Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

[Darrell2688]

Hi Bilal,
Atlanta? I thought that you were out west or north west any way. So how are things in Atlanta?
Check your messages up in the top right next to your name.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hi Brent,

I am sorry but no I do not have a block over 60cm RO, I think that I would need a 63cm LO block for that hat size, correct me if I am wrong. I can always try to get a 63cm LO block, however I know Clint has enough orders to keep him in the work shop until the end of January. The only way to get a block faster would be to go with one of those blocks made of plastic.

It would be great if I did.

Do you get your blocks from Clint Crump? I’d go haves with you on one of his blocks and you can keep the block if you’re interested? I’m not in any hurry…and yes, think it would need to be a 63cm LO block.

 

[Darrell2688]

I will check with Clint and see when he might be able to get a block made for me. The other problem is the flange. This hat has a 3" wide brim, but the snap works perfectly. By the way what color felt would you want for this style hat? I only have rabbit felts on hand, one of these days I will get my hands on a beaver felt to work with.

 

[gam]

I've re-worked around 14 hats so far, all of the brims the same size as when I got them (2 1/4 to 4 "), as

I"ve been reluctant to trim any of them down since I don't have a rounding jack.

So, I picked up an old, faded, beat up wooly to practice on (almost free and only 10 minutes away).

Since I don't have a real rounding jack, I improvised one.

It worked out way better than I hoped. The rotary cutter did a nice crisp, clean, even cut - no sanding or touch-up necessary.

The block was cut 1/8" narrower than the final dimension, and the pink disc at the cutter's hub rides against it, so I can keep the cutter away from the wood and perpendicular to the brim.

 

[TheRedBlueBlur]

Well it has been a while since I posted anything on the forum and I just finished a fedora that I just finished so I thought that I would post a few photos of my work. I have a couple of hats posted for sale on Ebay with a lot of people watching. Any way I have come up with a name for my hats and here is my latest creation.
View attachment 561281 View attachment 561282 View attachment 561283 View attachment 561284 View attachment 561285 View attachment 561286 View attachment 561287

Hi, I’m totally new here and only dipping my toe in the world of hat making, but do you mind me asking how many blocks you need? It’s probably a stupid question, but do you need one per size?

 

[belfastboy]

Hi, I’m totally new here and only dipping my toe in the world of hat making, but do you mind me asking how many blocks you need? It’s probably a stupid question, but do you need one per size?

You need two per size. To make a proper custom hat you need to fit the head's shape. not just size Men are for the most part either long oval or regular oval. So you need to cover the size range, (size 7 up to 7 5/8" and you will have most covered) in both long and regular oval. Then you have to decide which block profile you want to offer. The two most popular are #51 & #52 but shapes/profiles are almost infinite in their variety.

Then you need to decide how tall you want the open crown to be. Technicaly you need a block for each block height you plan to offer. (but there is a workaround). I know a hatter that owns over 3000 blocks and another 3000 flanges. I have a very very modest collection of 50 blocks and about the same number of flanges. It is a rabbit hole in which hatters fall into.

Collecting blocks & flanges is a lifetime's work.

 

[Rmccamey]

Any of you milliners have a reputable source of leather hat bands?

 

[belfastboy]

If it is Any of you milliners have a reputable source of leather hat bands?

Any of you milliners have a reputable source of leather hat bands?

I use Western Lifestyles Unlimited on Ebay for their braided horsehair hat bands. They are good quality at a good price. I have not purchased any of their leather bands as I make my own.

 

[Darrell2688]

I recently contacted Clint and he was down with the Flu all last week and he is just now getting better. He told me that thay have had a lot of snow fall so he is pretty much stuck in side right now but plans to be back out working on the hat blocks orders next week. He is working on a different style block, one with a removable bottom section, he didn't go into details but I am guessing a 6" tall crown with a removable 1 1/2" thick bottom.
Clint has 2 CNC machines right now, one to make the rounded tops and the other to make the base sections, he told me that it takes him about 2 hours per block on the cutting part, gluing the sections together and then applying Varethane takes a bit longer.

Does any one know how tall a block would need to be to make a hat for a woman?

Does 4 1/2" or 5" tall sound about right?

 

[belfastboy]

I think this is a stroke of marketing genius. Sunrise Hats are now marketing Nutria felts as "Bayou Beaver". Way better than 'Big Rats".....makes them actually quite appealing sounding.

 

[Darrell2688]

That is a big improvement in a felt name for sure, sure beats thinking about wearing a hat made of rat fur.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I think this is a stroke of marketing genius. Sunrise Hats are now marketing Nutria felts as "Bayou Beaver". Way better than 'Big Rats".....makes them actually quite appealing sounding.

