Hat Stiffeners

[Joao Encarnado]

If you were to take your fur felt hat under a microscope, it would look like millions of little fibers grabbing one another in a chaotic yet unifying process. When you tease fur over heat with moisture and tensions - felt is created.

Alan once posted some microscope pictures of different kind of felts. Can't find the thread...

 

[Brother cavefish]

I say this from experience my akubra was well rained on and the shellac the factory used in their process wore down and it became softer

 

[Pa Fig]

Before:

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After:





No starch - no glue - no spray. I did replace the ribbon and fold the bow from a 1930's petersham/grosgrain spool.

This is an old Stetson - about a two week refurbish.
I have an old Harry Rolnick design Kitten 15 Fedora that I am hours away from finish - 10 days in on this one. Pictures to come.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Nice! I like it!

 

[Brother cavefish]

wow sweet , you sure pulled that one off

 

[John Galt]

Before:

[/URL][/IMG]

-

After:





No starch - no glue - no spray. I did replace the ribbon and fold the bow from a 1930's petersham/grosgrain spool.

This is an old Stetson - about a two week refurbish.
I have an old Harry Rolnick design Kitten 15 Fedora that I am hours away from finish - 10 days in on this one. Pictures to come.

Did you block & flange, or is this all by hand? Either way, it looks great, but if this was all by hand, I am truly impressed!

 

[RJR]

+1

 

[Pa Fig]

Did you block & flange, or is this all by hand?

John, everything by hand. I have one old antique block around a 6.78 that I use to (what I call) push and pull crowns, to help rebuild strength. But no molds, flanges, or specialty blocks. I do Everything free hand. I have been working on hats regular for near 15 years now.

I operate a Reimers boiler that has been converted for steam. It is pedal driven and gives me the short hot bursts I need to restore. Other than that, innumerable orange sponges, and a light and a dark brush. (of course top quality sewing gear too

I do have a Facebook page with some of my work on it from the past couple years, if you are ever interested in taking a look, the page title is: Pa Fig - Hat Shaper (with the dash).

Either way, it looks great, but if this was all by hand, I am truly impressed!

Thank you - very kind of you.

 

[John Galt]

I calls 'em like I sees 'em ;-)

 

[Winston Carter]

Bickmore Felt Stiffener. It is the absolute best IMO. Have done about 3/4 of my hats with it. Great for sealing and setting when you get your hats perfectly styled to your taste.

 

[JessieJames]

Bickmore Felt Stiffener. It is the absolute best IMO. Have done about 3/4 of my hats with it. Great for sealing and setting when you get your hats perfectly styled to your taste.

Is there any harm in putting stiffener in the hat over and over like it'll coat the felt and fibres too much and will ruin the hat?

Let's say if you want to reshape it over and over

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Is there a "trick" to using Kahl's Hat Stiffener?

Either this product is the worst stuff ever made or I'm doing something wrong.

On some hats I've had remarkably good results, on others not so much.

On the bad attempts it seems like I have to use a whole bottle of the stuff to get the desired stiffness, then as the hat dries it leaves "white spots" all over the hat. Usually I can hold the hat over a steaming pot of water and the white spots will go away. This also tends to help the stiffener "set" to my desired stiffness of really, really, stiff.

But I'm getting tired of the effort it takes to get a good result.

There's got to be an easier way to use this stuff.

I think you want to start with a bone dry hat prior to most stiffeners. Let it dry overnight before steam.
I'm a carpenter, and just happened to have Zinzer shellac on one of my paint shelves (both aerosol and in a can, no less --- no chip mixing here) so started trying it on wool thriftstore hats I'm learning on, then beaters, and last night a velour Stetson Sovereign I'm converting in reverse. If my hats aren't dry, I get white streaks and lines that look like drips after they dry.
When I did get drips, before I learned, a rag or sponge damp with denatured alcahol took them out.

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[Hat and Rehat]

Is there any harm in putting stiffener in the hat over and over like it'll coat the felt and fibres too much and will ruin the hat?

Let's say if you want to reshape it over and over

I don't think you should have to do it over and over, unless you didn't get it stiff enough on earlier attempts. Once its there, you can reshape over and over again.

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[Hat and Rehat]

Is there any harm in putting stiffener in the hat over and over like it'll coat the felt and fibres too much and will ruin the hat?

Let's say if you want to reshape it over and over

I have a thriftstore wool fedora with a 5 1/2" crown and stingy brim. It's a black hat that had a white satin ribbon, but is my size, so I started experimenting. I opened the crown and reflanged the brim flat with an iron. It has shapeable wire in the overwelt, so when I tried it on I curled the sides up and the front and back slightly down. Wow! Nice looking derby! Well, I don't have a derby. Enough said.
Last night I shellaced the inside and outside of the crown with a sponge (don't do the outside with fur, but its fine with wool), full strength out of the Zinzer can. I usually dilute it, but a derby is supposed to be stiff. Today I bushed against the grain once, then with it the rest, and that crown is now nice and stiff with a few soft spots I'll shellac again from the inside.
I dont seem to have hurt the hat at all.
+



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[DanO]

I say this from experience my akubra was well rained on and the shellac the factory used in their process wore down and it became softer

I have an Akubra stylemaster we got SOAKED in Juneau Alaska it was/is a 60 dried ok and now is about a 60.5 and is my go to rain hat.