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[Hat and Rehat]

I have a beaver brand western from most likely the 70’s and for what I payed it’s a great hat. Bought it to mess around with brim curling etc. It’s certainly got some crown.

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I have several Beaver Brand now. All are more than acceptable.
The curl work is looking good, Justin. Did you fabricate a tool?

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[J Williams]

I have several Beaver Brand now. All are more than acceptable.
The curl work is looking good, Justin. Did you fabricate a tool?

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No I still haven't had time - working 12 hour days at the shop right now and most weekends as well

I did this a while back in real ghetto fashion with distilled water, my iron and a piece of wood dowel

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I have a beaver brand western from most likely the 70’s and for what I payed it’s a great hat. Bought it to mess around with brim curling etc. It’s certainly got some crown.

View attachment 191000
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Very nice brim curl JW.
Could you elaborate on your curling technique please??
B

 

[Hat and Rehat]

No I still haven't had time - working 12 hour days at the shop right now and most weekends as well

I did this a while back in real ghetto fashion with distilled water, my iron and a piece of wood dowel

You saw that ghetto tool I posted, and the lopped off wooden spoon.
I see some Loungers use rope.
I'm going to try copper tubing when I get home.
Easy to shape and braze, and it conducts heat great. I also have a bunch of it lying around.
You got a nice even curl there, even if it could be tightened a little.
I think the campaign crown would have been my choice with the curl though.

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[J Williams]

Very nice brim curl JW.
Could you elaborate on your curling technique please??
B

It's not as even as it looks from that angle and not as defined on the underside as I would like but pretty decent for quick work without proper gear. I can see how the proper curling tool would help to get a harder edge. Here are the steps I took.

Thoroughly wet the brim with distilled water and let it sit for a few minutes.
Ironed the brim flat.
Once the brim was flat used a spray bottle to soak around the edge of the brim.
Used about a 4" length of 1/2" wood dowel just held in my hand on one end and placed that about 1/2" in from the edge of the brim.
Covered my iron with an old t-shirt rag to not burn the felt and just worked around the edge of the brim with the dowel on the inside of the curl and my iron pressing against it on the outside mostly using the tip of the iron for better control. ( I think I'm going to try and find the smallest iron I can for future hat work )
I did about a 1" portion of the brim edge at a time pressing with the iron to even it out as best as I could and just worked my way around the brim.
Once I was done with the iron and the whole brim was curled the felt was still a bit wet and malleable so I just evened it out by hand for a few minutes pinching and pressing here and there.

I did try this on my No 1 quality but the felt is too thin so I couldn't get it to stay curled - I'll need a proper curling tool for that one. This beaver brand western has a fairly thick felt and seems more heavy handed on the stiffener.

 

[Blackjack]

Good to see this forum is still around and kicking
I was wondering what forum members have used for trimming hat brims? I've made a few little tools out of wood blocks with a razor attached but Im sure someone on here has come up with something that works really well, or maybe something commercial that can be bought cheap.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Good to see this forum is still around and kicking
I was wondering what forum members have used for trimming hat brims? I've made a few little tools out of wood blocks with a razor attached but Im sure someone on here has come up with something that works really well, or maybe something commercial that can be bought cheap.

I believe I saw yours in an old post. I have my tongue and groove parts fabricated for 3 rounding jacks based on photos of a vintage "Basic Brim Cutting Tool" I was beat out on at an eBay auction. I had done other business with the seller, and he sent me some nice pics with it assembled and disassembled. It's bare bones rounding jack, with no measuring scale even, but adjustable and functional.
I figured as long as I was doing the router set up, I might as well knock out more than one.
I still need to fabricate the parts that cup a hat crown, then mortise and tenon them together.
The vintage one has the blade set in a tapered mortise. A tapered tenon wedges the blade in place and is long enough to also function as a handle. I may use a different design.
I'm out of town helping my daughter move into her first home purchase and do some improvements, but hope to find the time to finish them up next weekend after I go home.
I'm going to test the waters at around a $130 or $135 price point and see if there's enough interest to keep making them. I believe I'll discount them to fellow Loungers though.
I'm really still in the prototype stage, but PM me if you would like to be kept in the loop.

