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Akubra Overload

AlterEgo

A-List Customer
Messages
320
Location
Southern USA
Neophyte,

I also have an Akubra Fedora (aka Sydney), in charcoal, a darker shade approaching black than yours appears. It's the most comfortable fur felt hat I've ever tried on, much less owned.

I hope you don't mind me saying so, but I think it looks too short on your head, with too much taper. I'd suggest taking out the telescoped C-crown and just put in a not-too-deep center crease with shallow side dents. That will elevate the crown and reduce the over-tapered appearance.

When I was waiting on my Fed IV Deluxe to arrive, I began practicing the bash I planned to put in the new hat on my Sydney--just like the top of yours, only with a razor-sharp crease between the side dents.

The felt is so pliable that it's hard to even put the hat on and off without messing up the bash, so I finally got it soaking wet in the rain, vigorously hand-pressed my bash into it, and let it dry. That stabilized the bash good.

But it was a BIG mistake, for when the Fed arrived, and I wanted to convert the Sydney back to the simple center-crease with gentle side dents I put in it originally, the hat said, "Uh-uh!"

As if removing the vestiges of the C-crown were not difficult enough, it was nearly impossible to get the remants of the sharp front crease out. The super-soft felt unique to the Sydney/Fedora is actually quite delicate, and it had a shiny appearance where it was crushed all along that axis and, to a lesser extent, along the ridge of the former dome.

I finally performed numerous iterations of 1) water-sponge, 2) let almost dry, then 3) vacuum on high with an upholstery head until most of the fibers were sucked up erect again.

In just the right light at just the right angle, you can still barely see where the old bash was, but you have to look really hard to find it, so the hat's just fine now. Though the creases in your Fedora are not particularly sharp, you might need to utilize this technique to remove the bash if you decide to re-do it into a center crease, which I think would be more becoming on you.
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Two things, AlterEgo:

1.) I totally agree with your comment on my bash, as I myself stated the Teardrop bash brought it down too much. I'd try to change it, but like you said, that type of bash is hard to remove.

2.) What happened to your Fedora is EXACTLY what happened to my Federation IV, which is why I don't wear it that much (read: at all).

I wear a lot more earth tones than navy, white and black, which is why I said my next hat might be a Burnt Oak Fedora from HatsDirect. I'd also like to point out, as I and AlterEgo have said before, that the Fedora is the most comfortable hat I've owned or felt. It is really, really damn soft!


.......hmmm. I haven't tried the vaccuum yet...
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Here is the Fedora, after a slight rebash. I tried to get some more height out of the crown, but it kept wanting to drop back into that teardrop shape, so I went ahead and just made the teardrop more shallow. You may not be able to tell the difference, but at least I tried.

FedoraRebash.jpg


FedoraRebash2.jpg


FedoraRebash3.jpg


The Almighty seems to approve...

FedoraRebash4.jpg
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
You know, know that I look at these pics...DAMN! :rage:
:eusa_doh:
Once again, in my journey of hat-based self-discovery, my fellow Loungers have proven me wrong. I do look better in straight-sided crowns...it's just that my only non-tapered hat, the Federation, has been so botched my own shaping efforts that it has 1.) developed some taper and 2.) become positively stuck in its current bash. I knew something was wrong with that hat...

Well, once again guys, you were right. Now I'm back to square one: FedIV or Campdraft, in brown or tawny or grey....
 

AlterEgo

A-List Customer
Messages
320
Location
Southern USA
Neophyte,

What a bummer about your Fed IV! That's surprising, because I've rebashed my Fed many, many times with no problem. It's like having several hats in one. In fact, I've put bashes in it I don't even like on my head just to practice helping others, as well as work towards the expertise that may someday qualify me as a hat guru.

Mine's a Deluxe--constructed of the Heritage grade of felt--so maybe that's the reason it's held up so well.

Or it could be the way I rebash it:

First, wet it with steam or by wearing it in the rain (what I do), but the first key is to punch it out into the open crown position just like it was when you took it out of the box new.

The second key is, when your Fed is almost dry, take a soft brush--not a hat brush because they are way too soft--and use it to bring up the nap along the former creases and feather it into the adjacent felt. Using a gentle but persistent dig-and-flick motion, I use an Oral-B Soft toothbrush, a new one just for this purpose as opposed to the one I actually brush my teeth with.

Finally, re-do the hat in the new bash as usual. On second thought, maybe your usual is the problem. Perhaps you are getting the felt too wet, and hot steam can do this faster than you think. Get the felt just damp enough to work and then manipulate it gradually into the form you desire.

Hope this helps, my fellow Tennessee Volunteer.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
I have actually recently recreased my Federation IV. Yesterday, in fact, but today I fine-tuned it a bit. It's supposed to be a sort of teardrop or telescope c-crown, I'm not sure which, forgive the lack of knowledge when it comes to the terminology for this one. I made the crown a bit lower than it was before, probably by a quarter to half of an inch if I had to guess. Surprisingly, it feels more "wearable" in town than it had before (I wore it earlier today while doing some errands with the family). I like the Indiana Jones styles of creases, but I've decided to go with something different again. This actually looks a bit more like something Humphrey Bogart would be seen wearing than Harrison Ford...

Pictures coming soon, I have to wait until it drys up a bit more.
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Bogart is good...

I wish I could describe exactly the kind of mess the FedIV is in, and then you guys would understand that it's probably only gonna be saved by a blocking by a professional. I'm not to crazy about the dark brown color, especially after the Carbon Grey Fedora and the Willow Green Squatter, so I'm not really considering getting it blocked at this time.

