What Hat Are You Working On Today?

[Medic5108]

Got an old wool fedora that I steamed and decided to reshape as a pork pie hat, as I have several fedoras. Anyone know where I can get a replacement sweatband?

 

[RickP]

Finished up, kinda like it.

good save!

 

[RickP]

Was working on a non descript little royal Stetson Open Road for a family friend. Decided pretty quick that this one probably needed a new swearband lol. Looks a little better now. Amazing to me that the liner was so clean but the sweat was so deteriorated. Grandpa must have had some serious pommade in his hair. At least I recycled the little bow. Didnt reuse the origional size tag as its a 7-1/8 and this hat got worked up into a 7-3/8 for them.

Ill get the ribbon done today. Still trying to decide which ribbon width looks best.

 

[RickP]

Had trouble deciding, so I ended up making a 3/8" AND a 1/2" ribbon and bow to see which looks best. I decided to go back with the origional style thin ribbon. It just looked right. Got the hat ribbon sewn down and the wind cord reattached this morning... so its all done!. The button on the wind cord just wouldnt clean up, so this rehab has some built in patina lol. ( before I started the whole hat looked like that) Not sure if the owner will wear it brim up or snapped down in front... but it works well either way. Just need to steam and put the brim on a brim flange for a final bit of cleanup.

As an interesting part of this story, the Lady Im doing three hats for has three triplet grandchildren that are going to be seniors in high school this year. Shes giving each of them one of their grandfathers vintage hats as a senior gift. Three older hats successfully enlarged from 7-1/8 to 7-3/8 and headed off for a new life. A fun pay it forward project

 

[Judgmentalist]

Had trouble deciding, so I ended up making a 3/8" AND a 1/2" ribbon and bow to see which looks best. I decided to go back with the origional style thin ribbon. It just looked right. Got the hat ribbon sewn down and the wind cord reattached this morning... so its all done!. The button on the wind cord just wouldnt clean up, so this rehab has some built in patina lol. ( before I started the whole hat looked like that) Not sure if the owner will wear it brim up or snapped down in front... but it works well either way. Just need to steam and put the brim on a brim flange for a final bit of cleanup.



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As an interesting part of this story, the Lady Im doing three hats for has three triplet grandchildren that are going to be seniors in high school this year. Shes giving each of them one of their grandfathers vintage hats as a senior gift. Three older hats successfully enlarged from 7-1/8 to 7-3/8 and headed off for a new life. A fun pay it forward project

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This is super cool.

 

[HatsBySam]

Time to expand the hat block lineup. First 4 are in clamps, the dust collector and auxiliary cyclone drum are full of walnut chips, lol.

 

[RickP]

Time to expand the hat block lineup. First 4 are in clamps, the dust collector and auxiliary cyclone drum are full of walnut chips, lol.

I love the smell of walnut in the morning!

 

[Judgmentalist]

Time to expand the hat block lineup. First 4 are in clamps, the dust collector and auxiliary cyclone drum are full of walnut chips, lol.

Cool. How are you choosing the final shape?

 

[HatsBySam]

Cool. How are choosing the final shape?

I have a profile I’ve made that is a little less tapered than a 52 for fedoras, and another that is a little more round topped than a 51 for western style hats. I’m going to make a full lineup for both.

 

[belfastboy]

Got a new toy in today all the way from England... a Large Guy Morse-Brown brim curing tool ( already had their 1/2" tool, but this ones a full 3/4" curl... evidently NO-ONE here in North America has the bigger ones for sale, so I ordered direct from them). Have a couple of 4 and 4-1/2" brim westerns laying around that I bought cheap solely to practice brim curls with. Cant wait to play with it.... these tools work sooooo much better than my wooden curling tools. I just need to get a cheap hot plate or gas burner to heat the iron part up for use... I discovered that my smoothtop stove wont stay turned on when its on top of the burner area.



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I love my GMB curlers. With the 3/4" you can get more than that in a curl with manipulation of the wrist. It is a great too. If you have a Chinese food store around they sell single burner butane stoves for cheap and the cannister fuel is cheap too.

