Sunrise Hat Company felt (nutria) and hatters’ tools

[Tukwila]

My guess would be Brazil. IIRC, that's where the hoods for the Penman Everyman Indy came from... and where Steve Delk sourced his hoods as well.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

And with them offering Llama leather sweats....eastern part of the continent.....Chile, Argentina, Bolivia? All countries with a strong hat culture.

My guess would be Brazil. IIRC, that's where the hoods for the Penman Everyman Indy came from... and where Steve Delk sourced his hoods as well.

I am a tiny bit closer. Lesson when searching is to stop using english words when I want to get results from countries outside to the US. The search engines won't do an automatic translation and search other languages for you. If anyone else is interested in some terms, here is how you spell felt (as in the material) in Portuguese and Spanish respectively: feltros, fieltros.

By the way, if you try to use an online translator to go from english to another language and you enter "felt" you will get the words that mean to feel. Not what you want.

During my search I came across this video for FEPSA, you get a quick highlevel overview of their manufacturing process. At one point there is very nice long hair hat body in the video, just wish that I knew the secrets to hot brushing these. FEPSA - Feltros Portugueses, SA - YouTube

The search for a supplier continues. So far I am finding the wrong kind of felt material suppliers in South America.

 

[belfastboy]

I am a tiny bit closer. Lesson when searching is to stop using english words when I want to get results from countries outside to the US. The search engines won't do an automatic translation and search other languages for you. If anyone else is interested in some terms, here is how you spell felt (as in the material) in Portuguese and Spanish respectively: feltros, fieltros.

By the way, if you try to use an online translator to go from english to another language and you enter "felt" you will get the words that mean to feel. Not what you want.

During my search I came across this video for FEPSA, you get a quick highlevel overview of their manufacturing process. At one point there is very nice long hair hat body in the video, just wish that I knew the secrets to hot brushing these. FEPSA - Feltros Portugueses, SA - YouTube

The search for a supplier continues. So far I am finding the wrong kind of felt material suppliers in South America.

I forget the company name but the felt/millinery supplier out of Australia 6-8 months ago said he was dealing with a SA company that offered Beaver felts and he was looking into bringing some in. Aus is such a long way away and deep in Covid the deliveries were upwards of 3 months to me so I never bothered to follow up.

 

[Gobi]

I got my second body today. This one is Honey which is a whiskey color I would say. About what I was expecting. I like the color a lot. This body is slightly more stiff than the one in natural but not overly so. It seems to be pounced better than the natural.

Honey:

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

I received my swatch card Sunrise today. I am perplexed by the different stiffnesses in the swatches. I detect at least 4 different levels of stiffness. Makes me wonder if for the swatches that maybe they plated the felt to stiffen it up, because some of them are like hardboard. It is great to have the swatches for the colors but feel I would likely need to get my hands on a hat body to really compare. I will say though that the Natural in dress weight would be awesome if it is representative of what the hat body will be. It was the best one in the swatch card by a lot. Also the pounce seemed pretty basic, was no where near the pre-pounced FEPSA that I had a few years ago. If the hat body felt like the swatches I would be inclined to pounce it more as I would want the hand to be similar to what I can achieve on the Winchester beaver. I can't tell what the shapability is like until I order a hat body.

This is obviously only based on the swatch card so take with huge grain of salt and it is not enough to deter me from ordering. I will give them a try.

 

[belfastboy]

I received my swatch card Sunrise today. I am perplexed by the different stiffnesses in the swatches. I detect at least 4 different levels of stiffness. Makes me wonder if for the swatches that maybe they plated the felt to stiffen it up, because some of them are like hardboard. It is great to have the swatches for the colors but feel I would likely need to get my hands on a hat body to really compare. I will say though that the Natural in dress weight would be awesome if it is representative of what the hat body will be. It was the best one in the swatch card by a lot. Also the pounce seemed pretty basic, was no where near the pre-pounced FEPSA that I had a few years ago. If the hat body felt like the swatches I would be inclined to pounce it more as I would want the hand to be similar to what I can achieve on the Winchester beaver. I can't tell what the shapability is like until I order a hat body.

