From central dent to C crown

[groover]

Is it possible to do from a central dent hat to a C-crown?

 

[gtdean48]

If you have enough crown to work with, sure.

 

[job]

Sometimes the crown is resistant to change and tries to go back to the original crease. A hat can show old creases sometimes which can look weird.

Try lots of steam on the hat. Remember it's the steam not the heat you need. Heat can shrink the felt and then you'll have a new problem.
It may take some time but you should be able to get what you want with steam and patience.

 

[jlee562]

This is a perfect candidate for the ask a question, get an answer thread.

Generally speaking, yes. Modern hats with the blocked in crease tend to be harder to change.

 

[scottyrocks]

Depending on the hat, the best way to do this conversion, providing here is enough crown, is with a re-block. The liner, and preferably the sweatband, is removed, the felt is wet, stretched over a block, and allowed to dry. It is then removed from the block, and it can be re-creased with less chance of the old crease creeping it's way back in.

Oh, and it's 'center' dent.

 

[DougC]

I would think yes--I always start my c crown with a center dent.

 

[Annixter]

In my experience, it's easier cosmetically to mold a teardrop crown from a center dent than vice versa because most, if not all, of the original crease lines of the center dent end up wrapped into the teardrop parameter ridges or down into the gutter to where they don't show, or at least not easily. If there are crease lines/marks in an original teardrop, they often times land on the sides of a center dent which is not desirable. The biggest problem with crease lines I usually encounter is at the front pinch in the event you want to widen the pinch because these crease lines seem to be the heaviest from handling and whatnot. Obviously, this all depends on how deep you make your dents, etc.

As for steam, I agree with Job that steam with the least amount of heat is preferable, but I caution that some felts can see negative results with too much steam, so go easy at first. I have had great results using a tea kettle as a steamer because the spout is small enough to where the steam can be precisely directed onto the felt, and you don't get the surrounding heat applied to the felt that you do when using a clothing iron. There are some great threads here on reshaping felt, which I recommend you hunt down and review before endeavoring to reshape. A very important thing is to make sure the hat is very, very well brushed and cleaned because any loose dirt present can easily become mud that is much harder to extract.