bashing my new hat

[Bird Lives]

I'm actually 60 myself - but the 20/40 years was the number of years passed since experimenting with psychedelics

Ahhh...nahhh....I wouldn't know about any of that.....
Atleast, thats my story and I'm sticking to it.....

 

[Kane]

Hello folks,
I have learned so much about hats and other things in the short time that I have been reading this forum. I finally went for an open crown hat, which I never would have considered before, an Akubra Campdraft Deluxe. After reading and watching the vids in the Monster Bash thread, I mustered the courage to put a bash in the Campdraft. I have been dry bashing it, but those were not holding very well past very gentle creases. I am a bit wary of steam for my first time doing a bash, concerned about applying heat to the hat, so I did the distilled water in a spray bottle method. So far it seems like it worked pretty well and was toatally easy to do. The hardest part is waiting for the hat to dry, and it’s still drying as I am writing this, but I’m very exciting and wanted to post some pics for those who may be contemplating doing his/her first bash. I may have used too much water as the crown got fairly wet, but it’s drying out slowly. I first went with a Cattleman crease and it looked great, but I settled on a simple center crease with moderate pinches to match the look of my black Barbisio hat (pictured alongside the drying Campdraft).
I am curious to see how stiff the felt becomes and fixed the bash is after it dries completely. I guess if I don’t like it I can do it again, and again, and again........is there a point when the felt fatigues from changing creases too many times?
Will follow up with pics of the dry hat and we’ll see how it turns out in the end.
Cheers!

 

[Rmccamey]

Not bad at all! If the center dent hits the top of your head you might have to make a little adjustment. Looks good like you have it. Congrats.

Hello folks,
I have learned so much about hats and other things in the short time that I have been reading this forum. I finally went for an open crown hat, which I never would have considered before, an Akubra Campdraft Deluxe. After reading and watching the vids in the Monster Bash thread, I mustered the courage to put a bash in the Campdraft. I have been dry bashing it, but those were not holding very well past very gentle creases. I am a bit wary of steam for my first time doing a bash, concerned about applying heat to the hat, so I did the distilled water in a spray bottle method. So far it seems like it worked pretty well and was toatally easy to do. The hardest part is waiting for the hat to dry, and it’s still drying as I am writing this, but I’m very exciting and wanted to post some pics for those who may be contemplating doing his/her first bash. I may have used too much water as the crown got fairly wet, but it’s drying out slowly. I first went with a Cattleman crease and it looked great, but I settled on a simple center crease with moderate pinches to match the look of my black Barbisio hat (pictured alongside the drying Campdraft).
I am curious to see how stiff the felt becomes and fixed the bash is after it dries completely. I guess if I don’t like it I can do it again, and again, and again........is there a point when the felt fatigues from changing creases too many times?
Will follow up with pics of the dry hat and we’ll see how it turns out in the end.
Cheers!



View attachment 159477 View attachment 159478 View attachment 159479

 

[Kane]

Dried and the bash is nicely set now:

 

[Zombie_61]

...I am curious to see how stiff the felt becomes and fixed the bash is after it dries completely. I guess if I don’t like it I can do it again, and again, and again........is there a point when the felt fatigues from changing creases too many times?

Probably, but I've re-creased a couple of my Akubras a few times and so far that has only made the felts a little softer. Fur felt isn't indestructible; if it was hat wearers wouldn't worry about creating holes on the crowns of their hats by handling them by the pinch. And several members here have fur felt hats that are decades old. The jury is still out on modern fur felts, but they're pretty durable stuff and most should survive at least two or three decades of the kind of "wear and tear" most of us give them.

 

[Mark70]

That turned out really nice!

 

[tropicalbob]

Nice job. There used to be an Aussie Outback character who would occasionally appear on this forum and accuse us all of being a bunch of "pooftas" because, apparently, real men treated their Akubras with a certain amount of abuse. My experience has been that you really don't have to be too careful with them and, at least at first, change the bash as much as you like. After a while, though, the bash seems to settle in and it becomes more difficult to change it.

 

[Zombie_61]

...My experience has been that you really don't have to be too careful with them and, at least at first, change the bash as much as you like. After a while, though, the bash seems to settle in and it becomes more difficult to change it.

The hat wants what the hat wants. All of my Akubras so far were purchased new (and open crown) and creased very easily the first time, but when I re-creased a couple of them they made it clear that they wanted to be shaped differently from what I had in mind. Once I figured that out they almost creased themselves into their new shapes, and I have to admit they were right.

Since I neglected to mention it in my previous post, I like the crease you've given your new Campdraft @Kane. I like the look of a Center Dent, but I can't wear them because my head pushes them up and out as soon as I put the hat on my head.

 

[Kane]

Thank you kindly, gents. Right now this hat is riding low and resting on the top of my head, but I am expecting it to shrink a bit and I think it will be okay once it takes form and gets a bit snugger. I really like the center dent and modest pinch of my Barbisio, but that hat has a smaller brim than the Campdraft and the felt is very soft and moldable and it can easily go from a fedora to a suggestion of a homburg depending on how the brim is worked. A center dent really suits that hat, and that was what I was attempting to replicate on the Campdraft. But the wider brim of the Campdraft really looked nice with a cattleman crease, which I happen to like, in addition to a nicely raked diamond bash with a deeper pinch. I think I’m going to leave it as is for now while the hat breaks in and setttles to my head an revisit it after that.

