Photos of hatters tools

[Jauntyone]

Great job!

 

[humanshoes]

Very nice job there Fedoras4Life! As a man who has fabricated most of his own hat tools (including a heated sandbag and a conformateur) I can certainly appreciate your ingenuity and build skills. If you, however, ever make an outlaw cowboy hat it will cringe at the sight of your setup. (Sorry, couldn't resist the gallows reference).

 

[RJR]

This is freakin' AWESOME! Great job!! You didn't copywrite this thing did ya? ,

(Heck, I was going to post my pencil roll tool. So much for THAT idea.)

+1

 

[humanshoes]

This is freakin' AWESOME! Great job!! You didn't copywrite this thing did ya? ,

(Heck, I was going to post my pencil roll tool. So much for THAT idea.)

I, for one, would love to see a pic of your pencil roll tool Mike.

 

[Mustang Mike's Hats]

Gee, thanks man... I appreciate the support.

 

[Fedoras4Life]

This is freakin' AWESOME! Great job!! You didn't copywrite this thing did ya? ,

(Heck, I was going to post my pencil roll tool. So much for THAT idea.)

Thanks! I would be interested in seeing your homemade pencil roll tool.

 

[Fedoras4Life]

Very nice job there Fedoras4Life! As a man who has fabricated most of his own hat tools (including a heated sandbag and a conformateur) I can certainly appreciate your ingenuity and build skills. If you, however, ever make an outlaw cowboy hat it will cringe at the sight of your setup. (Sorry, couldn't resist the gallows reference).

hahahah.. I got a good laugh from that one

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

Very nice job there Fedoras4Life! As a man who has fabricated most of his own hat tools (including a heated sandbag and a conformateur) I can certainly appreciate your ingenuity and build skills. If you, however, ever make an outlaw cowboy hat it will cringe at the sight of your setup. (Sorry, couldn't resist the gallows reference).

I would definitely like to see your heated sandbagger.

Hats off to those who have made their own tools. I have been thinking about making my own sandbagger, got some inspiration for it from the citrus press that I have. Figured that the concept is similar just need to scale it larger. This is the juice press I have, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004S9G...B3ZCKSAGTHEM6F1Q0&ie=UTF8&qid=1500152151&sr=1 seems close to sandbagger just needs to be bigger and don't have the pressing plate that holds the fruit.

 

[humanshoes]

That juicer setup looks like a workable concept to me Chicago. I don't have pictures of my sandbagger and it's currently buried in a closet somewhere. There is a shot in this thread somewhere showing the bagger before the sand went in.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/photos-of-hatters-tools.27503/page-64#post-1809927

Basically two separate bags with a heating pad sandwiched in the middle. I used paracord strung through the grommets for lifting and lowering. It took about a half hour to marginally heat up the sand and I used it for a while with limited success.

 

[Mustang Mike's Hats]

Just got a few tools from Mark DeCou yesterday. I've never had a puller downer and I'm looking forward to using it as the need arises. The Foot Tollicker feels great in my hand too, Feels like it was custom made fit. I also added a shot of my pencil roll tool.

 

[RJR]

Just got a few tools from Mark DeCou yesterday. I've never had a puller downer and I'm looking forward to using it as the need arises. The Foot Tollicker feels great in my hand too, Feels like it was custom made fit. I also added a shot of my pencil roll tool.

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I have a few of Mark's tools as well,excellent craftsmanship.

 

[Fedoras4Life]

Just got a few tools from Mark DeCou yesterday. I've never had a puller downer and I'm looking forward to using it as the need arises. The Foot Tollicker feels great in my hand too, Feels like it was custom made fit. I also added a shot of my pencil roll tool.

View attachment 79769

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Mark makes quality tools. I have purchased some things from him as well.

I absolutely love the pencil roll tool. It it antique or did you make it?

 

[Mustang Mike's Hats]

Mark makes quality tools. I have purchased some things from him as well.

I absolutely love the pencil roll tool. It it antique or did you make it?

The pencil roll tool is indeed an antique. I bought it when I originally started my hat business, over 20 years ago. I got it from a hat supply guy in NYC who, like so many others, has since closed. When I bought back all my tools from the guy I had sold my business to, the ONE item I REALLY hoped he still had was that pencil roll tool! BTW - just used the puller downer as I'm starting a fedora and it is great!!

 

[humanshoes]

Love that curling shackle Mike!

 

[Mustang Mike's Hats]

Love that curling shackle Mike!

Curling Shackle (LOVE THAT!) Seriously, I'm learning here... Is that the civilized term for it? I really do need to learn more of the technical nomenclature for hatters tools. I must be sound like a cowboy or something. LOL! ... (oh, wait .. I guess I kind of are one.)

 

[RJR]

Curling Shackle (LOVE THAT!) Seriously, I'm learning here... Is that the civilized term for it? I really do need to learn more of the technical nomenclature for hatters tools. I must be sound like a cowboy or something. LOL! ... (oh, wait .. I guess I kind of are one.)

 

[Fedoras4Life]

Curling Shackle (LOVE THAT!) Seriously, I'm learning here... Is that the civilized term for it? I really do need to learn more of the technical nomenclature for hatters tools. I must be sound like a cowboy or something. LOL! ... (oh, wait .. I guess I kind of are one.)

I believe that is the correct name for them. I have also heard them called brim irons.

 

[humanshoes]

It's funny that the old hatters had technical names for some tools such as the curling shackle and foot tolliker and some very basic names for others such as the runner down and puller down. Must have been the mercury.

 

[humanshoes]

So, you wake up one morning and decide you want to make straw hats for these brutal Tennessee summers. No problem. First, find a 100 year old straw braid hat sewing machine. Second, source the straw. Third, learn how to use the damn machine. Fourth, brush up on your profanity vocabulary. And last but not least, be prepared to start over about a 100 freaking times. After many, many hours bent over the old Willcox & Gibbs machine, and many failures to launch, a Downton Abbey Milan straw hat for a friend (she plans to use a silk scarf for a hatband) and a hemp braid tobacco brown hat for me (temporary hatband I think).

 

[RJR]

View attachment 80089 View attachment 80090 So, you wake up one morning and decide you want to make straw hats for these brutal Tennessee summers. No problem. First, find a 100 year old straw braid hat sewing machine. Second, source the straw. Third, learn how to use the damn machine. Fourth, brush up on your profanity vocabulary. And last but not least, be prepared to start over about a 100 freaking times. After many, many hours bent over the old Willcox & Gibbs machine, and many failures to launch, a Downton Abbey Milan straw hat for a friend (she plans to use a silk scarf for a hatband) and a hemp braid tobacco brown hat for me (temporary hatband I think).

I can't imagine the frustration involved in coaxing a century old machine back to life but the products look great.