Home-made hat blocks? About to attempt my first re-shaping job...

[rjenkins]

I keep forgetting to ask this. But I've wondered if it's better to avoid getting the liner wet. Or does the water spritzed on the outside not even penetrate all the way through the felt? Thanks!

With both of mine (70s and new), after folding the hat band down the liner is only held in place with four glue spots.

Carefully peeling it off one spot allows you to get your hand past the liner to work the felt from the inside & tell when the water has fully penetrated the felt.

Keeping the liner folded back also allows better ventilation for drying after you have got the crease right.

Once you re-position the liner and fold the band back in to position, the lack of one glue spot does not seem to have any effect.

 

[Andykev]

Not that WET

Hold on folks!

What is the issue? You do NOT soak the hat, the steam and a "mist" of water would do wonders. You do NOT soak the hat to the extent of wetting the liner, if this is a general shaping issue.

If you are RESIZING the hat, you need to dismantle it. Then it goes on the appropriate sized block. This gives you more brim on a downsize, less on an upsize.

Of course, if your hat needs this much work (sizing) then the ribbon won't be correct, the liner needs to be sewn in tighter or looser, etc.

I recommend you send your hat to a reputable hatter.

 

[tonyb]

One caveat, lest anyone waste his scratch ...

For every block (and flange) found on eBay that might do what you wish for it to do, there are several that won't.

Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but ...

Blocks come in varying sizes and styles and heights; flanges in varying sizes and styles and widths.

Wanna restore that tall, relatively straight-sided crown on that old hat of yours? It will be hard to achieve that without a tall, straight-sided block. And that tall, straight-sided block had better be at least close to the right size. (Although there are tricks to going up or down maybe one size.) Wanna get that wide brim on that '40s vintage lid back into the right swoop? Better have the right flange. (Wider ones can be kinda hard to come by, and you really can't flange a wide brim on a narrow flange.) And a flange stand comes in handy, too, although you could probably fake that easily enough.

Enough people have figured this out that the "right" blocks are fetching considerably higher prices on eBay than the "wrong" ones. The would-be buyer's decision is made easier by an accurate description and photos, but keep in mind that most eBay sellers haven't a clue about this stuff. Their measurements are often way off and they frequently don't know to provide the information stamped on the bottoms of the blocks and the ends of the flanges. (It's not at all uncommon for a seller to suggest that a flange might make a dandy picture frame.)

I'm happy to have every piece of equipment in my shop, but truth be known, I could get by just fine without a goodly portion of it. There just isn't much demand for size 6 1/2 hats, you know.