TheDane
Call Me a Cab
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- Copenhagen, Denmark
When perfecting the final fit of your hat, most custom hatters use a formillion or headblock, shaped exactly like your head. Some hatters will even make you one to maintain the shape of the hat. Instead, you can actually make your own - or have your neighbour, cousin or local cabinetmaker make it.
First of all: This is not a tutorial on how to make your own personal headblock. This is a tutorial on how to make a drawing of your exact head shape in your preferred hat-line - in order to cut out a headblock, or to have it made by a local craftsman.
I will 'only' try to explain how to make a plaster-of-paris cast of your head, so you can make a drawing, based on the cast. When you've got the finished drawing, you can cut the block from a piece of wood with a bandsaw. The block should be 1 1/2" or a little thicker, so a jigsaw is too wobbly. With no bandsaw, you can use a jigsaw to cut a thin template for a router, but if you have the tools, you probably know what to do. If not - ask someone who knows
The block should taper a little, which can be accomplished by filing and sanding after the cutting - or it could be done in the cutting/routing process. About 1/4" taper from bottom to top of the block is about adequate.
Anyway, here comes the explanation for the casting and drawing process:
Materials:
*) A square piece of plastic food-wrap film (appr. 50cm x 50cm)
*) 1 yard of round elastic string (1-2mm in diameter)
*) Some duct-tape or other 'fat/heavy' tape - not narrower than 3/8-1/2"
*) A small cup of plaster-of-paris (gypsum)
*) Two rolls of plaster-of-paris prepared gauze for casts (for broken limbs). Get the narrowest - not wider than 3". The rolls can usually be bought at the drugstore
Tools and other stuff:
*) A cup/bowl and a small stick/spoon to blend plaster-of-paris and water
*) A 1/2-1 gallon bowl of water
*) A small brush - could be a bigger watercolor brush (up to 1/2" in diameter)
*) A pair of scissors and a fiber-tip pen
*) Plastic to protect the floor - and for a 'poncho' to protect you from drips of gypsum
*) Chair and mirror
*) Hacksaw blade
Preparing:
Cut 10-15 4" lengths of the tape and place them, hanging from the edge of a table. If you use duct-tape, first tear the tape into widths of a little less than 1/2".
Cut the gauze in strips of about 4" length with the scissors.
Lay the elastic string double and tie a knot, making a loop that fits snugly over your head (in your hat-line).
Place the chair on a piece of plastic and make a 'poncho' of the rest of the plastic.
Mix the cup of plaster-of-paris with water. You need a porridge-like mixture. Do this as the very last thing before you sit down do the cast, so it won't be hardened, when you need it.
First a little practise:
Try to dip a piece of gauze briefly in the bowl of water and check how it reacts. When dry it's quite stiff, but it becomes very soft and floppy, when wet. Use some pieces to get used to the material.
Then go for it:
Sit on the chair, wearing the poncho. Have the mirror ready, close by. Put the food-wrap over your head as a hood. Secure the food-wrap with the elastic loop around your head, placed exactly in your preferred hat-line.
Ask your helper to place the tape strips once around your head - just below the elastic loop, touching this. Each strip should overlap the former by a few millimetres. Repeat the process a couple of times - each layer covering the former - to thicken up the tape-ring around your head. Note, that the upper edge of the resulting tape-ring around your head (the edge along the elastic string) must be as accurate/sharp as possible.
Status so far: When your helper removes the elastic loop, your head is covered by a film-hood, held in place by a tape-ring ... the upper edge of which resembles your hat-line.
To get a sharp, crisp cast, your helper now 'paints' the upper edge of the tape-ring with the plaster-of-paris mix - all around your head. Then he takes a strip of gauze - dips it briefly in the water - and places it along the tape-ring, so it covers a piece of this. He repeats the process, so each gauze strip overlaps the former by 1/4-1/2" - and the gauze reaches all around your head.
You should now wear a thin plaster-of-paris cast, formed as a ring all around your hat-line. Your helper places one or two more layers of wetted gauze around your head to build up and finish the cast. Each layer should start a little displaced in relation to the former layer, so the overlapings will be evenly distributed along the circumference.
NOTE: Plaster-of-paris generates heat while hardening - the more mass, the more heat. You should NOT use more than THREE layers of gauze. If you do, the heat becomes very unpleasant, and you may even burn yourself. ONLY 3 LAYERS!
