Felt Micrographs

[alanfgag]

I've been thinking of this project for some time and today had a chance to experiment a little. I have an old microscope to which I attached one of my astronomy cameras for a little bit of felt portraiture. Not an easy target as the felt has thickness and the optical depth of field is nil. But here are the first efforts . As with most matter, there is a lot of empty space when you get up close.

Stetson 7X Clear Beaver Quality under the lens:

under magnification:

1920s Stetson No. 1 Quality at somewhat lower power:

1930s Stetson Clear Nutria Quality:

Will try to improve this technique and add some better photos down the road.

 

[alanfgag]

The field of view at low power, shown by this ruler (markings are 1/64") is approximately 1/32" in the long dimension... about the size of 1 crossing in a 1000 wpsi Panama hat.

 

[Brad Bowers]

This is the coolest thread we've had come down the pike in a long, long time! Way to go, Alan! I can't wait to see more.

Brad

 

[Garrett]

Amazing, Alan!!! Please keep going

 

[Rogera]

:arated: I love threads like this!

 

[splintercellsz]

Alan, thank you for posting these photos, let alone creating this thread. Very interesting! Thank you, again!

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Sweet! This is going to take the "Side by Side Comparison" thread into a whole new direction!!

 

[fashion frank]

I will have to assume that the lines are single fibers of the felt , question is more fibers ,better hat ?

Please enlighten me and btw awesome thread and looking forward to getting an education on this.

All the Best ,Fashion frank

 

[TheDane]

Alan, what a brilliant initiative! You revitalize the old phrase "Scientific Hat Finishing" and give it a whole new dimension. I can't wait to see where this goes ... not to say ends. Who needs TV, when we've got our own Mythbuster/-confirmer right here?

Personally I would love to see three or four shots in standardized enlargements of each hat/felt:

1) A very close 'barb-portrait' of a few hairs, showing the amount, size and structure of the barbs on each hair
2) A little more distant shot, showing the density of the felting (the amount of hairs and their 'tangling' together)
3) An even more distant shot, showing the length and orientation of hairs
4) Some other stuff ... I always seem to forget something

That's just my wishes, but I may not be in tune with other loungers. Whatever you decide on, this is bound to become one of the most interesting threads on the site. Please receive my warm thanks and standing ovations :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks for your notes... I'm glad you enjoy the idea. I will refine the presentation to show additional views of the felt. You can see the interesting ribbed structure of the beaver felt fibers. The nutria hairs do not seem to have these and appear to be smoother, at least in this example. All three hats from this first test run are fine dense felts. Even the densest appears as a loose gaggle of threads at this magnification. It will be interesting to see if the quality differences in the felts become apparent. I might switch to a larger camera sensor and reduce the image a little.

To give another sense of scale, this image shows the edge binding on the 7XCB. The vertical ridges are the ribbing in the grosgrain ribbon. The horizontal structure is the stitching thread.

 

[Missouri Mason]

This is a very interesting series of photos! Nice work! It really is cool to see how the fibers interlock.

 

[ManofKent]

Great addition to the forum Alan

 

[Geldoc]

Really creative and informative, Alan. There are some other optical techniques (e.g. different types of microscopic imaging such as interference contrast) that might shed additional light (forgive the pun) on the felt structure and color. When I get back to my lab from vacation, I'll play around a bit with some different hats.

 

[Tomasso]

Cool stuff, Alan! I attended an art expo (either Basel or Chicago) several years ago where a photog was showing photos shot with a similar technique, using a variety of subjects. His gallery drew one of the largest crowds.

 

[Landman]

Very interesting. In the first photos the Nutria looks to be the most tightly woven felt.

Thanks for all your work Alan.

 

[hatsRme]

Another wonderful convergence of art and science, THANKS to Alan.

I passed up a Scanning Electron Microscope at an industrial auction a while ago because I wasn't sure I had anything I needed to look at. It went for only $2400. Had I known...

 

[DJH]

Alan, while this is really interesting, I'm intrigued as to what the ladies in your life make of this little project.

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks again for the feedback. This is a very old German microscope with simple optics. I'm sure a modern laboratory instrument would provide more exciting data. But I will keep trying to refine the technique.

Alan, while this is really interesting, I'm intrigued as to what the ladies in your life make of this little project.

Very funny you should ask, David. I had promised Lily (who has another ten days at home before we head off to deliver her to college) a trip to the mall and a pair of Ray Bans. She was positively stomping around while I was doing this, shaking her head and saying some choice words about my ridiculous hobbies. It brought back memories of another microscopic research project with this instrument that coincided with an outbreak of head lice in her Montessori school. That was interesting too.

 

[Denton]

Beautiful! And interesting to see how much empty space there is in solid objects.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Very interesting! Maybe you should try less magnification?