Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

[belfastboy]

I don't know why the hell I do it......In November I ordered a block from RA during his anniversary sale. It arrived the wrong shape even after I scanned and emailed the footprint and dimensions of the block I wanted....received a RegOval instead of the Long Oval. He was gracious and refunded my money and I sent the block back. Found a maker in the UK and ordered two blocks from him and they arrived amazingly quick 8 days from order to arrival....I was thrilled when UPS showed up with blocks then shattered as soon as I opened the box to discover they were the wrong size. He made them an inch too short and instead of a #52 with a slight dome I got a completely flat Boss of the Plains top. He too was gracious and refunded my money and due to the expense of sending back told me to keep them. Sooo, I am thinking I should have stuck with Jerzy at HatBlocksPoland as he supplied all my other blocks and did a great job. The dimensions/shapes are exactly to my spec. He will get my orders from here on in.....lesson learned.

 

[belfastboy]

I hope you take some photos of this process Bob. Thanks for what you have shared so far.

Yes, will snap pics and post as I progress.

 

[T Jones]

I don't know why the hell I do it......In November I ordered a block from RA during his anniversary sale. It arrived the wrong shape even after I scanned and emailed the footprint and dimensions of the block I wanted....received a RegOval instead of the Long Oval. He was gracious and refunded my money and I sent the block back. Found a maker in the UK and ordered two blocks from him and they arrived amazingly quick 8 days from order to arrival....I was thrilled when UPS showed up with blocks then shattered as soon as I opened the box to discover they were the wrong size. He made them an inch too short and instead of a #52 with a slight dome I got a completely flat Boss of the Plains top. He too was gracious and refunded my money and due to the expense of sending back told me to keep them. Sooo, I am thinking I should have stuck with Jerzy at HatBlocksPoland as he supplied all my other blocks and did a great job. The dimensions/shapes are exactly to my spec. He will get my orders from here on in.....lesson learned.

I hate to say anything, but I had the same experience with HSHOC. The block, the flanges,...were all wrong. Definitely not what I ordered and I rarely use them. The only thing they got right was the flange stand. I was really disappointed.

 

[belfastboy]

I hate to say anything, but I had the same experience with HSHOC. The block, the flanges,...were all wrong. Definitely not what I ordered and I rarely use them. The only thing they got right was the flange stand. I was really disappointed.

My Brit source was HatBlocksDirect. His price is great and delivery was amazing.....downhill from there.

 

[belfastboy]

I hate to say anything, but I had the same experience with HSHOC. The block, the flanges,...were all wrong. Definitely not what I ordered and I rarely use them. The only thing they got right was the flange stand. I was really disappointed.

From now on it is HatBlockPoland as my block source....Jerzy is a true craftsman and produces a stellar block that looks great too.

 

[Gobi]

I don't know why the hell I do it......In November I ordered a block from RA during his anniversary sale. It arrived the wrong shape even after I scanned and emailed the footprint and dimensions of the block I wanted....received a RegOval instead of the Long Oval. He was gracious and refunded my money and I sent the block back. Found a maker in the UK and ordered two blocks from him and they arrived amazingly quick 8 days from order to arrival....I was thrilled when UPS showed up with blocks then shattered as soon as I opened the box to discover they were the wrong size. He made them an inch too short and instead of a #52 with a slight dome I got a completely flat Boss of the Plains top. He too was gracious and refunded my money and due to the expense of sending back told me to keep them. Sooo, I am thinking I should have stuck with Jerzy at HatBlocksPoland as he supplied all my other blocks and did a great job. The dimensions/shapes are exactly to my spec. He will get my orders from here on in.....lesson learned.

How long does shipping usually take to the states from Hat Blocks Poland? He shipped my block on Nov 24th and I still haven't gotten it. I ordered in early October. That's quite a wait. Looking forward to getting it.

 

[belfastboy]

How long does shipping usually take to the states from Hat Blocks Poland? He shipped my block on Nov 24th and I still haven't gotten it. I ordered in early October. That's quite a wait. Looking forward to getting it.

Damn, mine took 14-17 days on average for 3 separate orders to Canada. He also gave me a tracking #. Stuck in Customs?

 

[Gobi]

Damn, mine took 14-17 days on average for 3 separate orders to Canada. He also gave me a tracking #. Stuck in Customs?

Could be, his tracking ended when it left Poland. He's looking into it.

 

[mayserwegener]

How long does shipping usually take to the states from Hat Blocks Poland? He shipped my block on Nov 24th and I still haven't gotten it. I ordered in early October. That's quite a wait. Looking forward to getting it.

I know DHL Germany is shipping non Express packages by boat. Waits can be very long. Also USPS tracking + overall operation (not going to improve anytime soon) is very suspect at this point in time. Back in December I had a package arrive from Austria with no follow-up USPS tracking once it left Austria. This package arrived in a couple weeks so certainly sent by Air. Unfortunately we are rolling the dice at this point when it comes to International shipments relying on USPS.