I think I'll go with a Federation, because I prefer the look of wide ribbons. I only need to decide between carbon grey, heritage fawn, or tawny fawn.
Considering that I mostly wear jeans and earth tones, this is a hard decision. I'm liking the carbon grey.
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
This is the sharp crease I put in the Federation, the one that's so DAMN hard to remove.

Federationfront.jpg
Fedoradiamondtop.jpg
FedoraStyleAlex.jpg
FedIVOutside.jpg


That last picture shows what I hate about this crease: it ONLY looks good to me at an angle.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
Alright, here's the updated Federation.

dsc00138vc.jpg


dsc00139qt.jpg


dsc00140uvb.jpg


dsc00141u.jpg


dsc00142lw.jpg


What do you think? Is this a teardrop or a c-crown? Also, it may not appear that way in the photos, but there still a remnant of the sharp Raiders crease I did once upon a time, on this hat. Fortunately, it's not as pronounced as it once was, but it's still there if you study it for a few seconds.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
This is what it looks like on me from an angle. Please excuse the hideous quality of the picture, it was obviously taken off of my cell phone, but in poor lighting and "night mode" to the effect, making it brighter. No, I'm not that pale, although fair skinned.

http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy208/TheAntiquarian/DSC00156.jpg?t=1279764170

I may just take clearer shots tomorrow while it's brighter outside.

P.S. I think this is the exact crease I may give to a moonstone Federation for that Le Samourai effect, although I'd need a wider ribbon to be truly accurate, and perhaps a brim trim.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
Why thank you, and yes I stand corrected, didn't get too much sleep anyway. I think you could definitely see how it would be different from my current avatar, which appears higher in the crown, and more "round" shaped. It still looked good, but I wanted to do something about the round shape in relation to the taper. I think I'll keep it like this for a while. When I get my next hat, likely a moonstone Federation for that matter, I'll crease it the way I had it done to this brown one.

As for this one, eventually I might just try to work harder on an Indy crease (probably not Raiders, perhaps Crusade or Kingdom), but not as sharp or tight, more like a close approximation to Ford's hat, without really damaging the felt and permanently leaving a razor sharp, pronounced pinch.

The thing is, eventually I plan to mainly use my brown fedora as my go-to "country," traveling hat, not minding it getting too battered and rugged from constant use. It's more or less becoming this way anyway, as I've used it very much. The moonstone Federation IV will very much become my typical town and city hat. There's something about grey colors that seem undeniably urban, compared to more earth tone colors such as brown, tan, or green, although I wouldn't mind wearing any of these colors in town. Just saying.

Neophyte, you could probably do a similar concept with yours, if you'd prefer not to wear it around town anymore due to it's loss of shape, have it become an almost "safari-esque" outdoors hat you could depend upon for harsh weather, hiking, and other outdoor activities.
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Oh, that is exactly what I was thinking the moment I ripped out the liner.
Whatever you decide to do with your Fed, good luck. You've done well so far.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
Neophyte said:
Oh, that is exactly what I was thinking the moment I ripped out the liner.
Whatever you decide to do with your Fed, good luck. You've done well so far.


I know that you've had some problems with your Fed, but how's it looking these days? Is there a recent picture of it I can check out somewhere?

My Fed has actually been through quite a lot of rain, and I haven't even owned it for a year yet. Apart from that wrinkled Raiders of the Lost Ark crease remnant on the front, and a slight amount of taper, it seems to be just fine. I want to be able to say, that with some work, you can probably improve it.

How do you go about creasing, do you just put sink or shower water on it? This may or may not be a good thing to actually do, but as far as I know, it's fine for me. My hat has only a slight amount of noticeable discoloration, some from sweat. I'm still trying to figure out where your hat went wrong, and if it can look nearly as good as it had the first time you had it creased. I have a feeling it's possible to still have it looking decent, even if it's in pretty rough shape right now.
 

CRH

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,272
Location
West Branch, IA
Travelling hat pics

I figured you guys wouldn't mind some shots of the Travelling Hat since it is an Akubra Squatter.

Here's the traveler sitting between my two Squatters.

hpim2584c.jpg


hpim2586.jpg



Size 7 1/2 sits a little loose on my 7 1/4 head.

hpim2587.jpg


hpim2593.jpg
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
I wear it in the shower, shape it how I want, then put it on a a towel on a counter and let it dry. I did this many times creating the bash from my previous post, which is pretty much the exact same as it is now.
Thing is, I wet it and refined it so much that it pretty much "hardened" in that shape. Now, using steam, water and all manner of tools, I cannot get those creases out. It has also developed a slight bit of taper, but it pretty much looks exaclty like those previous photos.
I'm sure I could reshape it, but it would be a very shoddy job and wouldn't look that good.
I don't mind though. It was my first hat and my first experiment at bashing a hat. If you've seen my Squatter, you'll find that I've improved A LOT.
I'd like a new Fed, in Tawny Fawn or Carbon Grey...
 

Neophyte

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,445
Location
Chattanooga, TN
CRH said:
I figured you guys wouldn't mind some shots of the Travelling Hat since it is an Akubra Squatter.

Here's the traveler sitting between my two Squatters.

hpim2584c.jpg


hpim2586.jpg

I've always enjoyed looking at your Squatters, especially the black "fence shield". I don't know how yours avoided the severe Aussie brim curl that my wg Squatter has, but it looks great. And that hat looks great, is it a DavidMorgan Moonstone?
 

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