Brim Curls: Kettles, Pencill, etc.

[deadlyhandsome]

It’s a simple tool:

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[Rmccamey]

Great results for a first effort, Brent. Keep up the good work.

My first attempt at brim curling using a Guy Morse-Brown curling tool https://www.hatblocks.co.uk/
The tool is easy to figure out and I’m happy with the results. I didn’t want to lose a lot of brim width so I didn’t take it too far. My practice hat is a used Akubra Cattleman that I picked up at a good price:

Before:

After the curl:

 

[alanfgag]

This thread needs a bump. I’m particularly interested in seeing fedoras with some sort of curled brim treatment rather than homburgs, derbies/bowlers, lords hats, etc. Thanks in advance!

Pulled out this stack which has some old ones...

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Very nice! I’ll keep an eye out for when it makes it way to the top of your rotation and gets some head time.


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[AbbaDatDeHat]

Pulled out this stack which has some old ones...

View attachment 186358

Alan:
I never thought of you as a tease but this has a lot of wonder. Wonderful, wonder what and wondering when.
Black hats, tall crowns and pencil curls....i’m in!!
B

 

[alanfgag]

Alan:
I never thought of you as a tease but this has a lot of wonder. Wonderful, wonder what and wondering when.
Black hats, tall crowns and pencil curls....i’m in!!
B

Hi B...Nothing you haven't seen before I think... wearing the top one today.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

It’s a simple tool:

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I'll post a picture of my makeshift one later. It will make you laugh.

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[Hat and Rehat]

It’s a simple tool:

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And thanks, Brent, for the very detailed shots. I had a pretty good conceptualization of the iron (iron in the sense of ironing, not the periodic table) part, other than being unsure of what size rod was bent. I think a better design to keep the heat from the hands (he did don a glove) would be to connect the iron, the curved rod, to the handle at each end rather than that bulk of bent metal to conduct the heat.
Seeing the wood part in detail helped me brainstorm the "ironing board" end of it.
I owe you.
You probably need one in 1/2" too.
No promises on timing, but I might need someone to test drive a prototype. Scientific Hat Finishing suggests a man could start out with 1/2" alone.
Ermatinger also thought 7/8" was useful, but he farmed his iron work out to a foundry. You could build cages for people out of 7/8" round stock.
Life has dealt me a bit of kryptonite so I don't think I'll be bending that big stuff (anymore ).

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[Cornshucker77]

This black Beaver Brand has a more generous 3 1/2” brim so I gave it more of a curl. No before photo, but it was completely flat:

It’s now a sort of western lords hat.

The tool is easy to use and just requires some patience and multiple applications.




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Excellent work Brent.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Excellent work Brent.

Thanks, Scott.


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[J Williams]

I feel as a woodworker I must say - that curling iron looks like it does it's job well but the finishing leaves a bit to be desired, is that how you got it? or is the burning from use etc.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I feel as a woodworker I must say - that curling iron looks like it does it's job well but the finishing leaves a bit to be desired, is that how you got it? or is the burning from use etc.

I didn’t smell any burning wood, but it could have been me. I had a cotton cloth soaked in water and I used that to regulate the heat...far from precise. Still, the felt was between the steel and the wood and the felt doesn’t show signs of too much heat.


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[J Williams]

I didn’t smell any burning wood, but it could have been me. I had a cotton cloth soaked in water and I used that to regulate the heat...far from precise. Still, the felt was between the steel and the wood and the felt doesn’t show signs of too much heat.

Again just the woodworker in me - functionally nothing wrong with it but I'm looking at it thinking 'give that thing a sand! get rid of those pencil marks and that router burn!'

I can't send anything out the shop door unless it's pretty.

Sorry Brent, I couldn't help it.

 

[J Williams]

On a side note I have been researching millinery tools and I think I am going to start a small run of some items. Definitely not as a business just for fun.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

On a side note I have been researching millinery tools and I think I am going to start a small run of some items. Definitely not as a business just for fun.

Groan.
Competition.
And you have a better shop.

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[deadlyhandsome]

On a side note I have been researching millinery tools and I think I am going to start a small run of some items. Definitely not as a business just for fun.

I’ll be watching! Someday I’d like to pick up a couple more “tools” for my planned hat work bench.


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[AbbaDatDeHat]

On a side note I have been researching millinery tools and I think I am going to start a small run of some items. Definitely not as a business just for fun.

I’m in!

 

[Hat and Rehat]

I said my little experimental curling tool would be good for a laugh.
I made it out of a 'hat stand' that came with a hat stretcher on eBay.. The seller said it was their mother's. It must have been for those little exiter(?) hats women wear, because it was useless for my hats. You could have hidden it completely under that black BRE Alan was wearing yesterday. It had velvet sewn around it that was harder to get off than I expected. The radius was much tighter, so I opened it until it looked good, then went to work with that spoon I lopped the end off of.
A hack job for sure, and a little embarrassing, but it did put a curl in the hat I tried it on.

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[deadlyhandsome]

I placed an order with Mike at The Northwest Hat Company for a hat with a brim curl. He asked if I wanted an half or full curl (his words). He sent me some photos to help:

full curl:

Half curl:

Of course, the size of the curl is a different matter all together. I asked for a much larger curl and I went with full curl.

 

[belfastboy]

Again just the woodworker in me - functionally nothing wrong with it but I'm looking at it thinking 'give that thing a sand! get rid of those pencil marks and that router burn!'

I can't send anything out the shop door unless it's pretty.

Sorry Brent, I couldn't help it.

I purchased mine some time after Brent and it did not have the router burns on it. Perhaps this was an early version. I love mine as it is so versatile and inexpensive as I only have to purchase one not an entire set.