Man, that is one nice antique 4way stretcher!!With Max’s blessing, photos of some of the famed Ignacio’s tools:
This appears to be a conformateur/conformer like several I’ve seen before:
This is a new to me (not saying much) tool. I’m not sure if it’s some sort of stretcher or a jig of some sort.
Thanks for sharing, Max. I’d be thinking about a nice Christmas gift for Ignacio.
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I apologize in advance for possibly a stupid question. ha. I have tried searching the internet for OFAS and COW. I have not been able to find anything. What are the acronyms for? Thank youAFIndy, Steve Delk had good success with having bondo on wood hold up to the rigors of reblocking before he went full production. It doesn't make for the prettiest block but it certainly is functional. I used bondo on my old vintage block to fill in some cracks and scrapes. I cringed to do it because it is vintage but it was necessary not to have these cracks and such create anomalies imprinted in my felt. Some blocks are in better condition than others. Pine is a very soft wood and a harder wood is preferred for a hat block. Because of aesthetics only, Steve suggested buying a vintage hat block on OFAS that is a size or more larger than the one that you need and just sand it down to the profile and style that you would like. ie. straighten up the sides, adjust the top dome radius etc. That way you have a solid hardwood block made from poplar, in the style that will yield you your desired hat and you don't have to campout online hunting down particular hat style numbers in your size and potentially paying more than you would for it to be made new. By the way, the new blocks these days are made from slabs just like you are doing but mostly out of basswood instead of poplar. Basswood is a decent wood for strat style guitars because of its combination of light weight and relative strength but it is still softer than poplar and you can scratch it with your fingernail with a bit of effort. Its not as bad as pine though and still works as intended. I don't mean to say junk your homemade block as it really will work for your short term needs but if you want to put some sustained use on it, you will find it dents up on you rather easily. Just some ideas. I often quote what Steve Delk has done in my suggestions because he is proven in action, has graciously documented his experiences for us hobbyists, and has been the most free with publicly offered information in the past. All that I have said regarding him can be found in posts he has made in the past here and elsewhere. I just don't mean to pass his methods or knowledge off as my own original ideas. I have learned from his postings as refinements to fundamental knowledge contained in the Scientific Hat Making book and have tried many of them. I have always been very happy with the results as he is a straight shooter. I think his nature has contributed to his marvelous success as a result. Though he doesn't post here anymore, he has been a great resource here and more particularly on COW.
I have saved some good posts from Art Fawcett here as well. It will be cool to see how things turn out for you. Post some of those pics up when you get a chanceHappy Easter by the way and good luck with your E-6 test. I served in the Navy as an Aviation Electronics tech and switched to the Air Force reserves as a Dental tech at Hill AFB when I got off active duty in '97. I'm out completely now but have fond memories of my time in service. Thanks for doing what you are doing.
Fletch31
I was outbid on eBay on this hat stretcher:
Sort of a #52 block hat stretcher. Not sure what I was going to use it for but I bet I could have ruined some nice vintage hats with it.
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Too bad you missed out on that one. Very useful indeed!I was outbid on eBay on this hat stretcher:
Sort of a #52 block hat stretcher. Not sure what I was going to use it for but I bet I could have ruined some nice vintage hats with it.
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Gustin Vintage Heavyweight Sweatshirt - Natural Rainbow Nep - $119 Rugged 14oz cotton that gets better with every wear. 
Grant Stone Diesel Boot Dark Olive Chromexcel - #395 Goodyear welted, Horween Chromexcel, classic good looks. 
Himel Bros. - The Ross Mk. 1 Leather Jacket Classic D-pocket motorcycle/aviator style jacket. :
This arrived in the mail today. I've had a box of these before but there was serious doubt if that was the real deal. This certainly is. Two boxes of sweatband initials.
The older one:
View attachment 141711
The later one:
View attachment 141712 View attachment 141713
The letters most likely to be used
View attachment 141714
And the little devices used to prep the sweatbands (those with a sensitive disposition best avert their eyes). One for two letters and one for three.
View attachment 141715 View attachment 141716 View attachment 141717 View attachment 141718
I did notice that both these boxes had a special one for "Dr" (must have been an important part of the clientele) and the newer box had some other ones that could be specific for different countries, like "v.", short for "van" like in "van Vliet" or "van Helsing". Another one is "vd", short for "van de" or "van der" , like in "van der Meer". A lot of the times these were dropped or simply added to the orginal surname when Dutch people emigrated to the US, so "van der Meer" would become "Vandermeer".
These later letters have a beaded ring. I've seen other ones without, so there probably were several producers of these.
Thanks, Brent. I had to have this, even though I take out all the initials I find in the hats I buy.
Absolutely fabulous!! My problem would be that I would never want to use them because I'd eventually run out and I wouldn't be able to find any more and then they'd just sit in a box in the hat room and I'd keep saying that I really should use those someday, but I probably wouldn't because they're too cool and then my kids would inherit them when I die and sell them for $5.00 on ebay and I'd be rolling over in my grave and have no peace in the afterlife. Whew! I'm really glad you got those and not me.This arrived in the mail today. I've had a box of these before but there was serious doubt if that was the real deal. This certainly is. Two boxes of sweatband initials.
The older one:
View attachment 141711
The later one:
View attachment 141712 View attachment 141713
The letters most likely to be used
View attachment 141714
And the little devices used to prep the sweatbands (those with a sensitive disposition best avert their eyes). One for two letters and one for three.
View attachment 141715 View attachment 141716 View attachment 141717 View attachment 141718
I did notice that both these boxes had a special one for "Dr" (must have been an important part of the clientele) and the newer box had some other ones that could be specific for different countries, like "v.", short for "van" like in "van Vliet" or "van Helsing". Another one is "vd", short for "van de" or "van der" , like in "van der Meer". A lot of the times these were dropped or simply added to the orginal surname when Dutch people emigrated to the US, so "van der Meer" would become "Vandermeer".
These later letters have a beaded ring. I've seen other ones without, so there probably were several producers of these.
Thanks, Bowen. I'll start counting. Maybe Ignacio has his own little factory of them...