 

[scottyrocks]

I used water from a spray bottle for a long time to crease my hats. But then I moved to steam and I can say that it makes things much easier.

The felt is easier to move and mold, and dries in a matter of a minute vs hours.

Keep in mind that the sharper you make the creases, the more they will retain their memory when you try to remove or adjust them. So until you are sure what you really like, go easy on them. How much is easy? You'll have to experiment to see what works for you, both looks and 'memory'-wise.

 

[Geenee]

Hello there,
all tips and methods look good. However, I have a lot of fears about my first attempt to shape the hat (Federation IV Deluxe). I tried to persuade a salesman to shape a hat for me, but the ladies from The Hattery disagreed. They wrote that I would certainly manage even at home. Of course I have instructions, I have watched videos, but when I take my Fed to my hand, I start to be scared and it paralyzes my further actions. I'm afraid that I will do something wrong, make a bad shape or damage my hat. You can laugh, but it's a challenge for me. Your shapes are great. I would love to have it over me.
Maybe some first tip for a beginner?

 

[Frunobulax]

Hello there,
all tips and methods look good. However, I have a lot of fears about my first attempt to shape the hat (Federation IV Deluxe). I tried to persuade a salesman to shape a hat for me, but the ladies from The Hattery disagreed. They wrote that I would certainly manage even at home. Of course I have instructions, I have watched videos, but when I take my Fed to my hand, I start to be scared and it paralyzes my further actions. I'm afraid that I will do something wrong, make a bad shape or damage my hat. You can laugh, but it's a challenge for me. Your shapes are great. I would love to have it over me.
Maybe some first tip for a beginner?

Yeah. Dig into the crown and have fun. If you don't like it, change it. If you don't like that, change it again. You won't damage your hat. You would have to crease it a few hundred times to have any effect on the felt.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[Geenee]

Yeah. Dig into the crown and have fun. If you don't like it, change it. If you don't like that, change it again. You won't damage your hat. You would have to crease it a few hundred times to have any effect on the felt.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

You comforted me a little,
thank you.

 

[scottyrocks]

Hello there,
all tips and methods look good. However, I have a lot of fears about my first attempt to shape the hat (Federation IV Deluxe). I tried to persuade a salesman to shape a hat for me, but the ladies from The Hattery disagreed. They wrote that I would certainly manage even at home. Of course I have instructions, I have watched videos, but when I take my Fed to my hand, I start to be scared and it paralyzes my further actions. I'm afraid that I will do something wrong, make a bad shape or damage my hat. You can laugh, but it's a challenge for me. Your shapes are great. I would love to have it over me.
Maybe some first tip for a beginner?

Put some water in your tea kettle. Bring to a boil.

Hold the part of the hat you want to shape over the steam for about 10 seconds, rotating or otherwise moving the hat so the steam hits all the areas you will working on. For example, when I do a front pinch I rotate the hat across the front and top so the steam hits the hat about half way back on both sides. You want some of the surrounding felt to be able to move freely so your crease can form more or less organically. At least I do.

Squeeze the hat into the shape you want and hold it for about a minute.

Voila.

Try it on in front of a mirror. If you don't like it, you can change it using the same method. And as long as you don't put razor-sharp creases in it, you will not damage the hat.

 

[Geenee]

The problem is that you write this as experienced users with easy access to new resources. Once I tried to slightly change the shape of my old Banjo Paterson (using steam from the kettle) and the right angle between the crown and the brim has changed into a gentle arch, like Snufkin hat. It made me so sad that I stopped wearing this hat.

 

[scottyrocks]

The problem is that you write this as experienced users with easy access to new resources. Once I tried to slightly change the shape of my old Banjo Paterson (using steam from the kettle) and the right angle between the crown and the brim has changed into a gentle arch, like Snufkin hat. It made me so sad that I stopped wearing this hat.

Easy access to new resources? Sure, hats just fall out the trees at my feet when I want a new one.

I can think of three things that could cause this: repeatedly pulling a too-small hat down on your head by the brim, or pulling it down over a too-large block after steaming it, or a hat that is so old and been put through so much wear and tear (think Indiana Jones Streets of Cairo hat) that it just becomes generally soft and floppy misshapen.

Basically, like anything else, it takes practice. If you don't steam the brim break or pull on it too much it won't get deformed.

 

[jlee562]

You're over thinking it. Forming a crease is not hard. Almost all creases start with a center dent. I do kind a karate chop. If you're worried about it, grab a rolling pin or paper towel tube and use it to push the crown down. Pinch the front with your fingers, viola. You've done it.

As far as your Banjo, steam it again and put it on a flat table. This should help restore the brim break. The felt will want to stay in whatever shape it dries in.

 

[Geenee]

Thank you for everything Guys. I promises that I will soon try to shape my Fed IV. I would like to take some photos for you and ask for a possible correction.

 

[Geenee]

When Banjo was almost new

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Thank you for everything Guys. I promises that I will soon try to shape my Fed IV. I would like to take some photos for you and ask for a possible correction.

Welcome to the lounge Geenee.
There’s no law that says you must re-bash a new hat. If it has a crease, wear it till you get tired of looking at it or someone sits on it, then bash it.
It ain’t goin anywhere.
Enjoy the honeymoon dude then renew your vows later!
Be well. Bowen