The Conversion Corral

[T Jones]

Another fine job Terry, as always.
Your preferred style is always recognizable.
I thought you got a sewing machine awhile back to alleviate all that hand stitching, no??
Be weller. Bowen

Thank you Bowen! Yup. I have a Singer 201 that I plan to use on future projects. Dealing with a lot of issues over the past few months I haven't had a chance to learn how to use it yet. It'll sure make my projects a lot easier to work on.

In fact, I think I'll read a little on it tonight.

 

[T Jones]

Very nice work, Terry. That is a fine looking hat now. Hope the pain management comes through for you.

Michael

Thank you Michael! Yeah, I believe pain management will help take of it. It's just a temporary set back that I'm confident I'll get through.

 

[steur]

After some time I finally mustered up enough ambition and finished this Caxton that I started awhile back. The hat was originally a late '50s - early '60s black Western with a bound taco curved brim and with a low horseshoe creased crown. It also had a mid ribbon with a double tailed bow. It seemed liked it took me forever to get this finished. I started on this a good while back. It set aside for the longest time. It was a real pain work on with these back issues. It'll probably be a while before I sit down long enough to try and do this again, at least until I see how pain management works out for me.

Anyway, here's the specs on this Caxton Western.
1. It originally started out as a size 7. It's now been reblocked to a 7 1/4.
2. The open crown height is 5 3/4 inches tall and was blocked on my preferred straight sided dome.
3. It's been creased to my preferred Teardrop and is 4 3/4 at the pinch with the rake sloping to 4 inches in back.
4. It's a thin ribbon with a bound brim and also has a 3/8 ribbon with a Strat / OR style bow work.
5. The snap brim is 2 5/8 wide.
6. I was also able to reuse the original liner and sweatband bow, and I put the original manufacturers labels back into the hat...


Before:

Featuring my Rick Walker brim cutter and Rockwater band block

This was as far as I got until I later decided to get ambitious enough to finish it...

Hand sewing really sucks. Definitely a back breaker for me...

Finally finished...I'm done for awhile and I'm definitely going to be wearing this one a lot.

Great work as usual, Terry. A vast improvement for that hat. Too bad your back prevent you from doing that kind of sewing work; you are really good at it, but it is indeed backbreaking.

 

[T Jones]

Great work as usual, Terry. A vast improvement for that hat. Too bad your back prevent you from doing that kind of sewing work; you are really good at it, but it is indeed backbreaking.

Thank you steur! Yeah, definitely! That ol' hat looks a lot different for sure! I used to hate black hats with a passion but Ive been warming up to them. It's hard to beat a thin ribbon for its clean casual looks and versatility.

 

[jswindle2]

That may be my favorite hat you've ever done. Great job! As a veteran of pain management and back pain, I'll give you a few tips. 1. Be firm and clear with the doctor- if the shots don't help the pain, say so and tell him exactly how much pain you feel. Don't downplay it and try to power through it.
2. You're the boss- if you get meds that don't work, tell him. He or she, may try to give you the weakest pills to avoid any issues, but this just makes things worse in the long run because you have to take more than you're supposed to in order to get any relief.
3. This goes with #2- don't let him force you into any procedure you don't want. Some PM doctors try to pressure their patients into surgeries and fancy new electric concraptions. These are paths you cannot come back from. Surgery may improve the pain somewhat, but after the first you will almost always need another before you die. I put mine off for over 5 years until a better disc replacement option was available.
One more thing- I recommend Texas Back Institute highly. People fly in from all over the world to go there, and for good reason. My favorite doctor there is Dr. Ralph Rashbaum. He did my surgery that he designed himself and encouraged me to put off surgery as long as possible. Great guy too.
You can ignore all this, but regardless, I hope things go well and the pain can be healed once and for all. If you have any questions, send me a pm. Good luck!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

After some time I finally mustered up enough ambition and finished this Caxton that I started awhile back. The hat was originally a late '50s - early '60s black Western with a bound taco curved brim and with a low horseshoe creased crown. It also had a mid ribbon with a double tailed bow. It seemed liked it took me forever to get this finished. I started on this a good while back. It set aside for the longest time. It was a real pain work on with these back issues. It'll probably be a while before I sit down long enough to try and do this again, at least until I see how pain management works out for me.

