I love the Fed IV!!

[g.durand]

I had forgotten about how flat the brims are on the Fed IV. I've been tinkering with my first one for five years, and I've only recently gotten the brim into a shape I can live with (and, to be honest, I think the brim had more to do with that than I did by shaping itself). My new one has only the slightest amount of curl to it, and every time I try to change the shape it simply goes back to it's original shape (or lack of). I think I need to do a search on "how to shape a hat brim".

I could never get mine right, either. I finally had some luck soaking the brim with some Bickmore hat stiffener, letting it dry, and then ironing it over a wooden brim flange. It's now just about right.

 

[xbeatles4x]

Hm how about this idea that popped in my head. What if next time I take a shower I put the hat in the bathroom with the door closed to trap the steam/humidity in the room. Do you think that for about 10 minutes or so would do anything to shrink it just a smidge and then I can remove some of the foam strips and get a nice fit.

Right now I have quite a bit of foam in there to keep it snugish.

 

[Zombie_61]

Hm how about this idea that popped in my head. What if next time I take a shower I put the hat in the bathroom with the door closed to trap the steam/humidity in the room. Do you think that for about 10 minutes or so would do anything to shrink it just a smidge and then I can remove some of the foam strips and get a nice fit...

Doubtful.

First, the two components of steam that affect the felt are moisture and heat, both of which would dissipate before they had any effect on the felt. I've held my older Fed IV in steam coming directly from a pot of boiling water (in an attempt to shape the crown), and it had no effect on the hat whatsoever. This is the reason people recommend using a tea kettle--the escaping steam is concentrated in a more "focused" area, so it's easier to get the steam to directly "invade" the felt.

Second, you don't want to shrink the felt to get a better fit, you want to shrink the leather sweatband on the inside of the crown. The simplest way to do that is to work up a good sweat while wearing the hat.

 

[Geldoc]

I've had luck turning the sweatband inside out, brushing water on the porous inner side of it, and then drying it in front of a heat lamp (no too hot).

 

[Zombie_61]

I could never get mine right, either. I finally had some luck soaking the brim with some Bickmore hat stiffener, letting it dry, and then ironing it over a wooden brim flange. It's now just about right.

The only tools I have at hand are a bottle of distilled water and a (hopefully) clean sprayer bottle that I picked up at the supermarket today, and my hands. I haven't tried shaping a hat by wetting it before, but I'm going to find out how well it works later tonight.

 

[scottyrocks]

I've had the best results with my Feds when I am not gentle with them. I squirt 'em down and bend 'em mercilessly.

 

[Zombie_61]

I've had the best results with my Feds when I am not gentle with them. I squirt 'em down and bend 'em mercilessly.

Except for the squirting 'em down part, that's how I wound up with the current brim shape on my five-year-old Fed IV. "Shape", in this context, defined as "anything other than flat".

 

[blazerbud]

Xbeatles4x, I don't know how you feel about it, but. I prefer to seriously abuse my hats. It really makes them look better. For me at least. I'm not a suit and tie kind of guy. I'm more of a denim jeans and over-all, backwoods, world's most handsome "moonshiner" kind of guy.
The color of your hat will look good with age, shade filled in with some darker contrast from handling. I may have to pick one up in that color too.

I have no problem getting a hat to snug up by doing yard work. But, I don't wear it mowing because I don't want it smelling like gas.
Also, the unthinkable, putting in a parked car, works too, but be careful.

 

[xbeatles4x]

Man I will see about just going for a long walk with it on and sitting in the sun when i am in between classes.
I will try my best to work up a sweat and see how that goes.

 

[Zombie_61]

Xbeatles4x, I don't know how you feel about it, but. I prefer to seriously abuse my hats. It really makes them look better. For me at least. I'm not a suit and tie kind of guy...