 

[Judgmentalist]

I love my GMB curlers. With the 3/4" you can get more than that in a curl with manipulation of the wrist. It is a great too. If you have a Chinese food store around they sell single burner butane stoves for cheap and the cannister fuel is cheap too.

Dang it Robert - when I saw you posted in this thread my heart skipped a beat lol

 

[belfastboy]

Dang it Robert - when I saw you posted in this thread my heart skipped a beat lol

I am working on yours, making great progress....on to the ribbon work tomorrow.

 

[Judgmentalist]

I have a profile I’ve made that is a little less tapered than a 52 for fedoras, and another that is a little more round topped than a 51 for western style hats. I’m going to make a full lineup for both.

Reading your last couple posts has inspired me to do a little research into how hat blocks are designed, made, and scaled across a range of sizes. Very interesting, and maddeningly subjective, from what I can tell.

 

[HatsBySam]

just finished up for a friend, to be a gift. Always love a brown fedora. 160G rabbit felt, light chocolate bow and matching brim binding.

 

[RickP]

This could be fun.... One of my coffee co-horts brought me his grandfathers old hat. He said Grandpa died over 50 yrs ago and has no idea what it originally was. Said he doesnt care if he can wear it, he just wants it cleaned up for display. No markings, tags, liner or sweatband.... at least the hat ribbons in decent condition lol. Ill call it a challenge.

It does need a bath rather badly... just a little crusty. Mr Bear who sniffs all my hats every morning backed away from this one lol

Its in the gas now... stay tuned kids...more fun to come

 

[Judgmentalist]

This could be fun.... One of my coffee co-horts brought me his grandfathers old hat. He said Grandpa died over 50 yrs ago and has no idea what it originally was. Said he doesnt care if he can wear it, he just wants it cleaned up for display. No markings, tags, liner or sweatband.... at least the hat ribbons in decent condition lol. Ill call it a challenge.

It does need a bath rather badly... just a little crusty. Mr Bear who sniffs all my hats every morning backed away from this one lol

Its in the gas now... stay tuned kids...more fun to come


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Can’t wait to see the finished product

 

[Judgmentalist]

just finished up for a friend, to be a gift. Always love a brown fedora. 160G rabbit felt, light chocolate bow and matching brim binding.

Dang son - let’s be friends

 

[HatsBySam]

This could be fun.... One of my coffee co-horts brought me his grandfathers old hat. He said Grandpa died over 50 yrs ago and has no idea what it originally was. Said he doesnt care if he can wear it, he just wants it cleaned up for display. No markings, tags, liner or sweatband.... at least the hat ribbons in decent condition lol. Ill call it a challenge.

It does need a bath rather badly... just a little crusty. Mr Bear who sniffs all my hats every morning backed away from this one lol

Its in the gas now... stay tuned kids...more fun to come


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Built in air conditioning!

 

[RickP]

Its out of a good 4 hr bath and slosh. A couple more holes opened up on the creases. Looks like once upon a time there was some glue applied to hold some holes closed. At least its a bit cleaner. Obviously Grandpa had a crease style he liked.... some of those creases look like they were sharply ironed in. ( and some are about ready to let go). Ill let it dry overnight and hit it with some steam tomorrow so I can smooth out some spots. The game plan is to stabilize the holes and put creases back the way they were. Looking through some old stuff to see if I happen to have any scrap felt close to the color that I can back the holes with Sure wont be perfect factory condition but the holes WILL be gone... I AM confident

Also did discover that under all the grime I can see where it once had a bound brim.... a bit more work to replace ribbon binding, but it will help stabilize the brim. May be one of those "looks ok from 10 feet away" hats, but Grandfathers hat will be part of the family souvenirs again soon

Lets see as it progresses... whats life without a challenge?

 

[RickP]

Still looking for some backing felt to secure the edges of the holes from the inside, but at least its cleaner and the brim is flatter... Im leaning toward forming a "cap" that can go up inside and secure the whole top. Felt lightened up pretty dramatically after drying overnight, and I keep finding little broken threads that need picking out. Looking more like a proper hat. Trying to decide whether to take care of the holes first, or get moving on the brim binding