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[John Galt]

Do not use glue! That is the worst you can do.

+1. I am not sure about the sweatband either. I seem to recall that Art Fawcett was chasing some down thin kangaroo leather sweats a lá Champ Featherweight, for use on his ArtLite hats. I don't recall reading about the end result, but he may well have sourced them.

 

[liten]

+1. I am not sure about the sweatband either. I seem to recall that Art Fawcett was chasing some down thin kangaroo leather sweats a lá Champ Featherweight, for use on his ArtLite hats. I don't recall reading about the end result, but he may well have sourced them.

you cant get vintage sweatbands ! ive been trying forever , all you can get is the small wdth 15/8"or 11/2" bands in black or dark brown, im having to make one up scrap leather

 

[Landman]

+1. I am not sure about the sweatband either. I seem to recall that Art Fawcett was chasing some down thin kangaroo leather sweats a lá Champ Featherweight, for use on his ArtLite hats. I don't recall reading about the end result, but he may well have sourced them.

Art does have some very nice, new production sweatbands. I'm not sure what they are made from but they are 1 3/4" wide and very soft. As close to a vintage sweatband as I have seen.

 

[John Galt]

I'm a big fan of JW's sweats, but they are not the ultra thin style you are looking for.

 

[Landman]

Lounge member "bond" sells some very nice sweatbands too. They are thicker than a vintage but very soft and wide. The one I bought is 2" wide. Below is a link to the one I bought from him. He cut it to my size and sewed it together before he sent it to me. He did a great job on it. Thanks again Scott!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193585441/custom-sized-cut-and-sewnroan-leather?ref=shop_home_active_10

 

[liten]

Lounge member "bond" sells some very nice sweatbands too. They are thicker than a vintage but very soft and wide. The one I bought is 2" wide. Below is a link to the one I bought from him. He cut it to my size and sewed it together before he sent it to me. He did a great job on it. Thanks again Scott!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193585441/custom-sized-cut-and-sewnroan-leather?ref=shop_home_active_10

2'' is the ideal size, but i dont go for roan color and its got a gold strip around the base , i think of vintage colors as tans or caramel or burgundy colors or maybe certain shades of brown. thanks

 

[TheDane]

Then you're probably right, that nothing will happen, if you don't have it custom made. You could try JW-Hats in Utah. I guess, he is the only (or among the very few) hatters, that make sweatbands

 

[Brian Niebuhr]

Thanks for the help everyone. I was hoping for tan/caramel color. Something close to 2" wide but it doesn't have to be exactly 2". Comfort is most important. I want to avoid the type of leather that wants to stick to the forehead. Those aren't fun and can be painful. I actually had one like that in a custom. Not cool.

 

[John Galt]

For the right price ($$) JW will sell you a sweatband cutter and you can make your own sweats to your own specifications, using the leather of your choice.

I'll bet he'd make you a dozen or more thin ones though, if you asked and bought the right leather.

 

[liten]

For the right price ($$) JW will sell you a sweatband cutter and you can make your own sweats to your own specifications, using the leather of your choice.

I'll bet he'd make you a dozen or more thin ones though, if you asked and bought the right leather.

no idea what a sweatband cutter is

 

[John Galt]

It's a tool for cutting sweatbands from a strip of leather.

http://www.jwhats.com/manufacturing.html

You would still need to attach the reed tape. There is a YouTube video somewhere of JW's late wife doing this.


"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[Landman]

John, I believe that cutter is just for cutting the ends of a sweatband to a specific size.

 

[John Galt]

John, I believe that cutter is just for cutting the ends of a sweatband to a specific size.

I watched the video on YouTube some time back, and believe it also cuts the sweat from the leather. Admittedly, I may be misremembering...

"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[MaxCD]

Hi gents, a seller offered me a nice panama hat:

Do you think that is possible to shape it back to its original form? It has two small cracks, is it possible to repair that? She doesn't have the measurements, do you know any easy way to measure it? Never had a hat before

Thanks in advance!

 

[John Galt]

Internal side to side & front to back measurements will let you calculate approximate hat size. The brim tear doesn't look fixable to me, but I'm not a straw expert. Where is the other break? It looks like a good quality panama - if the crown is sound & the price is right, it could be the basis for a convertible (aka doblé) hat.

As for reshaping & conversion potential, maybe call Tom Gomez, he's known for building Panamas.

 

[TheDane]

Welcome to The Lounge

If you meassure the inside width and length as John suggests - add the two numbers and divide by 2. Then you have the approximate hat size.

 

[Retro Spectator]

Is it possible to transform a preblocked fedora into an open crown fedora?

 

[jlee562]

Is it possible to transform a preblocked fedora into an open crown fedora?

Possible? Sure. Will the results be satisfactory? Depends on your definition of satisfactory. I would say it's not really worth the trouble. The pre-creased hats are generally shorter to begin with. I believe Mr. Dean popped out one of the Hatco Stratoliners with a hatshaper IIRC....

 

[liten]

anyone no what colour this sweatband could be

 

[fedoracentric]

What does that question even mean?
Sweatbands were whatever they were. There were no specific "colors" involved. Brown, gray, tan, black and every shade thereof. But no "color names" exist for sweatbands. No hat was ever sold noting what color its sweatband was.