Photos of hatters tools

[steur]

My Chinese hat measuring device arrived yesterday. It seems to be well-made and solid. It’s simple, which I like, and I can’t see it wearing out. The all metal construction gives it a substantial feel.

It isn’t perfect. The spring steel conforming piece extends when you close the scissors type handles. The problem is that the steel extends in a near perfect circle. With some force you can get it to conform closer to the oval of your hat, but it’s not able to perfectly match the contours of the sweatband. The more oval (I’m a long oval) your hats are the less accurate the tool is. I’m also leery about using too much force to get it to conform.

Most of my 7 5/8 hats measure 7 1/2 or less on this device. Still, as long as you mentally compensate you can get close. You can also visually see how close the spring steel is conforming to the sweatband and get some idea of how accurate the measurement will be.

The first hat I measured is this 3X that I bought on ebay. The seller listed it as a 7 3/4:

This hat measured 6 7/8 and I doubt that it’s actually any larger than a size 7. When will people learn that the length of the head opening is not the hat size.


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Very nice looking device, Brent. Looks well built. The vintage ones (I have a slightly different type) have the same problem: they tend to make a round instead of oval shape and aren't very accurate.

 

[humanshoes]

I never thought I'd actually see one of these in person, much less have one in my humble little shop, but here she is. I have hats to make so I can't dive into the restoration right now, but I hope to restore this conformateur to it's original glory. A big thanks to our very own Dr. Max for rescuing this old beauty from the "box of oblivion" and for thinking of me as her new caretaker.

 

[BobHufford]

^^^^^ So glad you ended up with that. Congrats to you and kudos to Max!

 

[humanshoes]

^^^^^ So glad you ended up with that. Congrats to you and kudos to Max!

Thanks Bob! This conformateur definitely falls under the "don't need it and probably won't use it much" category, but I'm sure tickled to have it anyway. Tangible hat making history.

 

[steur]

I never thought I'd actually see one of these in person, much less have one in my humble little shop, but here she is. I have hats to make so I can't dive into the restoration right now, but I hope to restore this conformateur to it's original glory. A big thanks to our very own Dr. Max for rescuing this old beauty from the "box of oblivion" and for thinking of me as her new caretaker.
View attachment 187448

Fantastic and indeed very generous of Max to let it go to you as its custodian. I'm sure you will be able to do it justice and bring it back to its former glory. Not as useful for soft felt hats maybe, but a piece of both hat history and art in its own right. Still need one ("want" would be the better word).

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I never thought I'd actually see one of these in person, much less have one in my humble little shop, but here she is. I have hats to make so I can't dive into the restoration right now, but I hope to restore this conformateur to it's original glory. A big thanks to our very own Dr. Max for rescuing this old beauty from the "box of oblivion" and for thinking of me as her new caretaker.
View attachment 187448

Max is a very generous man.
That could not have gone to a more fitting home!
Good job Max!
B

 

[humanshoes]

Fantastic and indeed very generous of Max to let it go to you as its custodian. I'm sure you will be able to do it justice and bring it back to its former glory. Not as useful for soft felt hats maybe, but a piece of both hat history and art in its own right. Still need one ("want" would be the better word).

Want is the operative word there. Like so many things in my life. Always wanted, never pursued.

 

[humanshoes]

Max is a very generous man.
That could not have gone to a more fitting home!
Good job Max!
B

It definitely has a good home Bowen. I agree with you about Max. He likely could have turned a tidy little profit if it were more about the money and less about the preservation of the history of the art. In the end, well, let's just say that we reached a mutually satisfactory arrangement.

 

[Tonio]

I recently acquired a beautiful antique device that was used for measuring hat ribbons. There are centimeter and meter measurements on the dials.

Anyone ever come across anything similar, or can ID the name of the maker? Based on the “Brevete SGDG” I assume it’s of French origin. Thanks in advance.

 

[humanshoes]

I recently acquired a beautiful antique device that was used for measuring hat ribbons. There are centimeter and meter measurements on the dials.

Anyone ever come across anything similar, or can ID the name of the maker? Based on the “Brevete SGDG” I assume it’s of French origin. Thanks in advance.

