo g'joob

Diggin' it Terry. Nice job!

 

[T Jones]

Goo goo g'joob

Diggin' it Terry. Nice job!

Thank you Bob! I had to go back and fix that quote! Looks like I left out a word! I can't see this phone very well to type correctly!