Forming the Brim

[Jedwbpm]

As some of you know I just got a federation IV deluxe off ebay. It was bashed for the "Turn" and I did not like it. My hatter is off until January for blocking and cleaning so I am using the time to mess with the hat on my own knowing that if I really mess it up I can bring it to Delmonico's to fix up in a few weeks.

With that the back of the hat's brim turns up only slightly. I would like a more pronounced upturn. I have seen a lot of info on forming the crown but not much on the brim. So any advice on how to set the upward curve on a brim?

Thanx

Jeff

 

[monbla256]

For me, brims have always needed LOTS of steam and many times you might need to steam it UP ALL the way around till it is up as far as you want, THEN bring the front down. It's what I do to get mine set for me besides just wear and rain

 

[Alan-Eby]

I've got my brims to do what I want with quite a bit of steam and bending it quite a bit more than you actually want it to look. My wife freaked out because a had a drastic curve in one of my (then) new hats, but the next morning it looked perfect and she was impressed.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I've got my brims to do what I want with quite a bit of steam and bending it quite a bit more than you actually want it to look. My wife freaked out because a had a drastic curve in one of my (then) new hats, but the next morning it looked perfect and she was impressed.

My green Churchill, which recently came back from Optimo with a shorter and re-bound brim, is like that. It started life as 6 7/8, and I've stretched it to fit my size 7 skull. However, that shifted the brim ever so slightly, so that when I put it on after the stretching, the swoop I like to the front brim was gone. So I remolded it with distilled water spray and patience so that in profile, sitting on the edge of my wooden chair arm, it looks like it dips a bit too far. But when I put it on, it shapes nicely.