 

[belfastboy]

Here is progress report 2. Rough cut complete. Tomorrow we route out the inner circle and plot the slope dimensions. I will wheel my neighbour's sander into my shop and begin the shaping. He has a gauge/mold to use in the shaping.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Here is progress report 2. Rough cut complete. Tomorrow we route out the inner circle and plot the slope dimensions. I will wheel my neighbour's sander into my shop and begin the shaping. He has a gauge/mold to use in the shaping. View attachment 302069 View attachment 302070 View attachment 302071

outstanding!

 

[belfastboy]

Here is the next phase and very close to complete. Just needs a little more slope and then a finish coat. It will accomadate a 62.5cm block with felt. I call it my DeadlyHandsome flange. It sure helps to have the right tools and my next door neighbour has a full woodwork shop...... He did the router work, I did the rough cuts and the sanding. Maybe I can convince him to do one more for 60cm block then I can pretty much cover the range of mens sizes I am well pleased.

.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Here is the next phase and very close to complete. Just needs a little more slope and then a finish coat. It will accomadate a 62.5cm block with felt. I call it my DeadlyHandsome flange. It sure helps to have the right tools and my next door neighbour has a full woodwork shop...... He did the router work, I did the rough cuts and the sanding. Maybe I can convince him to do one more for 60cm block then I can pretty much cover the range of mens sizes I am well pleased. View attachment 302908 . View attachment 302907

Looks great! We’ll have to put it to good use!

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

Here is the next phase and very close to complete. Just needs a little more slope and then a finish coat. It will accomadate a 62.5cm block with felt. I call it my DeadlyHandsome flange. It sure helps to have the right tools and my next door neighbour has a full woodwork shop...... He did the router work, I did the rough cuts and the sanding. Maybe I can convince him to do one more for 60cm block then I can pretty much cover the range of mens sizes I am well pleased. View attachment 302908 . View attachment 302907

Don't forget to add the channel for the blocking cord and the inner recess to accommodate the hat bow.

 

[belfastboy]

Don't forget to add the channel for the blocking cord and the inner recess to accommodate the hat bow.

I am skipping the channel for the bow, never use it. If I am reflanging I will have torn the hat down to the felt anyway. The blocking cord will be added just before the finish is applied

 

[humanshoes]

Here is the next phase and very close to complete. Just needs a little more slope and then a finish coat. It will accomadate a 62.5cm block with felt. I call it my DeadlyHandsome flange. It sure helps to have the right tools and my next door neighbour has a full woodwork shop...... He did the router work, I did the rough cuts and the sanding. Maybe I can convince him to do one more for 60cm block then I can pretty much cover the range of mens sizes I am well pleased. View attachment 302908 . View attachment 302907

Looks great Robert! Kudos to you and your good neighbor. I'm with you on the bow recess. It would only come into play if you're flanging or re-flanging a hat with the ribbon on it. The cord groove though, as you know, is essential.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

I am skipping the channel for the bow, never use it.

I'm with you on the bow recess. It would only come into play if you're flanging or re-flanging a hat with the ribbon on it.

My comment was mostly kidding with Robert. I think the flange work looks great and the final result will be a very useful flange.

Here is my argument for the bow recess. My preference at the end of the hat making process after the hat is "completed" is to do final flanging, this is to ensure the brim shape after all ribbon work and brim binding is complete. So if I had distorted the brim unintentionally by the manual sewing of ribbon and bow or even machine sewing the binding on, then that last flanging will take care of it and get it back in shape. For that reason, I like the bow recess. However, if I was doing a hat re-creation that had added character to the brim then I wouldn't re-flange at the end and would finalize the brim shape by hand.

 

[humanshoes]

My comment was mostly kidding with Robert. I think the flange work looks great and the final result will be a very useful flange.

Here is my argument for the bow recess. My preference at the end of the hat making process after the hat is "completed" is to do final flanging, this is to ensure the brim shape after all ribbon work and brim binding is complete. So if I had distorted the brim unintentionally by the manual sewing of ribbon and bow or even machine sewing the binding on, then that last flanging will take care of it and get it back in shape. For that reason, I like the bow recess. However, if I was doing a hat re-creation that had added character to the brim then I wouldn't re-flange at the end and would finalize the brim shape by hand.

No question that the recess is there for a good reason CWV. It does make for that final, perfect flanging with the ribbon and bow in place.

 

[belfastboy]

Here is the completed flange, except for the lacquer finish coat. I am going to play with it for a bit before I lock it in with the final lacquer finish. I did not track the time but approx all in 4 man hours. Having the right tools made it pretty straight forward.

 

[humanshoes]

Here is the completed flange, except for the lacquer finish coat. I am going to play with it for a bit before I lock it in with the final lacquer finish. I did not track the time but approx all in 4 man hours. Having the right tools made it pretty straight forward. View attachment 304243 View attachment 304243 View attachment 304244

Beautiful bb! I love the profile you achieved on that block.