After 20-30 minutes your cast has hardened enough to be gently removed. First your helper marks exact front/centre and back/centre on the cast with the filter-tip pen. Then you can lift the whole 'ding' of. Don't bother if the food-wrap stays in the cast. Place it on a newspaper and let it rest for a day. Clean yourself and your surroundings. Containers should be rinsed immediately after use. If a little plaster has hardened in the bowl/cup, and water can't remove it, some vinegar or thin acetic acid will do the trick.
The next day you carefully remove the remaining food-wrap and tape from the cast. You will find a sharp groove inside the cast, where the tape used to be. Take the hacksaw blade and cut just inside the groove - just below the upper edge (the hat-line). Before you cut, make sure the front/back markings on the outside of the cast won't be cut away. Make them longer, if needed.
After the cut you can place the cast on a large piece of sandpaper and gently move it around - hat-line down. You sand until the cast has a sharp edge, where the upper edge of the tape once were. Be careful ... plaster-of-paris is quite soft! A gentle stroke removes a lot of plaster. If you choose, you can also use a folded piece of sandpaper in the hand. Whatever suits you the best.
Your cast is now finished, and you can make a drawing of your exact head shape in your hat-line. Place the cast on a piece of cardboard - hat-line down - and draw along the inner edge of the cast. Voilà!
As plaster-of-paris hardens, it retracts a little. You can compensate by angling the pen a little, so you draw about a millimetre or two inside the cast. Remember to mark the centre markings in front/back, so you can transfer the centreline to the drawing and block. Cut out a test in cardboard to check, if the fit is perfect - correct if not.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Dental technicians and others use special mix of plaster-of-paris, that hardens very fast. It's also possible speed up the hardening process of usual plaster-of-paris by adding a little salt to the water. DON'T EVER!
The heat produced is the same, but it has to be generated over some time to be able to escape. Fast hardening plaster should NEVER be used directly on the skin! Use ordinary plaster-of-paris or you will end up with burns to your skin.
When using usual plaster-of-paris and gauze made for the purpose, the hardening cast will be quite hot and a little hotter than comfortable - but it shouldn't burn you. Use your common sense and remove it, if it becomes too hot. Millions of broken limbs are fixated with plaster-of-paris casts every year. It's not dangerous, but you have to use the right stuff, made for the purpose - then you are quite safe
I hope, this will be a help to the rest of you loungers - even without pictures. I have promised to make one for a friend. I will try to take some pictures of the process and upload them here, but it could take a couple of weeks, before we both have the time [huh]
First of all: This is not a tutorial on how to make your own personal headblock. This is a tutorial on how to make a drawing of your exact head shape in your preferred hat-line - in order to cut out a headblock, or to have it made by a local craftsman.
I will 'only' try to explain how to make a plaster-of-paris cast of your head, so you can make a drawing, based on the cast. When you've got the finished drawing, you can cut the block from a piece of wood with a bandsaw. The block should be 1 1/2" or a little thicker, so a jigsaw is too wobbly. With no bandsaw, you can use a jigsaw to cut a thin template for a router, but if you have the tools, you probably know what to do. If not - ask someone who knows
The block should taper a little, which can be accomplished by filing and sanding after the cutting - or it could be done in the cutting/routing process. About 1/4" taper from bottom to top of the block is about adequate.
Anyway, here comes the explanation for the casting and drawing process:
Materials:
*) A square piece of plastic food-wrap film (appr. 50cm x 50cm)
*) 1 yard of round elastic string (1-2mm in diameter)
*) Some duct-tape or other 'fat/heavy' tape - not narrower than 3/8-1/2"
*) A small cup of plaster-of-paris (gypsum)
*) Two rolls of plaster-of-paris prepared gauze for casts (for broken limbs). Get the narrowest - not wider than 3". The rolls can usually be bought at the drugstore
Tools and other stuff:
*) A cup/bowl and a small stick/spoon to blend plaster-of-paris and water
*) A 1/2-1 gallon bowl of water
*) A small brush - could be a bigger watercolor brush (up to 1/2" in diameter)
*) A pair of scissors and a fiber-tip pen
*) Plastic to protect the floor - and for a 'poncho' to protect you from drips of gypsum
*) Chair and mirror
*) Hacksaw blade
Preparing:
Cut 10-15 4" lengths of the tape and place them, hanging from the edge of a table. If you use duct-tape, first tear the tape into widths of a little less than 1/2".
Cut the gauze in strips of about 4" length with the scissors.
Lay the elastic string double and tie a knot, making a loop that fits snugly over your head (in your hat-line).