View attachment 190629 View attachment 190627

Very, very cool piece Tonio!

 

[humanshoes]

I've never made a Sombrero Cordobés (think Zoro hat), however, I've wanted to for some time. When the good Dr. Max asked me to make him one in pure beaver I was more than happy to accommodate his request. Of course, I agreed without even having the block to accomplish the task. No problem. Make block then make hat. Fortunately, the Doc and I wear the same size so you know this block will be used for at least two hats.

 

[milandro]

Interesting I recently acquired a group of wooden blocks which also included a flat top circle which I could use in much the same way. (in the picture is the block on a stand , which comes apart, with two prongs to attach it to the oval on the right).
don’t be fooled by the proportions of the iron )



There are a few things that I won’t be using and therefore selling. Is this conformateur the one that was on ebay? Beautiful! These tools aren’t cheap and they are also collected because of their steampunk look.

My (electric) stretcher falls also under the category of tools which are bought by people even just for the looks.
I have one much the same as this

 

[DOGMAN]

Rick's look very nice. I talked to him about making me one quite some time back. He was pretty busy and turn around was 5 weeks +. I didn't pull the trigger.
As a carpenter, with lot of money wrapped up in tools, I feel rather guilty about buying things I can make myself.
Another thing is that, ever since I realized how expensive hat making tools are, making them myself for market has been in the back of my mind. I take a libertarian view of, so called, intellectual property, but feel like reverse engineering a fellow Lounger's equipment to duplicate and sell would be pretty rude.
I don't have the same qualms about a vintage tool from an inventor who's now 6 feet under, and any possible patent is long expired. Humanshoes' jack looks great, and at a very reasonable price compared to others I've looked at, on Etsy. I will gladly steer people to him until, or unless, I start competing with him.
That will be a little awkward, but at least I won't be selling his design at cut rates. If I offer something perhaps marginally less sophisticated, but at a lower price point, I will still be able to look him in the eye and shake hands.
Maybe we can have a brim cutting competition.

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I've made a few for myself

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[Hat and Rehat]

Nice looking tool there Brent. At $35.00 I'd definitely take a gamble on it being accurate. Even if it's off a little, plus or minus, you'll know that and just figure it in to your size calculations. I have a big model that's board mounted and it's spot on, but I also have this flimsy little vintage job that's pretty damn close.
View attachment 184718

I'm glad I looked at this thread again.
That flimsy one actually works the opposite way of the Chinese one, doesn't it, Rick?
It looks like Brent's is expanded outward against spring tension for a reading, but yours is squeezed in against spring tension, then released inside the sweat, so the spring tension conforms to the hat and gives you the reading. The fact that it's flimsy allows it to measure various ovals.

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[Hat and Rehat]

I've made a few for myself

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Those look great, DM. How did you decide the arc of the part that "cups" the crown?

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[humanshoes]

I'm glad I looked at this thread again.
That flimsy one actually works the opposite way of the Chinese one, doesn't it, Rick?
It looks like Brent's is expanded outward against spring tension for a reading, but yours is squeezed in against spring tension, then released inside the sweat, so the spring tension conforms to the hat and gives you the reading. The fact that it's flimsy allows it to measure various ovals.

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Exactly right HR.

 

[DOGMAN]

Those look great, DM. How did you decide the arc of the part that "cups" the crown?

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I used a hat.Made a pattern.

 

[milandro]

in a few hat jacks that I have seen, in order to achieve a better contact surface with the hat’s crown, they use an elastic metal strip spacer which adapts the the contact point to the crown’s shape either by its own elasticity or adjusted with some screws. (picture from the net)

 

[Hat and Rehat]

I used a hat.Made a pattern.

It seems like the vintage ones often have a more exaggerated arc. The ends touch the crown, but the center can be almost 5/16" away from the brim break. I've been trying to figure out if there is any science to that.

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[DOGMAN]

It seems like the vintage ones often have a more exaggerated arc. The ends touch the crown, but the center can be almost 5/16" away from the brim break. I've been trying to figure out if there is any science to that.

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If I remember,I made mine so the center would touch.