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[GHT]

How can I stop the front brim of my Biltmore straw from curling? Esther explained to me that there are many and varied types of straw, not knowing which one my Biltmore is made from I went onto the Biltmore website. Here's another question: Has Biltmore always been Biltmore Bernard, or has there been a buyout in the past?

Back to my Biltmore's curly brim. Leaving a heavy flat weight over the curl has a limited result but not for long, And because the curl is on the brim it's so difficult to remove. Is there any sort of solution that would help, suggestions please.
There are no markings in the hat to suggest which straw has been used. It just gives the hat size, the Biltmore crest and made in the USA.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

It's not as even as it looks from that angle and not as defined on the underside as I would like but pretty decent for quick work without proper gear. I can see how the proper curling tool would help to get a harder edge. Here are the steps I took.

Thoroughly wet the brim with distilled water and let it sit for a few minutes.
Ironed the brim flat.
Once the brim was flat used a spray bottle to soak around the edge of the brim.
Used about a 4" length of 1/2" wood dowel just held in my hand on one end and placed that about 1/2" in from the edge of the brim.
Covered my iron with an old t-shirt rag to not burn the felt and just worked around the edge of the brim with the dowel on the inside of the curl and my iron pressing against it on the outside mostly using the tip of the iron for better control. ( I think I'm going to try and find the smallest iron I can for future hat work )
I did about a 1" portion of the brim edge at a time pressing with the iron to even it out as best as I could and just worked my way around the brim.
Once I was done with the iron and the whole brim was curled the felt was still a bit wet and malleable so I just evened it out by hand for a few minutes pinching and pressing here and there.

I did try this on my No 1 quality but the felt is too thin so I couldn't get it to stay curled - I'll need a proper curling tool for that one. This beaver brand western has a fairly thick felt and seems more heavy handed on the stiffener.

Thank you.
Looks good.
B

 

[Dotneck]

I've recently started using Tapatalk to read this forum on my phone. It's been asking me if I want to "give kin". What is that all about?

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[Zombie_61]

I've recently started using Tapatalk to read this forum on my phone. It's been asking me if I want to "give kin". What is that all about?

Whatever this is, it seems to be exclusively a Tapatalk thing. One website suggests you can make it stop by following these steps: Home ->Me ->Settings ->Kin Rewards: Toggle to off.

 

[Frunobulax]

Whatever this is, it seems to be exclusively a Tapatalk thing. One website suggests you can make it stop by following these steps: Home ->Me ->Settings ->Kin Rewards: Toggle to off.

I finally collected enough kin I bought a left-handed crescent wrench.

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[Farace]

I finally collected enough kin I bought a left-handed crescent wrench.

Mine is metric.

 

[Fourman110]

I've got a newer newsboy/flat cap with a snap that won't behave. It's a little too loose and pops open even though the cap itself isn't really tight on my head.

Is there any way to tighten the snap?

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I've got a newer newsboy/flat cap with a snap that won't behave. It's a little too loose and pops open even though the cap itself isn't really tight on my head.

Is there any way to tighten the snap?

Superglue works

 

[-Ariel-]

Hello, people. Need the list of all Stetson Fedoras with pics, please.

 

[Bamaboots]

Hello, people. Need the list of all Stetson Fedoras with pics, please.

https://www.stetson.com/

 

[-Ariel-]

https://www.stetson.com/

I mean of all time, not only the modern.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

With all due respect, you could probably spend a year going through this forum with a fine toothed comb, which very possibly could be the single largest repository of hat information, and not even come close to what you are seeking. You're asking for documented photographic information for a company that is 150+ years old. Granted, soft felt hats (fedoras) are a later incarnation of men's headwear so you wouldn't necessarily have to go that far back. Even if you limited yourself to post-WWII, however, you're still looking at ~80 years of product history.

 

[Frunobulax]

I mean of all time, not only the modern.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!