M.C. Gannon Hat Company

[JessieJames]

For a while there has been a problem with Winchester dress weight bodies having brims too small for a 3" brim. I have been thru that with a couple of projects & Justin Williams has been waiting & going thru it currently. That is probably why Michael steered you towards Western weight; so you would be assured of getting the width you wanted.

Jessie, believe what Moon is telling you & not what others have posted. In dress weight felt a small kettle curl will not add strength or structural integrity to a 3" brim to keep it from sagging or waffling at the break. Only the amount of flange or cup in the width of the brim & the break from crown to brim can do that (& adding stiffener, of course). A small kettle curl can add a "bumper effect" to the brim, but that's all.

I have several dress weight hats with 3" brims, some with kettle curls & some without, some raw edge & some bound. I don't like a lot of cup in the flange so it can be done providing the hat body will make the 3" width. But 3" in a dress weight is probably the limit.

Gannon
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Gannon
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BSHW short nap Blue Heather with Halo-1 trim stitch
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1990's Worth - Walden Raw Edge
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Moore Hat Co.
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Three FL members owned this Moore before it found it's way to me & I would bet every one of them would attest to how soft the felt is. Almost too soft to hold anything but it holds a 3" brim just fine.

Oh interesting! Learning so much still. Unfortunately, the learning process is expensive and often after purchasing a new hat >.< I love my hat just wish the felt was more dense and softer (because I like it but I want to absolutely love it) but that's the raw material itself which I was advised about.

What company is Moore? I found a few through google I'm unsure which it is.

 

[belfastboy]

Oh interesting! Learning so much still. Unfortunately, the learning process is expensive and often after purchasing a new hat >.< I love my hat just wish the felt was more dense and softer (because I like it but I want to absolutely love it) but that's the raw material itself which I was advised about.

What company is Moore? I found a few through google I'm unsure which it is.

Buckaroo Hatters in Tennessee.

 

[JessieJames]

Have you watched this video?

The current western felt that I’ve personally had experience with, including 100% beaver, is harsh and not nearly as appealing. I commissioned one custom using western weight felt and, while I really like the style and the craftsmanship, my first thought every time I touch it is that the felt is so disappointing.

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I think I've seen that machine at 8:20 a few times in videos but I haven't necessarily seen it in videos or Instagram posts or anything from Hatters I was looking to get a hat created by. Is that press not the same thing as the one next to it that's also a press but with the sandbag on it?

Interesting, perhaps the price does reflect that as well. There is a hatter in Calgary called the hat doctor, the hats are 1000$ CAD and I'm imagining they must have a lot of these big machines.

Exactly how I'm feeling. I'm hoping with time it'll warm up to me and I can see it more as a Western hat that is just more harsher overall, I was also given ample heads up before the process started but you don't know until you really have it in your hands.

I guess "good to know" that the FEPSA western weight is also not as soft. Although I've touched the FEPSA felts, I'm not sure if it was dress or western because it was on a swatch and it was soooo so smooth and dense.

 

[jlee562]

BTW JJ,

A home brim press might also prove a useful investment. There's one or two models available online, including this one from Stratton/Winchester: https://strattonhats.com/products/accessories/brim-press/

Although if you or someone you know is a moderately competent woodworker, this is not a hard contraption to DIY.

 

[belfastboy]

I think I've seen that machine at 8:20 a few times in videos but I haven't necessarily seen it in videos or Instagram posts or anything from Hatters I was looking to get a hat created by. Is that press not the same thing as the one next to it that's also a press but with the sandbag on it?

Interesting, perhaps the price does reflect that as well. There is a hatter in Calgary called the hat doctor, the hats are 1000$ CAD and I'm imagining they must have a lot of these big machines.

Exactly how I'm feeling. I'm hoping with time it'll warm up to me and I can see it more as a Western hat that is just more harsher overall, I was also given ample heads up before the process started but you don't know until you really have it in your hands.

I guess "good to know" that the FEPSA western weight is also not as soft. Although I've touched the FEPSA felts, I'm not sure if it was dress or western because it was on a swatch and it was soooo so smooth and dense.

I was in Sisters Oregon last week and the local western store had a trunk show with Lucchese boots and Greeley Hat Works present. The Greeley guy would not disclose the origin of his felts other than they were European origin. He or his staff make upwards of 20 hats per day so he is certainly large enough to qualify for Fepsa so that is my suspicion. He likely used some Tonak for his hare offering. He charged $1000+ for a beaver western weight. I can say from my inspection the felts were no softer than Winchester's western and his hats no better than any of my custom hats that cost a fraction of his. The one upside of his selection was a whole array of new colours not available from Winchester. If his prices were not crazy high I would have made the plunge. I may be an apostate on this matter but my experience is that while making a hat is an art and a craft there is only so much a human can do to the felt. I have customs that cost from $200 up to $700 and for most of them the difference is not apparent. The details in the more expensive hats are paid more attention to but overall the quality of my custom hats does not vary much.....certainly in no way matches the variation in price points.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

What company is Moore?

