The Conversion Corral

[texashatman]

Inspired to Try a Conversion

I've had the conversion bug for a while but all my western hats have too much sentimental value for me to alter. I talked my wife into going into a junk store and lo and behold there's an oldish Stetson 3X Beaver for $10.

As bought (does anybody need a feather band )

Liner

"Last drop from his Stetson"
$20 Tag from Zindlers here in Houston. One of the Zindler bros. was famous for closing down "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"

After a thorough scrubbing and steaming I tried a different bash but I haven't cut down the brim yet.

This hat is way too small for me as it's a 6 7/8 and I wear a 7 3/8 but I'll have fun messing with it. It has no sentimental value to me so I won't be scared to attempt a brim trimming/binding. I'll post some more picks as I work on it.

 

[texashatman]

More Conversion Progress

Well, I went ahead and figured out how I needed to go abot cutting the brim down. I cut an 8'' hole in a piece of paneling that the crown would fit through. I stapled the brim to the wood and made my mark (2 5/8'' front and back 2 3/8'' sides). I then made my cut with a new utility knife blade. As suggested in a previous post I cut lightly the first time around and then cut all the way through the second round. That worked great. I then sanded on it with 220 grit for quite a while.

It's looking pretty good in my opinon but I'll probably sand on it some more.

 

[RBH]

Well, I went ahead and figured out how I needed to go abot cutting the brim down. I cut an 8'' hole in a piece of paneling that the crown would fit through. I stapled the brim to the wood and made my mark (2 5/8'' front and back 2 3/8'' sides). I then made my cut with a new utility knife blade. As suggested in a previous post I cut lightly the first time around and then cut all the way through the second round. That worked great. I then sanded on it with 220 grit for quite a while.

It's looking pretty good in my opinon but I'll probably sand on it some more.

That looks great to me!!!
It will make someone a fantastic outdoors fedora!
you did good!

 

[tonyb]

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An extraordinary effort, Mastapone. It seems you're a natural at this.

That hat of yours is a lot like this one ...

Which was one of two hats I bought from my favorite old junk peddler for 20 bucks combined. It was a no-name, gray, dirty but decent quality old cowboy hat which I took apart and cleaned and dyed this deep red color and blocked and trimmed down its brim and flanged it and put in a new sweatband and ribbon. It's something of an experiment, and I'm not 100 percent satisfied with the workmanship, but I know what I'll do differently next time.

The beauty of working with old Westerns is that there's usually so much body material to work with that you can get a tall crown and a wide brim and a large hat size. I've made a couple of fedoras from old "normal" sized cowboy hats for a fellow who's just a whisker under a size 8.

 

[texashatman]

That looks great to me!!!
It will make someone a fantastic outdoors fedora!
you did good!

Thanks RBH. I am humbled by some of the beautiful conversions on this post. I'll be doing a LOT of this in the future because used high quality westerns are plentiful where I am. Maybe I'll raise my game to the level of some of these other posters. The main thing is that I had fun doing it.

 

[Jingo Mastapone]

Thanks, tonyb. I WISH I had the equipment to do all those things you mentioned! At some point I'm going to try my hand at building a block and a flanger. Maybe a couple blocks. It doesn't seem very popular around these parts but I like a bit of front/back taper on my hats. I think a short crowned, wide brimmed hat looks really cool. I just tonight got a black 4X Resistol cowboy hat with a 4" brim that I'm about to dig into. I'd love to be able to re-block it and pull some crown into the brim but that will have to wait. Your hat looks awesome! That bow is sweet.

 

[tonyb]

Thanks, tonyb. I WISH I had the equipment to do all those things you mentioned! At some point I'm going to try my hand at building a block and a flanger. Maybe a couple blocks. It doesn't seem very popular around these parts but I like a bit of front/back taper on my hats. I think a short crowned, wide brimmed hat looks really cool. I just tonight got a black 4X Resistol cowboy hat with a 4" brim that I'm about to dig into. I'd love to be able to re-block it and pull some crown into the brim but that will have to wait. Your hat looks awesome! That bow is sweet.

I might recommend that you try to find an old block and flange (or three or four) on eBay (or somewhere else) that suit your purpose rather than make them yourself, unless you're remarkably adept at woodworking and have the necessary tools. I don't know diddly about such things, but I'd bet that fashioning flanges would be more involved and difficult and costly than making blocks.

If you'd rather have a shorter, more-tapered block than the styles more lusted after around these parts, you could probably find them inexpensively enough, I'd think. Thirty or 40 bucks apiece would seem about right, whereas the "more desirable" types, such as, say, a 6-inch tall No. 52 in a size 7 3/8, could fetch well over a C note.