This is obviously only based on the swatch card so take with huge grain of salt and it is not enough to deter me from ordering. I will give them a try.

I have the light grey I am making up for Brent. I agree the pouncing is far from complete but I had the Winchester mottling issue crop up when I pounced it more. Alcohol and luring evened it out but it could stand to be pounced thinner but am reluctant. When I order one for myself I will overlook the mottling and just keep pouncing to see what the end result could be.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

I have the light grey I am making up for Brent. I agree the pouncing is far from complete but I had the Winchester mottling issue crop up when I pounced it more. Alcohol and luring evened it out but it could stand to be pounced thinner but am reluctant. When I order one for myself I will overlook the mottling and just keep pouncing to see what the end result could be.

I will say that their plum color is a decent option for replacing the old black cherry color, probably one to two shades lighter than the black cherry. I compared their plum swatch with an old black cherry rabbit cutting (un-pounced) that Mike Miller sent to me. I just wish they also carried it in dress weight.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I received my swatch card Sunrise today. I am perplexed by the different stiffnesses in the swatches. I detect at least 4 different levels of stiffness. Makes me wonder if for the swatches that maybe they plated the felt to stiffen it up, because some of them are like hardboard. It is great to have the swatches for the colors but feel I would likely need to get my hands on a hat body to really compare. I will say though that the Natural in dress weight would be awesome if it is representative of what the hat body will be. It was the best one in the swatch card by a lot. Also the pounce seemed pretty basic, was no where near the pre-pounced FEPSA that I had a few years ago. If the hat body felt like the swatches I would be inclined to pounce it more as I would want the hand to be similar to what I can achieve on the Winchester beaver. I can't tell what the shapability is like until I order a hat body.

This is obviously only based on the swatch card so take with huge grain of salt and it is not enough to deter me from ordering. I will give them a try.

I too wish they offered natural in dress weight 150g felts. Maybe they’ll add it sometime in the future. My midnight blue 150g arrived along with my second natural 220g felt. If anything I’m wondering if the this latest dress weight felt will be stiff enough to hold a shape! I’ll post photos tomorrow when I can use natural light.

 

[Gobi]

The swatch cards are all very different. Most are extremely stiff, some seem to have no stiffener. Most are really thick, some are fairly thin. Some are extremely rough and hairy, some are like fine velvet.

 

[belfastboy]

I will say that their plum color is a decent option for replacing the old black cherry color, probably one to two shades lighter than the black cherry. I compared their plum swatch with an old black cherry rabbit cutting (un-pounced) that Mike Miller sent to me. I just wish they also carried it in dress weight.

Yes, as well if they offered the Moss in dress I have orders for 3

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Here’s a look at the midnight blue 150g felt:

Below is Winchester’s navy 100% beaver:

below is the raw un-pounced nurtia in midnight on top of Winchester’s navy:

More of the same:

This is an indoor photo taken with a flash. The midnight nutria is on the top and on the right. The hat on the left is a Tonak rabbit felt in marine blue. The hat on the top is Winchester’s navy again.

The juxtaposition shows more difference in color between the Winchester and the Sunrise than I think there really is; however, the nutria is a bit more blue than the beaver. The marine blue is the lightest of them all and not as saturated.

The nutria might photograph differently after it’s been pounced and ironed and made into a completed hat.

 

[Gobi]

My first hat is coming along nicley. I finished pouncing and cut the brim to 3 1/2" which was then max I could do. That's ok though. I like larger brims but 3 1/2" is easier to wear and looks better on me. The hat is ready for a sweatband. I'm dragging my feet because I hate doing that part and I cant stress the word hate enough. It drives me up the wall. But I gotta do it.
The Sunrise felt is really nice to work with. The finish I've gotten is impressive. My only complaint is the thickness of the felt. This is western weight. I tried to thin it down a tad but I didn't want to risk compromising the structural integrity of the felt so I didn't go overboard. I'll post some pics once I get it finished. So far so good.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