Anyway, here's the specs on this Caxton Western.
1. It originally started out as a size 7. It's now been reblocked to a 7 1/4.
2. The open crown height is 5 3/4 inches tall and was blocked on my preferred straight sided dome.
3. It's been creased to my preferred Teardrop and is 4 3/4 at the pinch with the rake sloping to 4 inches in back.
4. It's a thin ribbon with a bound brim and also has a 3/8 ribbon with a Strat / OR style bow work.
5. The snap brim is 2 5/8 wide.
6. I was also able to reuse the original liner and sweatband bow, and I put the original manufacturers labels back into the hat...


Before:

Featuring my Rick Walker brim cutter and Rockwater band block

This was as far as I got until I later decided to get ambitious enough to finish it...

Hand sewing really sucks. Definitely a back breaker for me...

Finally finished...I'm done for awhile and I'm definitely going to be wearing this one a lot.

Love it, Terry. How is the felt on this Caxton? I hope you get your sewing machine worked out, hand sewing sucks.

You have all our prayers and best wishes on getting relief for your back pain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[T Jones]

Love it, Terry. How is the felt on this Caxton? I hope you get your sewing machine worked out, hand sewing sucks.

You have all our prayers and best wishes on getting relief for your back pain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thank you buddy. I appreciate that. Oh, yeah. Hand sewing definitely sucks. I've seen a few Hatters who advertise that all their hats are "hand sewn". If that's what they like, more power to 'em! I hand sew too. But not for long! I'm going to learn how to use that sewing machine!

The felt on the Caxton is what you would expect from a Western, stiff. The finish, though, is pretty smooth to the touch and it has some natural sheen to it. I'd say that the felt quality is pretty good. It was definitely a quality built hat.

 

[T Jones]

That may be my favorite hat you've ever done. Great job! As a veteran of pain management and back pain, I'll give you a few tips. 1. Be firm and clear with the doctor- if the shots don't help the pain, say so and tell him exactly how much pain you feel. Don't downplay it and try to power through it.
2. You're the boss- if you get meds that don't work, tell him. He or she, may try to give you the weakest pills to avoid any issues, but this just makes things worse in the long run because you have to take more than you're supposed to in order to get any relief.
3. This goes with #2- don't let him force you into any procedure you don't want. Some PM doctors try to pressure their patients into surgeries and fancy new electric concraptions. These are paths you cannot come back from. Surgery may improve the pain somewhat, but after the first you will almost always need another before you die. I put mine off for over 5 years until a better disc replacement option was available.
One more thing- I recommend Texas Back Institute highly. People fly in from all over the world to go there, and for good reason. My favorite doctor there is Dr. Ralph Rashbaum. He did my surgery that he designed himself and encouraged me to put off surgery as long as possible. Great guy too.
You can ignore all this, but regardless, I hope things go well and the pain can be healed once and for all. If you have any questions, send me a pm. Good luck!

Thanks buddy. I'm definitely going to keep all that in mind. I believe you're right about the surgeries. My sister and brother-in-law, both, started off with initial surgeries and more surgeries followed within the space of 2-3 years, and they're still in bad shape...and their surgeons are recommending another surgery, each. They're both messed up pretty bad. I can only be glad that my condition isn't as bad as theirs.

 

[jswindle2]

Thanks buddy. I'm definitely going to keep all that in mind. I believe you're right about the surgeries. My sister and brother-in-law, both, started off with initial surgeries and more surgeries followed within the space of 2-3 years, and they're still in bad shape...and their surgeons are recommending another surgery, each. They're both messed up pretty bad. I can only be glad that my condition isn't as bad as theirs.

