I love the Fed IV!!

[Erehwon]

 

[johnnycanuck]

Workflow:
1. Place hat on the table
2. Flatten you hand
3. Slap on it with energy and passion
4. Shape it

I wanted to find a way to get rid of the little taper of the hat. So I developed a complex workflow for the Fed IV.

Slapping on the hat. Somehow, if you crease it after that, the taper is even more less. The hat fits better (stiffer is gone). And it looks even better.

I just use an old coffee can.

Usually works better when the hat is wet but you get the idea. Not perfect or ideal but it knocks the taper out pretty quick.
Johnny

 

[Erehwon]

I just use an old coffee can.
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Usually works better when the hat is wet but you get the idea. Not perfect or ideal but it knocks the taper out pretty quick.
Johnny

Yes, I see your point. My workflow is with a blinking eye of course. But it actually works and shows, that treating your hat like a baby, sometime won't give it the..... flair.

I read a story, I think it was here in the forum, of someone who reblocked his hat on a jar (glass) which has his hat size. The result was amazing.

 

[johnnycanuck]

Not a Fed IV but a Fed III but still love it 16 years later and it’s still going.

Johnny

 

[Zombie_61]

Not a Fed IV but a Fed III but still love it 16 years later and it’s still going...

I like that the colors of both the felt and the ribbon are so vibrant. Damn nice hat!

Is it still a Fed IV if you trim the brim? Or, since this is Heritage felt, would "hare cut" be more accurate?

2" all around, Diamond creased crown lowered to 3.5" (give or take 1/8"). Not perfect, but I like it.

 

[johnnycanuck]

I like that the colors of both the felt and the ribbon are so vibrant. Damn nice hat!

Is it still a Fed IV if you trim the brim? Or, since this is Heritage felt, would "hare cut" be more accurate?

2" all around, Diamond creased crown lowered to 3.5" (give or take 1/8"). Not perfect, but I like it.

Looking good. It started its life as a Federation but all that matters is if it gets used. You get more mileage with a trimmed brim go for it.
Johnny

 

[Zombie_61]

Looking good. It started its life as a Federation but all that matters is if it gets used. You get more mileage with a trimmed brim go for it.

Well, that was the issue--I like the hat, but haven't worn it nearly as often as I wear my other hats. So I started by changing the crease, and this is where it ended. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Art Hat1]

My brown Fed 4 Deluxe is about 2 years old now and fits so damn well I can forget I’m wearing it sometimes! I have a moonstone as well that I love that’s more of my “town” hat. Considering trimming the brim 1/8 of an inch or so, but I’m not sure. Sometimes I feel the brim is too wide, but that’s never been a problewith the brown one.

 

[scottyrocks]

^Same experience here. My brown Fed IV's brim is the perfect width, while my carbon gray seems a little wide.

This probably due to the brown one being 2 3/8" on the side while the CG is 2 1/2". Yes, the 1/8" makes a noticeable difference.

 

[Art Hat1]

Yeah, I’m debating taking off 2/8 in off the whole brim of the moonstone and giving the crown a good deep Bogart-style diamond bash, figure it’d be a good Maltese Falcon style if did. Thing is, the simple center dent looks great, so I dunno. Either way, shortening the crown maybe in the cards, it just looks wide on little 5’2” me.

 

[Art Hat1]

Well, I trimmed the brim down by 1/8 of an inch and reshaped the crown. The brim’s still a work in progress, I may trim it another 1/8 in but I’m going to let it stay for now.

 

[Zombie_61]

Well, I trimmed the brim down by 1/8 of an inch and reshaped the crown. The brim’s still a work in progress, I may trim it another 1/8 in but I’m going to let it stay for now...

I think the crown height to brim width ratio is excellent as you have it currently, and it looks damn good on you! To alter it further would be flirting with disaster.

 

[Art Hat1]

Thank you! I wore it to work yesterday and was so happy with it that doing anything else would be a huge mistake. It’s amazing that 1/8 in off the brim was all it took. Very much considering getting the edge bound someday but that’ll have to be for the future.

 

[Art Hat1]

Brown Fed 4 on the trail up in the Smokey Mountains a little while back.