Vintage & long gone. Oklahoma. This was a doctor's hat & has his name in it.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I was in Sisters Oregon last week and the local western store had a trunk show with Lucchese boots and Greeley Hat Works present. The Greeley guy would not disclose the origin of his felts other than they were European origin. He or his staff make upwards of 20 hats per day so he is certainly large enough to qualify for Fepsa so that is my suspicion. He likely used some Tonak for his hare offering. He charged $1000+ for a beaver western weight. I can say from my inspection the felts were no softer than Winchester's western and his hats no better than any of my custom hats that cost a fraction of his. The one upside of his selection was a whole array of new colours not available from Winchester. If his prices were not crazy high I would have made the plunge. I may be an apostate on this matter but my experience is that while making a hat is an art and a craft there is only so much a human can do to the felt. I have customs that cost from $200 up to $700 and for most of them the difference is not apparent. The details in the more expensive hats are paid more attention to but overall the quality of my custom hats does not vary much.....certainly in no way matches the variation in price points.

I can tell you that when you get to the extreme low end customs are noticeably poorer in build quality. However, even my worst D’Aquino custom has decent felt and after a re-work at VS ended up as a nice hat.


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[belfastboy]

I can tell you that when you get to the extreme low end customs are noticeably poorer in build quality. However, even my worst D’Aquino custom has decent felt and after a re-work at VS ended up as a nice hat.


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Yes, I don't own a Daquino nor a Agnoulita. I should mention that I do consider my Gannon amongst those at the top of the quality list. One of the best valued custom hatters out there.

 

[Robieman]

Buckaroo Hatters in Tennessee.

Not sure if that’s the Moore hat, but I can vouch for Buckaroo. Mike Moore does an excellent job making hats. I have 3. A hare, a 100% beaver and a beaver mink blend. All western weight and all very good hats. You can feel the difference in the different furs, but hard to look at them and tell the difference. They are all very high quality in my opinion and worth taking a look at his website.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I should mention that I do consider my Gannon amongst those at the top of the quality list.

^^^Ditto, what he said.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

^^^Ditto, what he said.

Agreed! H. Jack speaks the truth and without forked tongue.

Late night post finding me without eloquent words, Eric -

 

[belfastboy]

Not sure if that’s the Moore hat, but I can vouch for Buckaroo. Mike Moore does an excellent job making hats. I have 3. A hare, a 100% beaver and a beaver mink blend. All western weight and all very good hats. You can feel the difference in the different furs, but hard to look at them and tell the difference. They are all very high quality in my opinion and worth taking a look at his website.

I have in inquiry to him right now.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Late night post finding me without eloquent words, Eric -

You & your hat pics are always eloquent, Eric! A true gentleman of class.

 

[JessieJames]

Vintage & long gone. Oklahoma. This was a doctor's hat & has his name in it.

oh so it's not the buckaroo company some people posted here?

 

[mayserwegener]

When I visited Bahner Hat Machines last October I saw some of Winchester's felting machines being refurbished. Here you can see some photos.

Bahner is the last place making Felt and Hat Machines. They support all the major Felt makers. From what they tell me FEPSA keep their machinery in very good condition which is extremely important. I know Optimo Chicago uses FEPSA. Mayser Ulm moved their felt operations to FEPSA back in the early 1990s. FEPSA was nothing before that. Also a big problem today is the quality of the fur.

If you look through Bahner's site you will see all the machines available for felt and hat making.

http://www.hatmachines.com/default.asp?lg=gb

Back in the day most major hat companies made both felt and hats. There were a lot of machines involved in the numerous processes.

Side Note:

Tonak sent me some really nice Velour samples a few years ago but I lost them. I was thinking of having them make a Velour hat based on a JHS Zephyr Seal Velour but I decided not go ahead with the project. By the way I will visit the Tonak factory next week for the JHS / Tonak 220 Year anniversary. This is a special visit because they don't have outsider tours.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

oh so it's not the buckaroo company some people posted here?

No it was the Moore Hat Co, Lawton, OK. Long gone out of business.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

No it was the Moore Hat Co, Lawton, OK. Long gone out of business.

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Hey Jack:
Fyi...if you Google Moore Hat Company Oklahoma....that very hat comes up on the images...and the link to the FL thread about it.
Thought you might appreciate that.
B

 

[J Williams]

I really lucked out with my Gannon hat - Michael magically found a dark moss hat body that worked for my dimensions and due to waiting on felt for a few of the hats in front of mine I skipped the line. Sorry guys

This is the photo he sent me - I don't think the colour is that accurate but we will see when it gets here.

Dark Moss dress weight - 2 3/4 + brim ( Couldn't quite get the 7/8 ) and 5 1/2" open crown
Cactus brim binding and ribbon

 

[Frunobulax]

I really lucked out with my Gannon hat - Michael magically found a dark moss hat body that worked for my dimensions and due to waiting on felt for a few of the hats in front of mine I skipped the line. Sorry guys

This is the photo he sent me - I don't think the colour is that accurate but we will see when it gets here.

Dark Moss dress weight - 2 3/4 + brim ( Couldn't quite get the 7/8 ) and 5 1/2" open crown
Cactus brim binding and ribbon

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That looks very nice. Moss green is a great color.

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[J Williams]

That looks very nice. Moss green is a great color.

Thanks Fruno, now to just obsessively track it's travel and drop everything I'm doing to run across the border and pick it up!