The Conversion Corral

[monbla256]

Looks VERY GOOD to me !! Think it proves that a craftsman can produce good work when given something good to work with !! I like the whole look you had done and it suites your head perfectly shaven or not Look forward to seeing your next OR Redo

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Sam,

The only other hat I have materially altered was an old K-Mart, wool cowboy hat. I bought it in the 1970s for $5 and in the 1980s I reblocked it and added a new ribbon and other things to make it into a recreation of the hat that the state of North Carolina sent to its Confederate troops in 1863. It turned out really nice, too. It was very unique.

Now, I also have a Charlie One Horse cowboy hat that looks very similar to the high crowned Tom Mix hat (low crown in front, high in back, single long dent with pinches in front). It is a black one, tho and the brim is generous 4-1/2 inches. On that one, I reshaped the brim from the way it came. And that one is the only other hat I made look very different from how I got it.

Anyway, I am very pleased with this OR western crease conversion.

On the next one, the one I'm going brown on the ribbon, it was not manufactured as an OR. It does not say Open Road on the sweatband but it looks exactly like the one I pictured above with the western crease. All it has is the 4X mark and the name of the company that sold it on the sweatband. It is from the 70s.

Like I said, I don't feel bad about altering an OR from the 1970s or 1980s, especially in 4X. They aren't the highest quality, ya know?

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Looks VERY GOOD to me !! Think it proves that a craftsman can produce good work when given something good to work with !! I like the whole look you had done and it suites your head perfectly shaven or not Look forward to seeing your next OR Redo

Thanks. I am quite taken with it.

I have to say I get all swoony over that silverbelly color. This one that I altered is a little more tan than my other silverbellys and it is interesting that the black ribbon seems to draw out the tan more to the eye, too. With that ribbon it looks more tan than it is.

 

[B.J. Hedberg]

You’d never catch me in the original, but the finished product is an A+ in my book. :eusa_clap

 

[hatophile]

I like what you did, MV, and I can see your point about newer vs. older conversions. I also like the one you're taking out to Texas, you'll look very authentic in that one, especially with the mustache.

 

[Sam Craig]

I concur, I think.
If I was fortunate enough to find an original Tom Mix Stetson, or a Boss of the Plains, I would believe in it being conserved, just as if I found another mint Stetson or Dobbs derby from the '20s, I would be opposed to smashing it into a porkpie.
On the other hand, excepting historic treasures, pretty much all the rest are raw materials.
I am much happier with my former cowboy hats as fedoras, and I wear the heck out of them all fall and winter.
They are off the shelf and getting some use, and that is a good use of what I spent money for in the first place.

Sam

 

[MarkD]

You’d never catch me in the original, but the finished product is an A+ in my book. :eusa_clap

Agreed. It is beautiful, well done!

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Thanks, folks. I can't wait until I get the next one back from Optimo with a brown ribbon and brown edge binding! That on is gonna look sweet.

 

[gtdean48]

Thanks, folks. I can't wait until I get the next one back from Optimo with a brown ribbon and brown edge binding! That on is gonna look sweet.

Here's one I sent to them but stayed thin ribbon & went with the contrasting binding & ribbon treatment. It is a more vintage Royal Deluxe OR too.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Here's one I sent to them but stayed thin ribbon & went with the contrasting binding & ribbon treatment. It is a more vintage Royal Deluxe OR too.

That is a beauty!! I love it.

 

[hatophile]

Here's one I sent to them but stayed thin ribbon & went with the contrasting binding & ribbon treatment. It is a more vintage Royal Deluxe OR too.

Nice one GTD

 

[azhiker]

I have finally got off my duff, and took one of my western style felt hats to HTH for a conversion. I am having the brim trimmed to 2.5 inches, it reblocked, cleaned, and bashed to a teardrop. I left it with paul, and it should be ready in a week or so. Here are a couple of before photos. wish me (them) luck!

 

[Sam Craig]

Wow, Dundee ... that is a beut!

The ribbon binding really adds that finished touch.

Sam

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

As promised, here is my last conversion. Just picked it up from Optimo.

It started out as a cheapie Stetson (1970s or 80s or so) Open Road-style western, 4X in silverbelly. It was a bit dirty.

Here is what it looked like when I got it from ebay a month ago...

Here is my re-crease (by the way, it isn't stained as bad as it looks. When I took the photos of the re-crease it was still wet from the molding)...

And here is how I had Optimo finish her off...

Optimo does great work I have to say.

 

[Neophyte]

It looks incredible, MV! Congratulations!

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

It looks incredible, MV! Congratulations!

Thanks. The only thing I was a tad annoyed at is that the original sweatband was cracked at the seams just in front. So I had to have Optimo put in a new sweatband too. I would have preferred the orig. sweatband back in but it was just too damaged (none of this was Optimo's fault by the way). On the other hand, the orig sweat was that cheap faux leather and Optimo's is real leather.

Still it really wears nice and it looks great, especially considering what it looked like to begin with.

 

[zetwal]

As promised, here is my last conversion.

If you don't mind my asking, How much did you put into it all together?

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

If you don't mind my asking, How much did you put into it all together?

I bought the hat for $40 on ebay and Optimo charged $90 for a cleaning, blocking, brown ribbon, brown edge binding and new leather sweatband. It would have been $20 less at Optimo if that darn original sweatband wasn't messed up. I was hoping to keep the whole thing under $100, but it crept up a tad more because of the sweatband.

Still, every time I've seen a good cream colored fedora with brown contrasting binding etc on ebay it has gone for well over $180. So, I think I still did OK in the long run.

 

[azhiker]

I have finally got off my duff, and took one of my western style felt hats to HTH for a conversion. I am having the brim trimmed to 2.5 inches, it reblocked, cleaned, and bashed to a teardrop. I left it with paul, and it should be ready in a week or so. Here are a couple of before photos. wish me (them) luck!

OK, an update! I received a call today from one of the gents at HTH, seems their 'hatter' is not confident enough that he can do what I wanted, so they are returning the hat to me (ok, well, i have to pick it up). Oh well, nothing ventured, nothng gained.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Here is what I did to an Open Road, western creased Stetson...

Here is how it started out:

I recreased it this-a-way:

And had Optimo in Chicago finish it off thusly:

Optimo does great work.