Flanges are still selling for considerably less than they're worth, in my estimation, and I suspect the prices for them will rise dramatically once the economy recovers some (knock on wood) and more people get hip to how valuable they really are. Wider flanges, such as the type you'd want for those big brims you prefer, are somewhat scarcer, so you might want to get shopping right about, oh, now. It's post-holiday season, so that might hold prices down for a little while.

 

[deanzat]

semi-conversion

I guess this is more rebash than conversion, because I just haven't gotten up the guts to trim the brim. In fact, with my big ears, I sort of like this fedora crown with cowboy brim thing. Maybe I'll just declare it a new style.

before:

After:

Better photos to come, when I think it's really finished.

 

[RBH]

I guess this is more rebash than conversion, because I just haven't gotten up the guts to trim the brim. In fact, with my big ears, I sort of like this fedora crown with cowboy brim thing. Maybe I'll just declare it a new style.

before:

After:

Better photos to come, when I think it's really finished.

I like the new crease better. Looks great!

 

[gtdean48]

I like the new crease better. Looks great!

:arated: Most western hat catalogs show that as a Tycoon crease, basically same as teardrop with a front pinch. Getting that brim trimmed will make it more Outback/Fedora-ish. Good job! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Sam Craig]

Getting started right helps

Out here in rural USA, it's easy to get good condition, used cowboy hats to work with, and fairly cheap, if you are patient.

Since we still have western wear stores, you can also get the brims trimmed by someone who knows what they are doing — hopefully — without too much cost.

It is, however, difficult to find the Petersham ribbon to transform the look of a fedora.

At first I tried using the poly ribbon that you can get at craft and discount stores.

Then I found a quilt shop about three hours away that carries the Petersham rayon ribbon.

What a difference that makes!

It's a little more expensive, but well worth it.

Now I stock up with several colors whenever I'm back in that part of the state so I can redo the older conversions and be ready for new projects.

 

[gtdean48]

Wish there was an easy, sure way to soften up those western brims a good bit.

 

[Sam Craig]

brim softening

I had one that I picked up at a thrift store.

It was good felt, so I had it trimmed, reshaped the crown, made a new ribbon.

But there was a small imperfection on part of the brim ... not really a moth bite, but something.

I tried sanding it out, which worked fine, and it made the brim softer.

However, I haven't worked up the guts to try a whole hat, though I wonder if you could sand the underside of the brim and get it softer.

Maybe it would be worth an experiment.

 

[deanzat]

Brimming Over

Thanks for all the encouragement. Still trying to rework this hat without trimming the brim, but now my wife is making a lot of flying nun cracks...

 

[Sam Craig]

Take your time

Do the brim a quarter inch at a time or less and be patient.

Better yet, look for a western wear shop. It's worth the five bucks or so to save the agravation.:eusa_doh:

There are specialty cutters you can order, but they aren't cheap.

You've got a good amount of brim to work with, so if you try a quarter inch and it isn't your thing, you can still get help.[huh]

 

[Duck]

:arated: Most western hat catalogs show that as a Tycoon crease, basically same as teardrop with a front pinch. Getting that brim trimmed will make it more Outback/Fedora-ish. Good job! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I like the Tycoon crease on some western hats. Reminds me of the creases from the 50's & 60's westerns.

 

[scottyrocks]

Is a western with one style crease made into a western with another style crease really a 'conversion,' or just a recrease or rebash? Wouldnt a 'conversion' have to be from one style hat, such as a western, into a different style, such as a fedora, or am I picking too fine a nit?

 

[deanzat]

Is a western with one style crease made into a western with another style crease really a 'conversion,' or just a recrease or rebash? Wouldnt a 'conversion' have to be from one style hat, such as a western, into a different style, such as a fedora, or am I picking too fine a nit?

Well, if you're referring to mine above, I think of it as a work-in-progress; a rebash on its way to being a conversion, once I pluck up the nerve to trim the brim...

 

[scottyrocks]

Well, if you're referring to mine above, I think of it as a work-in-progress; a rebash on its way to being a conversion, once I pluck up the nerve to trim the brim...

Okay, well I guess that answers that! I cant wait to see the end result.

 

[gtdean48]

Is a western with one style crease made into a western with another style crease really a 'conversion,' or just a recrease or rebash? Wouldnt a 'conversion' have to be from one style hat, such as a western, into a different style, such as a fedora, or am I picking too fine a nit?

I think you have to do crown work & brim work to get a western converted to either outback of fedora size. Doing ribbon work & binding the edge is definitely even more advanced conversioning. JMHO