I hate to hear that. Since I was so young when I had my injury, my doctor recommended I put it off as long as possible. Crazy coming from a surgeon, but he is one of the good ones. My PM doctor has tried to talk me into getting some electrical implant unit, but I don't want to poke the bear. I'm relatively comfortable with my meds and lots of rest, so I've told them no several times. I've had just about every procedure and injections there are, so as I said before, you have any questions, PM me.

 

[T Jones]

I hate to hear that. Since I was so young when I had my injury, my doctor recommended I put it off as long as possible. Crazy coming from a surgeon, but he is one of the good ones. My PM doctor has tried to talk me into getting some electrical implant unit, but I don't want to poke the bear. I'm relatively comfortable with my meds and lots of rest, so I've told them no several times. I've had just about every procedure and injections there are, so as I said before, you have any questions, PM me.

Thanks buddy. I really appreciate everything.

 

[Randall Renshaw]

70s JC Penny’s Marathon conversion:

The felt was thick and hard. The hat band and bow poorly installed. This Hat was said to be a size 7 1/4 by the eBay seller, but turned out to be a 1/2. way too big. Oh well. I’ll resell it later.

I resanded...and sanded some more a new hand finish. It needed it, believe me. In this photo, I have just started. The hand turned out even and smooth.

hand sewed an old, but decent sweat that was robbed from an unknown, cheaply branded trilby and used the original liner.

I decided that this hat would bear a new hat band design. I call this one: The Pocket Square bow.

Lots of hours in this one, but it turned out okay, imho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Blare]

70s JC Penny’s Marathon conversion:
View attachment 207452
The felt was thick and hard. The hat band and bow poorly installed. This Hat was said to be a size 7 1/4 by the eBay seller, but turned out to be a 1/2. way too big. Oh well. I’ll resell it later.
View attachment 207457
I resanded...and sanded some more a new hand finish. It needed it, believe me. In this photo, I have just started. The hand turned out even and smooth.
View attachment 207458
hand sewed an old, but decent sweat that was robbed from an unknown, cheaply branded trilby and used the original liner.
View attachment 207459
I decided that this hat would bear a new hat band design. I call this one: The Pocket Square bow.

View attachment 207462 View attachment 207464 View attachment 207463
Lots of hours in this one, but it turned out okay, imho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just tremendous Randall. Love the ‘pocket square’

Hmm... now I’m envisioning that design in a two tone ribbon!


Best,
Joe


——— EVERY Day is HAT Day!!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Steve1857]

70s JC Penny’s Marathon conversion:
View attachment 207452
The felt was thick and hard. The hat band and bow poorly installed. This Hat was said to be a size 7 1/4 by the eBay seller, but turned out to be a 1/2. way too big. Oh well. I’ll resell it later.
View attachment 207457
I resanded...and sanded some more a new hand finish. It needed it, believe me. In this photo, I have just started. The hand turned out even and smooth.
View attachment 207458
hand sewed an old, but decent sweat that was robbed from an unknown, cheaply branded trilby and used the original liner.
View attachment 207459
I decided that this hat would bear a new hat band design. I call this one: The Pocket Square bow.

View attachment 207462 View attachment 207464 View attachment 207463
Lots of hours in this one, but it turned out okay, imho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Pocket Square Bow - love it, Randall!

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

 

[Randall Renshaw]

The Pocket Square Bow - love it, Randall!

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Thanks, Steve and Blare.
Yeah, I’ve thought of the two tone, but I already knew this bow would be pushing the boundaries , as it is. Probably a very polorizing design. Not sure if I even like it.
Might go good with a nice, dark brown suit, though.


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[Steve1857]

Thanks, Steve and Blare.
Yeah, I’ve thought of the two tone, but I already knew this bow would be pushing the boundaries , as it is. Probably a very polorizing design. Not sure if I even like it.
Might go good with a nice, dark brown suit, though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like it and would wear it, Randall. We all need to push our boundaries one way or another [emoji145]

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[J Williams]

Attempted my second mini conversion over the past few days.