I agree. I wouldn't say I abuse my hats, but I don't baby them either. I've had my dark brown Fed IV for more than five years now, and only recently brushed it for the first time. I love the look of a good "beater" hat--not completely trashed, but not pristine either, sort of like the fedoras Johnny Depp is infamous for wearing--so I'm looking forward to the day when my hats start to take on a little "character".

 

[ManofKent]

Wearing them is definitely the easiest way to shrink them up. The brown fed I bought at the same time as the moonstone no longer needs tape, whilst the slightly less worn moonstone still has some. If it fits okay with tape don't worry about it.

I didn't find getting a brim curl too big a problem. I just soaked the brim in a basin until the felt was saturated, and roughly shaped it, then sat it on a shelve with the back pushed up against a wall to dry. It needed a second wetting and a bit of fine tuning, but held the shape without any problem. The felt is colourfast enough that I don't worry about only selectively wetting an area.

 

[Zombie_61]

And now, the moment no one has been waiting for--photos of my new Tawny Fawn Fed IV.

I'd say the color in these photos is reasonably accurate for direct sunlight; the actual color might be slightly warmer in person.

What a profile! The hat's profile, that is, not mine. And now, the crease.

Not bad for an amateur. Initially I had shaped my hats dry and thought, "Ahh, that's good enough." This was true for my first Fed because I gave it a simple center dent, but the center bump on the teardrop creases I gave my Campdraft and new Fed kept wanting to collapse. So I finally listened to the voices of wisdom and experience here on TFL and sprayed them with distilled water. HUGE difference!!! I started with my older Fed because I reasoned if I could finally get a decent shape on the front of the brim of a hat that I've been trying to shape for five years (a brim that is now rather "loose and floppy" as a result), getting a decent shape on my newer hats should be easy. And it worked; my older Fed now has a brim shape I like, as opposed to one "I can live with". Emboldened by my results, I sprayed and refined the shape of the crown on my Campdraft, and the crown and brim of my newer Fed and...well, you see the results. Not perfect, but I'm very happy with it and it has become my favorite hat. It still has a little shrinking to do, but it'll very comfortable to wear even if that doesn't happen.

As usual, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome!

 

[Blackthorn]

Great pics, Zombie! I love the tawny fawn color in a Fed IV. And of all the hats I own, that one is still one of my very favorites.

 

[gtdean48]

This one looks like it was made special for you Al. Good crease & brim shaping job...signature hat for sure.

...--photos of my new Tawny Fawn Fed IV.

...

 

[ManofKent]

Looks great :eusa_clap

 

[Landman]

Great job!

 

[carranty]

Just wanted to add my agreement to the forum. Your new tawny looks great, I'd say it even suits you better than the brown version. And a damn nice job on the crease :eusa_clap

 

[Rogera]

Looks great Zombie!

 

[Zombie_61]

My most sincere thanks and appreciation to all of you Gentlemen! You're far too kind, but I'll try to accept your compliments with grace. :yo:

Great pics, Zombie! I love the tawny fawn color in a Fed IV. And of all the hats I own, that one is still one of my very favorites.

In my opinion Akubra really nailed the combination of the felt and ribbon colors. Like the vast majority of the hats seen here on The Fedora Lounge, I think the color of the Tawny Fawn Fed has to be seen in person to be truly appreciated. Of course, I only have the three fedoras, so it was a little easier for me to select a favorite.

This one looks like it was made special for you Al. Good crease & brim shaping job...signature hat for sure.

Thank you, Sir. "Signature hat". I rather like the sound of that. This one will likely get far more head time than my other two fedoras, so it may soon earn that title.

Just wanted to add my agreement to the forum. Your new tawny looks great, I'd say it even suits you better than the brown version. And a damn nice job on the crease :eusa_clap

Thank you, Sir. I thought the Tawny Fawn was a better match for my coloring and complexion as well, so it's nice to have a little unsolicited confirmation.

 

[jhe888]

It looks good, Zombie. I hope you are happy you didn't cut eyeholes in it.