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Western, anyone?

casechopper

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3,783
Location
Northern NJ

casechopper

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Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
I'll probably leave it be for now and once the sweatband wears out (could be a few years with the number of hats I'm rotating) then I'll try heat.

Whatever the type of glue it's very strong. I tried pulling a little on the liner (it's glued in under the sweatband and it didn't budge at all. I'll probably end up having to cut out the liner because I don't want to damage the felt and I don't want to loosen the sweatband for now either.


Sam
I've used a hairdryer to warm up the glue & it usually releases fairly easy since most use craft hot glue guns. All my experiences have been with liners & ribbon treatments instead of sweatbands tho...HTH
 

Joao Encarnado

I'll Lock Up
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7,776
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Portugal
Just got my hat in from Charles the ebay guy. I'll try to post up pictures tonight. It's 100% beaver and the felt feels amazing. I've never handled a 100% beaver hat before and this sure feels nice. It's thick stiff western felt but the finish is almost velour like.

All in all I'm very happy with the hat for the price. The only major issue for me would be the glued in sweatband.
I don't know if a 20X black gold resistor is 100% beaver. Compared to a 4x, the 20x felt feels amazing too.
Now that sweatband glued it's a nono…


I just won this 15X Resistol on ebay. Any of you own one? I'm hoping its Xes are justified and that it runs a tad small so i can wear it. :)
I have one. A very used one but still good condition with some marks I can't remove. I like the way it is because it looks a working cowboy hat, not a dress hat. My friends usually ask me not to wear it because it seems to attract the attention of more people than the black one! I don't have the horseshoe pin :(
 

randooch

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4,869
Location
Ukiah, California
This is the W-I-N-D-Y season here in New Mexico.
LOTS of dirt-n'-dust blowin' around from the desert.
This time of year, I avoid wearing any hat with a wide brim, especially.....wide and flat!
We are in the middle of a drought, so there's more dirt and dust blowing around than usual?
My hat brush has been working OT this spring!
I have a white, short-brimmed Stetson that I'd like to wear out.....but.....it won't stay white for long with all the crap flying around outside?
Oh well, such is life in the New Mexican desert.

I was in Bisbee for a few years and know the winds. Hang tough!

Case., thanks for the high hopes on that Resistol 15X. That's the human condition, i guess; always looking to upgrade.

Joao, I'll send that horseshoe pin to you if the hat fits me, as I'm not much for bling. But I won't use Fed-X! :)
 

casechopper

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Northern NJ
Photos of hat by Charles from ebay

100% beaver (described in a post a little earlier) Custom made 100% beaver.

IMG_5022.jpg

IMG_5023.jpg

IMG_5024.jpg

IMG_5028.jpg

IMG_5029.jpg

IMG_5030.jpg

IMG_5031.jpg

You can see where the glue is holding the sweatband in this photo. Where it is bending is where the glue ends leaving about 1/2" of leather.
IMG_5040.jpg
IMG_5039.jpg
 

bowlerman

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6,294
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South Dakota
The moment we've been waiting for...!
Looks fantastic, Sam. Congrats! You wear it well, too. You seem to really be able to pull off that 4 inch brim. Glad to hear his 100% beaver is worth it.
You know, in my messing around with my grey one, I found the glue under the sweatband loosened a bit with heavy steam and a hat jack, and for a moment I was nervous that it would become separated, but it re-adhered itself firmly each time when I let it sit and cool.
 

fmw

One Too Many
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1,017
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USA
It looks really nice. Certainly a great value. I'm a little confusted. It looks like the sweat band was sewn in. Why was it then glued?
 

Joao Encarnado

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7,776
Location
Portugal
Case., thanks for the high hopes on that Resistol 15X. That's the human condition, i guess; always looking to upgrade.

Joao, I'll send that horseshoe pin to you if the hat fits me, as I'm not much for bling. But I won't use Fed-X! :)
Thank you :)
I took mine out for today. The sun is getting stronger and black hats tends to heat faster than light colors.

When we toured the HatCo factory, the Resistol brand will say pure beaver if it is 100%, no X notation for those. Dave at the Outlet Store had one on when we arrived....
I can't remember seeing a Resistol 100% beaver. The only ones I remember with a "100" is the 100x el president from Stetson.

100% beaver (described in a post a little earlier) Custom made 100% beaver.
Like the crease. Color seems a light brown almost mustard.

You can see where the glue is holding the sweatband in this photo. Where it is bending is where the glue ends leaving about 1/2" of leather.
That glue might be the glue from the liner. I remember my Stetson to be that way on some spots. Because I got it wet on England, I had to force it to allow me to turn the sweatband out to let it dry.
 

casechopper

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Northern NJ
I am not 100% sure on the terms I'm using here, i.e. "reed" but hopefully this will explain it:

The sweatband is sewn to the reed and the reed + sweatband + liner are all glued tightly to the hat body. There are no stitches going through the hat body.

I think that normally the reed would be glued to to the hat body with the sweatband sewn through the reed and hat body. The reed adds more stability where the felt might have just ripped through with any strain on the stitching.

In the end the hat works fine, looks great and feels great. The only issue would be when the sweatband wears out which won't be for awhile and at that point I'll look into ways of getting it out of there.


I don't know if I mentioned the color but it's pecan. I believe he gets his hat bodies from Winchester though he didn't tell me that. What he told me is that he has the same basic selection as Last Best West as far as colors go and that he gets his felts from the same place as them.
Sam
 

DRB

One Too Many
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Location
Florida
It looks really nice. Certainly a great value. I'm a little confusted. It looks like the sweat band was sewn in. Why was it then glued?
fmw: the maker of the hat took the easy way out with glue, which is not necessarily wrong, but here is what a sweatband looks like when purchased separately. The sewing you see is already on the sweatband. They just glued the cloth part (and part of the leather) that normally is sewn into the hat.
Sweatband2.jpg

Sweatband1.jpg
 

DRB

One Too Many
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Location
Florida
Brad had a great tutorial on using a sewing awl to sew the sweatband in. That works. I have one. Most fine hats use a seamstress to actually sew the cloth portion to the hat. I have a sewing awl. It works pretty good, but the ultimate fino is the seamstress way.
 

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