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The Conversion Corral
Looks like pretty good work to me. Is the brim folded over and sewn? I can't see that in the pictures, but seems to me to be the usual for wool. -
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The Conversion Corral
The examples in the thread have mostly been fur felt; isn't that significantly different to work with? For example, you can't just saw the brim off and sand it? Does it help to steam a wool crown? Etc. I'm not saying it's hopeless, just that, to the extent that Fenris manages to make a good... -
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The Conversion Corral
Not sure it made no difference at all. The brim is less rigid, maybe because the alcohol washed out some shellac. Or maybe because I got it wet and handled it a little, haven't steamed it ... with no prior experience, I don't know what to expect without the alcohol rinse. And of course if... -
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The Conversion Corral
Well, there you go: The brim wilted when the alcohol hit it, but it's stiff now that it's nearly dry. I rinsed with water after I saturated it with alcohol. It did give me a chance to stretch it into a more oval head shape, which was the number one problem. -
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All You Need to Know About Hat Etiquette
Good story, poor comparison. If I have to take my hat off in your building, at worst it's a temporary inconvenience. The hat wouldn't have served any functional purpose indoors anyway, and I can put it back on the moment I step out the door. If I have to cut my hair to suit you, I have to... -
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The Conversion Corral
I happen to have a big can of alcohol "shellac thinner", so I applied some to a spot on the brim of this presumably recent "3X BEAVER" Stetson. More than enough to soak the spot. Then poured water on the brim until it dripped out on the other side. I imagine that once shellac is... -
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Hats In The Car/A Newbie Question
Right, this has been advanced as a major factor in the disappearance of fedora style hats. Didn't do so much to western hats, though, which are certainly as tall crowned. So maybe the solution is to get a pickup truck. -
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Homburg advice
Just checking for semantics - when you say curl, you mean where the whole brim tilts up on the side? Not the "pencil roll" that these hats have all the way around - that's probably going to be permanent. My guess is: depends, it's a question of geometry determined by how they built the curl... -
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Homburg advice
You might look at the Miller Hats online catalogue - they have a handful of different styles in the $130 range, one of them might suit you and every one lists a 7 3/4, even the couple of $15 off discontinued models. (E.g., wide brim Prince Albert.) Just repeating what I read here somewhere... -
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Steamer or kettle?
Sure - I don't know about feltfan, but it would be my pleasure to serve you an espresso, while I ruin your hat. -
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Steamer or kettle?
Cool! La San Marco rep is a couple blocks from my house, there are probably a couple of my nose prints on the window from admiring some classic machines in their display room. Ours is also a lever, two group Pavoni "Bar" series, maybe '90s. -
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Steamer or kettle?
Has anyone tried an espresso machine "steam wand"? (Ours has a pretty big boiler.) -
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Current production Fedora makers (Not Custom)
OK, finally heard back: "We've concluded it's the exact same hat and made by the same manufacturer." I.e., at least in some cases, "Golden Gate" and "Broner" are labels printed on the otherwise same hat - Golden Gate farms some of its line out to Broner or they both use a third manufacturer... -
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The Conversion Corral
On further reflection, I'm thinking the real challenge is in finding a motivation to undertake it in the first place. Western hats may be more interesting as raw material in the felt case, because of relative costs vs. quality issues that don't apply the same to straw. But if it were... -
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The Conversion Corral
And it would seem to follow that I could change the shape of the crown, even if I could not narrow the brim. Just soak, reshape and dry? I don't actually have one at this point, are all straw westerns more or less the same? I see terms like "Panama Shantung", will some hats have been... -
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The Conversion Corral
Straw? Anyone make something else out of a straw cowboy hat? -
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Homburg Nation
Beaver Brand custom might be an option, if $250 and some delay are acceptable. -
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Current production Fedora makers (Not Custom)
Broner? I just received a "Blues Brothers" style fedora, retail mail order. Gray color, light, fairly fine textured water resistant wool, cloth sweatband, at first glance seems reasonably well made. It's actually a Broner LiteFelt "Melodrama", but was sold to me as a Golden Gate. So I dug up... -
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How do you know quality when you see it?
Not that I would defend the latter, but it reminded me of the hat I've been wearing for the last 15, 20 years (I forget), a US made wool felt hat under that label. Soaked, folded, sat on, every kind of abuse a hat would naturally be subject to, and it barely shows a hint of it. Wool is...
