Is it my imagination or does a Hat Jack tend to stretch a hat into a long oval. I swear my hat that was just stretched feels TOTALLY DIFFERENT! I don't mean too big different, I mean weird different
I've only used mine to stretch my hats a little bit and didn't notice any changes to their ovality. But then, my head appears to be slightly wider than a regular oval so when I put my hats on it pushes at the sides of the crown, which in turn tends to pull the front and back slightly inward again, negating any ovality changes the hat jack might have made.Is it my imagination or does a Hat Jack tend to stretch a hat into a long oval. I swear my hat that was just stretched feels TOTALLY DIFFERENT! I don't mean too big different, I mean weird different
Bingo! Doesn't take a PE to figure out a hat jack only works in two opposing directions, not four or six.If you stretch a circle with the pressure on two opposite sides, it becomes an oval; that is simple physics.
Not necessarily. Apparently, someone makes a four-way hat jack:Bingo! Doesn't take a PE to figure out a hat jack only works in two opposing directions, not four or six.
It has been discussed here before. Not many spend $125.00 for a hat Jack.Not necessarily. Apparently, someone makes a four-way hat jack:
According to the websites it's limited to sizes ranging from 6-5/8 to 7-1/2 and costs considerably more than a regular hat jack ($100 and up), but if someone had a lot of hats in smaller sizes that needed to be stretched in four directions regularly it might be worth the investment.
Not necessarily. Apparently, someone makes a four-way hat jack:
According to the websites it's limited to sizes ranging from 6-5/8 to 7-1/2 and costs considerably more than a regular hat jack ($100 and up), but if someone had a lot of hats in smaller sizes that needed to be stretched in four directions regularly it might be worth the investment.
Not so sure about any 4-way Hat Jacks, per say, but a 4-way Hat Stretcher does exist out here at Western Costume Company in Los Angeles. I bought one for the business awhile back. Here's their link:
http://www.wccsupplystore.com/4-way-wooden-hat-stretcher/
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I wish it went bigger than 7-1/2, though!
There have been four way hat extenders or hat stretchers and can probably be found on Ebay if you're lucky. These are two examples (not mine):Maybe Mr. Woodtroll is still around after a year or so, but I was wondering if it would be possible to put some form of elastic spacer around this 4 ways jack to make it fit a larger size than 7 1/2? maybe this idea could help him.
On hat jacks and expanding in a more circular way.
Expanding in 4 directions instead of two would of course make more of a round shape than a 2 directions could. It may not be ideal but it vastly improves even on traditional wooden or aluminum hat stretchers which of course move in two opposite directions.
Now and mind you, what follows is only a speculation ( I don’t know if such thing exists, therefore, please, go gently on me I only mean this in a constructive way and don’t need been given any flack)
Fo metal tubing (which of course requires a force way higher than any hat would or should) they have 6 petals hydraulic expanders. A similar approach (but without the hydraulic part) may be used for hats and there would be no need of making the petals of heavy metal but dense plastic or wood (for a more traditional look) would work very well. Again this is just a thought I am not aiming at suggesting you use such a (expensive and powerful) machine on hats.