My first hat is coming along nicley. I finished pouncing and cut the brim to 3 1/2" which was then max I could do. That's ok though. I like larger brims but 3 1/2" is easier to wear and looks better on me. The hat is ready for a sweatband. I'm dragging my feet because I hate doing that part and I cant stress the word hate enough. It drives me up the wall. But I gotta do it.
The Sunrise felt is really nice to work with. The finish I've gotten is impressive. My only complaint is the thickness of the felt. This is western weight. I tried to thin it down a tad but I didn't want to risk compromising the structural integrity of the felt so I didn't go overboard. I'll post some pics once I get it finished. So far so good.

Did you find the felt any thinker than other western weight felt?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Sharing Michael Gannon’s first impression of the dress weight nutria in midnight blue that I sent him:

“... the dress weight hat body is a good size, my initial impression is that it should work for a 6" crown and 3" brim or be pretty close. It's also quite soft, softer than I expected and if anything I would say perhaps a bit too soft depending on what you are looking for, some stiffener may have to be added to the brim to get it to hold it's shape.”

Better too soft than too stiff. I’m asking him about minimally stiffening the felt if it’s needed.

 

[Gobi]

Did you find the felt any thinker than other western weight felt?

Compared to off the shelf hats the brim is thicker than pretty much any other western hat I own. The crown is much, much thinner than the brim. As thin or thinner than most other hats I own. I didnt do much pouncing on the crown. I ended up sanding the brim a bit more to get it a touch thinner.

 

[belfastboy]

Compared to off the shelf hats the brim is thicker than pretty much any other western hat I own. The crown is much, much thinner than the brim. As thin or thinner than most other hats I own. I didnt do much pouncing on the crown. I ended up sanding the brim a bit more to get it a touch thinner.

The one I worked on was a mid grey and while the felt was thick the crown and brim were very soft and malleable. I almost considered a bit of shellac on the brim but gave it a fairly deep flange and that gave it the stiffness it needed. What colour did you work with? Was it stiff as well as thick?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Compared to off the shelf hats the brim is thicker than pretty much any other western hat I own. The crown is much, much thinner than the brim. As thin or thinner than most other hats I own. I didnt do much pouncing on the crown. I ended up sanding the brim a bit more to get it a touch thinner.

I have a couple Resistol Beaver 100s and a Stetson One-Hundred that are thinner, but all three of my western nutria hats finished with felt thickness (brim and crown) that was thinner than average for a western. Pouncing thins the felt and ironing makes it denser/thinner (to a point), so maybe keep working the felt?

The dress weight felt is a whole different kettle of fish. My original thought was that it was too floppy to hold a shape, and Gannon seems to have similar concerns so might need to add some stiffener (shellac or ???). Being used to Winchester felt, it’s odd to think about needing to stiffen a dress weight hat. Sunrise does offer some dress felts with some stiffeners and I’m sorely tempted to get one just to compare as my midnight felt is one of the colors being made without any stiffeners.

 

[Tukwila]

How long does Sunrise take to ship out once you for your order?

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

How long does Sunrise take to ship out once you for your order?

When I ordered my swatch card, it shipped within 24 hours.

I haven't purchased any hat bodies yet as the colors I am interested in are sold out. I sent them a note asking for Natural and Plum colors in 150 grams and said I would wait for Midnight Blue and Gunmetal to restock asn this we the reply I received:

Thanks for the feedback. We really made the 150s to test the water. Seems like folks do like them so I think we will make some more and I’ll note the color request. It’ll be months before we have any additional stock in these (blue, gunmetal, or other new colors) so hopefully we’ve got something that can suit you in the meantime. I might have a hat body or two from our previous run which were 180gram in a few colors. I can check and see if you’d be interested. I know we kept some around for our own hats and might not need them.

Pretty sure their stock is low because @deadlyhandsome keeps buying their hat bodies

 

[Tukwila]

I ordered an in-stock 220 gram natural, cc has been billed, but nothing has been shipped out. No snow in Berekely that I'm aware of....