Place the chair on a piece of plastic and make a 'poncho' of the rest of the plastic.
Mix the cup of plaster-of-paris with water. You need a porridge-like mixture. Do this as the very last thing before you sit down do the cast, so it won't be hardened, when you need it.
First a little practise:
Try to dip a piece of gauze briefly in the bowl of water and check how it reacts. When dry it's quite stiff, but it becomes very soft and floppy, when wet. Use some pieces to get used to the material.
Then go for it:
Sit on the chair, wearing the poncho. Have the mirror ready, close by. Put the food-wrap over your head as a hood. Secure the food-wrap with the elastic loop around your head, placed exactly in your preferred hat-line.
Ask your helper to place the tape strips once around your head - just below the elastic loop, touching this. Each strip should overlap the former by a few millimetres. Repeat the process a couple of times - each layer covering the former - to thicken up the tape-ring around your head. Note, that the upper edge of the resulting tape-ring around your head (the edge along the elastic string) must be as accurate/sharp as possible.
Status so far: When your helper removes the elastic loop, your head is covered by a film-hood, held in place by a tape-ring ... the upper edge of which resembles your hat-line.
To get a sharp, crisp cast, your helper now 'paints' the upper edge of the tape-ring with the plaster-of-paris mix - all around your head. Then he takes a strip of gauze - dips it briefly in the water - and places it along the tape-ring, so it covers a piece of this. He repeats the process, so each gauze strip overlaps the former by 1/4-1/2" - and the gauze reaches all around your head.
You should now wear a thin plaster-of-paris cast, formed as a ring all around your hat-line. Your helper places one or two more layers of wetted gauze around your head to build up and finish the cast. Each layer should start a little displaced in relation to the former layer, so the overlapings will be evenly distributed along the circumference.
NOTE: Plaster-of-paris generates heat while hardening - the more mass, the more heat. You should NOT use more than THREE layers of gauze. If you do, the heat becomes very unpleasant, and you may even burn yourself. ONLY 3 LAYERS!
After 20-30 minutes your cast has hardened enough to be gently removed. First your helper marks exact front/centre and back/centre on the cast with the filter-tip pen. Then you can lift the whole 'ding' of. Don't bother if the food-wrap stays in the cast. Place it on a newspaper and let it rest for a day. Clean yourself and your surroundings. Containers should be rinsed immediately after use. If a little plaster has hardened in the bowl/cup, and water can't remove it, some vinegar or thin acetic acid will do the trick.
The next day you carefully remove the remaining food-wrap and tape from the cast. You will find a sharp groove inside the cast, where the tape used to be. Take the hacksaw blade and cut just inside the groove - just below the upper edge (the hat-line). Before you cut, make sure the front/back markings on the outside of the cast won't be cut away. Make them longer, if needed.
After the cut you can place the cast on a large piece of sandpaper and gently move it around - hat-line down. You sand until the cast has a sharp edge, where the upper edge of the tape once were. Be careful ... plaster-of-paris is quite soft! A gentle stroke removes a lot of plaster. If you choose, you can also use a folded piece of sandpaper in the hand. Whatever suits you the best.
Your cast is now finished, and you can make a drawing of your exact head shape in your hat-line. Place the cast on a piece of cardboard - hat-line down - and draw along the inner edge of the cast. Voilà!
As plaster-of-paris hardens, it retracts a little. You can compensate by angling the pen a little, so you draw about a millimetre or two inside the cast. Remember to mark the centre markings in front/back, so you can transfer the centreline to the drawing and block. Cut out a test in cardboard to check, if the fit is perfect - correct if not.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Dental technicians and others use special mix of plaster-of-paris, that hardens very fast. It's also possible speed up the hardening process of usual plaster-of-paris by adding a little salt to the water. DON'T EVER!
The heat produced is the same, but it has to be generated over some time to be able to escape. Fast hardening plaster should NEVER be used directly on the skin! Use ordinary plaster-of-paris or you will end up with burns to your skin.
When using usual plaster-of-paris and gauze made for the purpose, the hardening cast will be quite hot and a little hotter than comfortable - but it shouldn't burn you. Use your common sense and remove it, if it becomes too hot. Millions of broken limbs are fixated with plaster-of-paris casts every year. It's not dangerous, but you have to use the right stuff, made for the purpose - then you are quite safe
I hope, this will be a help to the rest of you loungers - even without pictures. I have promised to make one for a friend. I will try to take some pictures of the process and upload them here, but it could take a couple of weeks, before we both have the time [huh]
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