Adding an edge-curl to a snap-brim?

[Nyah]

I was thinking of getting an Akubra Campdraft but might want the brim width to be 2.5" rather than the 2&7/8" that it comes with. What might be the result if I had an old-time professional hatter put a 1/4" curl on the brim? Would the ability for it to snap be gone? If I have to have it permanently set with the front snapped down and the back up, I'd probably be fine with it.

If it matters, I'm a long/extra-long oval.

 

[Brian Niebuhr]

I did a pencil curl on the brim of my Campdraft. It looked pretty good but it was just too short for my liking so I ironed it out. The brim won't snap up and down with a rolled brim but it should stay in the position you want it. Being a long oval will help keep it that way.

 

[Brian Niebuhr]

You could also trim the brim down to where you want it.

 

[RJR]

I have just trimmed brims to what I wanted.

 

[Monte]

If you curl it, perhaps the brim will have the illusion of being narrower.

 

[Nyah]

Yeah, I might consider trimming it if the edge-curl idea won't work. I like the idea of having a homburg-type brim-edge on a wide-brim fedora though. I already have a panama like that. However, its brim doesn't really have a sharp up-snap in the back. I'll probably bring the panama to the hatter, to help describe what I want to avoid having on the Campdraft.

 

[jlee562]

Sometimes known as the Hemphill Open Road:

 

[Nyah]

Sometimes known as the Hemphill Open Road:

Maybe it's just an odd camera angle or lighting position but, the brim on that looks to me like an aussie or western flange, not a snap-brim.

I did a pencil curl on the brim of my Campdraft. It looked pretty good but it was just too short for my liking so I ironed it out. The brim won't snap up and down with a rolled brim but it should stay in the position you want it. Being a long oval will help keep it that way.

Do you think it was shorter than 2.5"? Another question: How will being a long oval encourage the brim to stay in the position I want? Is that the effect I coined as "oversnap", where the front and back of the brim take on extreme positions after being 'stretched' front-back?

 

[fedoracentric]

Well, let's put it this way, many Homburgs and bowlers are 2-1/2 inch brims but with that major curl they don't seem to be.

 

[Nyah]

Well, let's put it this way, many Homburgs and bowlers are 2-1/2 inch brims but with that major curl they don't seem to be.

I don't think that's what we're talking about in this thread. The Campdraft has a 2&7/8" snap-brim. If the edge gets a .25" upturn all around, that leaves a remainder of at least 2.5", which may or may not have been wide enough for Brian Niebuhr's preference, which is what I'm asking him.

 

[tonyb]

The problem here (if I'm understanding you correctly, Nyah) is that a curled brim edge is going to distort where it is snapped, or attempted to be snapped. I'd think it would flatten out right at that place where it turns down. I suppose it could be made to behave and "set" in the manner I think you're describing, but the hatter would have to really put his head and more than a bit of effort into it.
Brims that just dip in front, rather than snapped, can look really nice. Maybe they aren't quite as rakish as snap brims, but rakishness isn't always the best image to put forward.

 

[fedoracentric]

Is it even possible to retain a snap to a brim that has been kettle curled? I've never seen it done. Every western I've ever seen with a pencil or kettle curl has a relatively and permanently flat brim with the curl holding it that way.

 

[tonyb]

Is it even possible to retain a snap to a brim that has been kettle curled? I've never seen it done. Every western I've ever seen with a pencil or kettle curl has a relatively and permanently flat brim with the curl holding it that way.

I dunno. I'm thinkin' that maybe the brim front could be turned downwards and then the edge curled. I suspect a fair amount of cussing might be involved. Maybe it can't be done, but I'm hesitant to say that until I've tried it.

Perhaps there's another way to that end, though. Ever seen a homburg flange? They're "stepped" (must be a better word) or "terraced" in such a way that the brim edge curls over the edge of the flange. I could see a flange made for just the purpose Nyah has in mind. The flange would be fabricated to turn down in front but still be "stepped" all the way around. (I hope my description is at least somewhat comprehensible.) So suppose the flange is 2 1/2 inches wide, from the crown opening to the edge. Cut the hat's brim width at 3 inches and then iron the extra half inch of brim material over that stepped edge.

Might work?