You don’t like “coypu?” How about Rat Gondin as our Italian friends call it. Maybe “swamp otter?”

 

[shopkin]

Beavers and nutria are both rodents. Mink, otters and other weasel-shaped animals are not rodents.

 

[belfastboy]

You don’t like “coypu?” How about Rat Gondin as our Italian friends call it. Maybe “swamp otter?”

Even though Otters are nasty little critters they look cute so folks would not want to kill them to wear. I think Bayou Beaver is a huge step up from "Rat Gondin"....even if I say it with a fake accent!!!

 

[Darrell2688]

I recently posted a black fedora on Ebay for sale, one thing is for certain you get a number of people that put your item on their watch list. The hat is posted for sale and I think that they are waiting to see if I drop the price. I have seen a few hats on Ebay that I am interested in, I am looking for mainly fyr felt hats in brown or sable color, high crowns and wide brims, something that I can put some work in and give the felt a new or old shape. I found a Stetson 4x beaver, the size is too small and the brim width is 3", so I had to walk away from that one. Here is a photo of the fedora that I posted on Ebay.

I did have a different bow knot in it before, black with a touch of gray, however after some thought I decided to change it to this style bow knot. Believe it or not this hat does have a snap brim, it is a size 7 3/8" with a 2 7/8" wide brim.

Happy New Year to everyone here on the Fedora lounge, I am really thankful to be a part of this great community, The Fordua Lounge members are friendly and always willing to help another member with information that will help with problems that they may encounter while working on hats. I thank you all for the help that you have provided and continue to provide. I hope that everyone has a great prosperous 2024.

Darrell

 

[Hatneophyte]

You need two per size. To make a proper custom hat you need to fit the head's shape. not just size Men are for the most part either long oval or regular oval. So you need to cover the size range, (size 7 up to 7 5/8" and you will have most covered) in both long and regular oval. Then you have to decide which block profile you want to offer. The two most popular are #51 & #52 but shapes/profiles are almost infinite in their variety.

Then you need to decide how tall you want the open crown to be. Technicaly you need a block for each block height you plan to offer. (but there is a workaround). I know a hatter that owns over 3000 blocks and another 3000 flanges. I have a very very modest collection of 50 blocks and about the same number of flanges. It is a rabbit hole in which hatters fall into.

Collecting blocks & flanges is a lifetime's work.

Dear Belfastboy,

I have been following your advice and just subscribe to this website to respond to you on this one.
I am new to the business and used to use shaped block to do hats (I am new hatmaker in Tunisia since one year). I would like to go to the next level now and shape by hands, I have contacted hatblockpoland and would love to get your advice as my order will cost me a lot of money since I will take from 55cm to 62cm. for #51 and #52. I am correct if I order that ? he just responded this to me "I know the shapes, what should the oval of the bottom of the crown be, long oval, full, slim? To be sure, tomorrow I will send you drawings of the ovals and you will decide, okay." I would love that you guide me in this order because it will cost a lot of money.

I have a conformateur Allie Maillard, and most of the shapes I have are either long oval, small long oval or pear. I am confused on what block exactly using :

1) do you use the type of block depending on the shape of the client's head or do you use the type of block depending on the shape above you want it to be (diamonds, fedora, stetson etc)

2) as I am starting I will be ordering 51 and 52 but what is the real difference in terms of finishing ?

3) can I contact you privately and take me through the order, since it is a big one maybe you should tell him that I come from you ... I am expecting a discount loooolll

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I am inserting the different image of the client head shape I have : top left never seen it in Tunisia, but the other I have seen

Something doesn’t look right to me. I’ve never seen head shapes that look anything like your conformateur shapes.

 

[Hatneophyte]

Something doesn’t look right to me. I’ve never seen head shapes that look anything like your conformateur shapes.

sorry these are not from my conformateur shapes, they are from a website. See below the one I have encountered so far (I am a new business)

 

[belfastboy]

sorry these are not from my conformateur shapes, they are from a website. See below the one I have encountered so far (I am a new business)
View attachment 576993

Show a picture of your conformateur. Those shapes still look weird to me. A majority of heads (men) are regular oval and all those look to be very long oval.

 

[Hatneophyte]

Show a picture of your conformateur. Those shapes still look weird to me. A majority of heads (men) are regular oval and all those look to be very long oval.

See below my conformateur, it is worth mentioning that 70% of our clients are women for now (we are relatively new in the business)