My old / new Open Road

[LEUII]

Gents,
I just received my deceased grandfathers Open Road. It is not his OLD one. ( It is languishing in a box in a cousin's house.) It was purchased a few years before he died. It was his work hat and as such it was very dirty and needed a cleaning. He wore it with a fedora crown. I received it from its cleaning with a cattleman's crown. I have a good bit of experience shaping open crown cowboy hats into various other forms. Last night I spent a good bit of time at the tea kettle and for the life of me can't get the old bash marks out of the lower creases. I've gone ahead and given it a mild pinch front and modified tear drop. I really want to get those creases out, though. Any suggestions? BTW, it will be a work hat for me as well. But, hey, I want it right.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[tonyb]

This 12-step program has always worked for me.

Step 1. Procure a bottle of hooch. Either a 375 ml. or 750 ml. bottle will do, although I recommend the larger size if you anticipate working on more than one hat. Less critical than the size is the shape. An oval bottle is preferable to a round or a square bottle.

Step 2. Vacate all responsible and/or vulnerable persons from the premises. Make certain they take your car keys.

Step 3. Empty the bottle.

Step 4. Set the water to boil.

Step 5. Push out the hat's bashes into an open crown. It'll look kind of funny, but that's OK.

Step 6. Once the water is aboil, pass one side of the hat's crown over the steam.

Step 7. Immediately grab that empty bottle by its neck and insert the big end into the hat's crown and pass it back and forth under the area warmed and softened by the steam.

Step 8. Repeat Steps 6 and 7.

Step 9. Repeat Steps 6, 7 and 8.

Step 10. Flip the hat over and pass it over the steam.

Step 11. See Step 8.

Step 12. Turn off the burner.

The aim is to return the hat as nearly as you can to its original, unbashed shape. The bottle serves to smooth out the old bash lines over a relatively wide area, so as not to push out excessively what had been pushed in (which would make those lines every bit as conspicuous), as can happen when the amateur hat renovator resorts to fingers alone. It may take three or four or more cycles of the above 12 steps to get there, but the effort, such as it is, is definitely worthwhile. And then you rebash the crown.

 

[LEUII]

Thanks. I revisited the tea kettle with a pint mason jar and got most of the crown opened up. I think that once I clean and brush that the old bash marks will be gone. I'll post some pics later on.

 

[tonyb]

A Mason jar? Like one that once held peaches or something? Dang, now that's an idea that never occurred to me, but I bet it'll work just as well.

 

[Pilgrim]

But Tony, then you don't get to empty the bottle!

 

[jamespowers]

But Tony, then you don't get to empty the bottle!

Yes you do. You know what they store in Mason Jars. Smoooottthhh.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Pilgrim]

Empty a whole mason jar of that stuff and you won't NEED a hat - your head will likely explode!

 

[jamespowers]

Empty a whole mason jar of that stuff and you won't NEED a hat - your head will likely explode!

You drink it, then put on the hat. It stretches the hat to fit and gets the block out at the same time.
On a serious note, I know some backwoods people that can drink a mason jar full and not have their head explode.

Regards,

J

 

[Magus]

Never forget my first sip of WL....whew! Was in a jug in the fridge and I thought it was water as it was clear. Since I was 9..you can guess the rest ...

 

[Pilgrim]

Maybe the point isn't that your head will really explode - just that after drinking a jar full, you pray for it to explode and put you out of your misery!

 

[jamespowers]

Maybe the point isn't that your head will really explode - just that after drinking a jar full, you pray for it to explode and put you out of your misery!

Hahahahahahah! Probably more than likely. :beer:

Regards,

J