Photos of hatters tools

[John Galt]

"Fish die by the mouth," my uncle used to tell me...


"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[John Galt]

What a collection!

Thanks, but that's only about 1/2 of the flanges. It was quite a haul. It was expensive, but still much less than market.


"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[John Galt]

A lot I bought, seems like they were trying to boost the original size a bit as they started to realize the dwindling market for 6 7/8 to 7. About 5 of mine are not raw wood they have had some sort of renovation in comparison to my other blocks.

Were they duffers? Is that the right word? One of mine did have a felt hood attached.


"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[Mr.Astor]

John upon closer inspection one seems to have a very thin piece of leather tacked on to it, it is very old marked a 51. Price was very reasonable on the one's I got.

 

[John Galt]

John upon closer inspection one seems to have a very thin piece of leather tacked on to it, it is very old marked a 51. Price was very reasonable on the one's I got.

Could be a duffer:

 

[Mr.Astor]

Thanks John I had a conversation with I think one of the girls that bought a hat shop in San Francisco years ago and I bought one of their cherished blocks and they routinely would boost the block with felt in fact they included the caps they used, just never saw one with thin leather. You sure do your research! "Never run with your choke out"

 

[John Galt]

Thanks

Alternatively, it could be the first generation version of what became straw hat bodies placed, presumably, to protect the blocks from the "fingers" of the automatic blockers.

Edit - The block with the duffer is the one on the far right with yellow paint. The straw hat covered blocks are also visible in this photo.

 

[Mr.Astor]

John talk about straws, I'm presently restoring a Swiss made yeddo straw boater 3 1/2" crown 2 3/4 brim made by Lamson&Hubbard Baltimore. It arrived I thought it was a collapsible top hat. It was placed in a worn out box for shipping. It looked like a buster Keaton hat 1 1/2" inches high cracked, broken, weaves big voids where there used to be straw. Went out to the barn and sorted through old bales of hay matched up pieces to color and texture. It's starting to look like it may last another 90 years in the right hands. I used a square top block to gently pull it back into shape and a lot of sewing with silk thread and stiffener.

 

[John Galt]

Rescue 911

I'd like to see photos, probably in the Conversion Corral, unless you include the block ;-)

 

[Mr.Astor]

That 7 block is like what I have they put old copper tacks around the bottom of the block to keep it from creeping up, plus they put an 1/8" material to the bottom to increase the height. On the inside there is a cut to accept a cog to be used on a machine believe it was used for pouncing the felt.

 

[John Galt]

This is a bit of a mock-up because it combines my prior attempt at a flanging bag and the improvements, and has not really been fully put together yet.

I bought a 16" electric wok at a thrift store for $15. It is aluminum, but the price was right, it heats up, and has a temperature control (as opposed to low, medium, high). Fortuitously, the heat dial plug is very simple and fits either up or down.

I've decided I'm going to cut the bottom out of my stainless steel oil pan and adhere it to the aluminum wok with metal duct tape. That will make the reservoir bigger and also more heat retentive. I will also put some of that tape on the top (bottom) of the wok to help keep the heat going the right way. That and a larger bag should give me a workable heated flanging bag without too much work. If it does work well, I may buy a larger, steel bodied electric wok for the next generation model.

A couple of thoughts - an electric frying pan would also work, and an old gold pan would make a very good bowl - maybe not any cheaper than a big mixing bowl though, depending on where you are.

Finally, the wok "guts" are simply a rounded electric element, a circular (think bracelet) reflector to aim the heat at the bottom of the pan, and another flat circular reflector behind the element, for the same purpose.

I like to save design & build work by repurposing existing items if possible, and it's probably cheaper to do it that way, but this could easily be built from scratch. Here's hoping it works...

 

[John Galt]

Working on a new bag...

"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[John Galt]

John: You posted a hatter's bow and just recently you were talking about it again. You know what planking is where they worked at the kettle....did you ever hear of a planking pin or hatter's pin? I have one in my collection. Here's a picture of it. View attachment 12682

Oliver, I guess I missed this post. I was not ignoring you. That is one cool item. I've never seen one before...

I have read about planking, and seen illustrations of men working at their stations around the kettle - cannot remember what that was called at the moment...

 

[Hatter4]

Found this at a local flea market this morning. I was lucky to get it for $21. It is the 0 model of the 0123 set.

 

[John Galt]

Wow, very nice indeed. I've often wished I lived somewhere that hatting flourished. There must be many treasures hiding the the barns, attics, and basements of places like Danbury and, of course, Long Island ;-)

Just browsed your web page again - very cool!

 

[Hatter4]

John, I am from Long Island and did a lot of work in Danbury, CT, at The Scott-Fanton Museun.. They have a big hatting display. I indexed all of their collection in the 1990s. I put ads in the Danbury newspapers that I was looking for hatters tools. Just got a few tollickers. One lady answered from upstate NY and I got a lot from her. Also from Long Island I got tools from a man who owned Frank and Son/John Reinitz, Inc. They were originally in NY City. John Reinitz made silk top hats. I was lucky to get a lot of tools from him, including irons, tollickers, etc., plus blocks and flanges but I did not have too much luck in Danbury.

 

[John Galt]

John, I am from Long Island and did a lot of work in Danbury, CT, at The Scott-Fanton Museun.. They have a big hatting display. I indexed all of their collection in the 1990s. I put ads in the Danbury newspapers that I was looking for hatters tools. Just got a few tollickers. One lady answered from upstate NY and I got a lot from her. Also from Long Island I got tools from a man who owned Frank and Son/John Reinitz, Inc. They were originally in NY City. John Reinitz made silk top hats. I was lucky to get a lot of tools from him, including irons, tollickers, etc., plus blocks and flanges but I did not have too much luck in Danbury.

I am a little surprised to hear this. Glad I did not make a field trip ;-)

In reviewing this thread, I noted that one of the ads you posted was of the HB Mast hat reacher I had subsequently posted. It is hard to see in the ad, but it appears that there was an adjustable cloth "shelf" that served to scoop up hat boxes. The ad you posted also references fitting all boxes.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=1769216

The item I found is obviously missing some hardware:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=1779177

Edit - Looking closer at the ad, the item looks complete. I think the ad depicts the reacher being used on a box. The wooden crossmember appears to slide under the edge of the box, and the scalloped edge of the upright pole under the lip of the box, so as to secure it. The adjustment appears to be made via a wing nut. I could use one if these at my office, where my hat boxes are stacked up high on a shelf.

 

[Hatter4]

John - I posted the ads for the electric shackle iron that I have. The full ad for the wood hat reaching stick reads "use with any shape box (round, square, etc), adjusts for any height. The ad was also stamped discontinued. I don't have one. The ad was from National Hatters' Supply, Brooklyn, NY.

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

JG, your DIY tools are awesome. I've been using your puller downer and runner downer on some projects. The steaming "kettle" is pretty smart. Nice ideas!


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[Alive'n'Amplified]

Can anyone recommend a steady wholesale bulk source for roan leather sweatbands? I don't want the gold foil stripe. Just plain leather.


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