 

[TeaAdventuringPanda]

I was able to set the front pinches on my Fed IVs at 4 1/2" (Raiders, and my most preferred, hat height) and then push diamonds into them with very satisfactory results, although I will admit that 'satisfactory' is a subjective term.

On the left is my carbon gray Fed IV with a 4 3/4" front pinch and a center dent. On the right is the same hat with a 4 1/2" front pinch and a diamond. The third picture is the same crease as
the second from a different angle.

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I could very easily pushed a nice diamond into the hat when it at 4 3/4 but I had determined, after that picture was taken, that my ideal front pinch height is in the 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 inch height range.

You've got to admit that the third picture looks like a '40s hat.

If I may ask how did you shape your brim to be like that? I really love it. Specifically the photo with your jacket. I’m trying to get an Indy Raiders style, but my front brim looks to appear sharper and pointy like a sharp U rather wide one like yours and appears that the right side of the brim is crooked/wavy. I’ve been trying to fix it and get it wide/even and so far kept having the same problem or gotta have the brim very down, pretty sure I screwed up the start process haha. Love the hat, don’t like my mistake can anyone help if they can?

 

[jlee562]

If I may ask how did you shape your brim to be like that? I really love it. Specifically the photo with your jacket. I’m trying to get an Indy Raiders style, but my front brim looks to appear sharper and pointy like a sharp U rather wide one like yours and appears that the right side of the brim is crooked/wavy. I’ve been trying to fix it and get it wide/even and so far kept having the same problem or gotta have the brim very down, pretty sure I screwed up the start process haha. Love the hat, don’t like my mistake can anyone help if they can?

I'm presuming you turned the hat, yes?

 

[TeaAdventuringPanda]

I'm presuming you turned the hat, yes?

Yes, yes I did. Little Indy turn, but doesn't really affect on me, so I just liked that the bow was more closer to the front. I also assumed one problem was I made the dip of the front brim on the center of the Indy turn rather than the center of the hat itself

 

[johnnycanuck]

Yes, yes I did. Little Indy turn, but doesn't really affect on me, so I just liked that the bow was more closer to the front. I also assumed one problem was I made the dip of the front brim on the center of the Indy turn rather than the center of the hat itself

The shape of your head has a big impact on the shape of the brim. I have a long oval head shape so I will never have a flat brimmed hat. They will always want to dip down in the front and back.
With that said you can manhandle your hat into more of that cowboy curl look. You just have to manhandle your hat till it does that.
A good tip. If you watch the extra features on the DVD you can see Harrison between takes manhandling the hat so you can get an idea on how he got the look.
Hope that helps
Johnny.

 

[Art Hat1]

A good tip. If you watch the extra features on the DVD you can see Harrison between takes manhandling the hat so you can get an idea on how he got the look.

Absolutely second this, my brown Fed 4 is meant to be Last Crusade style and it’s taken two years of wear, a snow storm and not infrequent manhandling of the brim to finally start getting the famous cowboy curls as seen in that film. It was well worth achieving it the long way though, I feel many of us have the tendency to jump straight to steaming to get the look right away only for it to not look quite right. Letting it get there naturally takes longer but looks much better. The Fed 4, like any quality product, will only start to look better with some age and weathering.

 

[TeaAdventuringPanda]

Absolutely second this, my brown Fed 4 is meant to be Last Crusade style and it’s taken two years of wear, a snow storm and not infrequent manhandling of the brim to finally start getting the famous cowboy curls as seen in that film. It was well worth achieving it the long way though, I feel many of us have the tendency to jump straight to steaming to get the look right away only for it to not look quite right. Letting it get there naturally takes longer but looks much better. The Fed 4, like any quality product, will only start to look better with some age and weathering.

Thank you guys so much for this! I knew about those when researching, but I guess since this is my first I was worried if I screwed up my brim so that part of the brim looks crooked and damaged it. Or the reason it looks the way it is is because I put the brim down to the Indy turn than the actual center or pulled the front brim down inward too much when starting because I found that mine *was* going inward than round outward when looking at Raiders. So I was "stressin" why my brim looked like a hammock or a sharp dip than a wide one that covered the majority of the hat without pulling it down all the way. Then again I do have a more round head haha. I'll indeed handle it now and then. thank you for this! Hope indeed does get the way it does in time.