I got this Resistol Beaver 50 for a really good price with a conversion in mind. The felt is pretty decent with a nice hand for what I believe is a 70's hat. It had a nice tall 6" crown and a 3 1/2" brim so it was a perfect candidate for what I was trying to achieve.

Steamed and ironed the brim flat and worked in a kettle curl - still needs a bit of evening out I'm going to have another go at it when I get some more time.

Steamed out the old crease and changed it to a loose diamond with front dents. Also still needs a bit of evening out

Removed the 2 ply ribbon and changed it for an antique white 3/8 ribbon with a campaign bow. First time I've played with grosgrain so I didn't use vintage stock.

Before & after:

 

[Blare]

Attempted my second mini conversion over the past few days.

I got this Resistol Beaver 50 for a really good price with a conversion in mind. The felt is pretty decent with a nice hand for what I believe is a 70's hat. It had a nice tall 6" crown and a 3 1/2" brim so it was a perfect candidate for what I was trying to achieve.

Steamed and ironed the brim flat and worked in a kettle curl - still needs a bit of evening out I'm going to have another go at it when I get some more time.

Steamed out the old crease and changed it to a loose diamond with front dents. Also still needs a bit of evening out

Removed the 2 ply ribbon and changed it for an antique white 3/8 ribbon with a campaign bow. First time I've played with grosgrain so I didn't use vintage stock.

Before & after:

View attachment 207578 View attachment 207579 View attachment 207580 View attachment 207582 View attachment 207583

Wow.. looks great


Best,
Joe


——— EVERY Day is HAT Day!!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Attempted my second mini conversion over the past few days.

I got this Resistol Beaver 50 for a really good price with a conversion in mind. The felt is pretty decent with a nice hand for what I believe is a 70's hat. It had a nice tall 6" crown and a 3 1/2" brim so it was a perfect candidate for what I was trying to achieve.

Steamed and ironed the brim flat and worked in a kettle curl - still needs a bit of evening out I'm going to have another go at it when I get some more time.

Steamed out the old crease and changed it to a loose diamond with front dents. Also still needs a bit of evening out

Removed the 2 ply ribbon and changed it for an antique white 3/8 ribbon with a campaign bow. First time I've played with grosgrain so I didn't use vintage stock.

Before & after:

View attachment 207578 View attachment 207579 View attachment 207580 View attachment 207582 View attachment 207583

Looks great! I particularly like how you “converted” it without destroying a “vintage” and hard(er) to find hat. I like the curl and the crown too. Nicely done.


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[Redshoes51]

Yeah, these back issues have definitely been a constant irritation. I'm pretty confident, though, that I'll get through it all after a bit of pain management. I'm just not looking forward to getting those pain shots in my back.

I've been wondering how things have been going for you... Back issues and the accompanying pain aren't anything to sneeze at... The Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to get all of the surgeries I need to have behind me this year...

Prayers your way for better health...

~shoes~

 

[Randall Renshaw]

Attempted my second mini conversion over the past few days.

I got this Resistol Beaver 50 for a really good price with a conversion in mind. The felt is pretty decent with a nice hand for what I believe is a 70's hat. It had a nice tall 6" crown and a 3 1/2" brim so it was a perfect candidate for what I was trying to achieve.

Steamed and ironed the brim flat and worked in a kettle curl - still needs a bit of evening out I'm going to have another go at it when I get some more time.

Steamed out the old crease and changed it to a loose diamond with front dents. Also still needs a bit of evening out

Removed the 2 ply ribbon and changed it for an antique white 3/8 ribbon with a campaign bow. First time I've played with grosgrain so I didn't use vintage stock.

Before & after:

View attachment 207578 View attachment 207579 View attachment 207580 View attachment 207582 View attachment 207583

Great job on the campaign bow, Mr. Williams! Kettle curl, too.


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