The Conversion Corral

[boze]

Couple more pics.

That crease looks great. Do you find westerns with more pliable felt to start with or do you just end up with a stiffer fedora when you're done with a conversion like this?

 

[DOGMAN]

That crease looks great. Do you find westerns with more pliable felt to start with or do you just end up with a stiffer fedora when you're done with a conversion like this?

Most are stiff.This hat's felt was more like dress weight felt.I do like a stiff hat ,when I bump them I don't have to fix the crease.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Don't know if this is the correct thread to post this as I did not do the conversion work. And I'm not really sure this even counts as a conversion. The only thing done to this hat was to have Scott aka Bond replace the ribbon from the original 1/8" tan to a 1 3/8" burgundy. I did not even change the dent. I played with it and found it's tall enough to do pretty much anything I want. But I think it's fine as is - at least for now. The hat was in really good shape. The liner has a couple of small spots but thats pretty much all that shows any age or wear. It's my first hat with a 3" brim and I could tell as soon as I put it on that I like the wider brim. I have been thinking of adding a binding to the brim. Something that would blend with the felt color. Good idea or just leave it as is? Correct me if I am wrong but I think it would be circa 1950s.

BTW Scott saved the original ribbon for me so it can be put back if wanted at some point in the future.

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What a difference that ribbon makes! I don't want to be presumptuous, but how can I contact the person who did that work for you?


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[BobHufford]

Finished my conversion.

Very nice!

 

[T Jones]

Looking good Mr Jones.Finished my conversion.

I dunno DMAN. You're a tough one to follow. The hat looks great, as usual for all of your conversions.

 

[DOGMAN]

Thank you,Terry.I was thinking the same about you and your conversions

 

[DOGMAN]

Going to start my next conversion a Resistol Stagecoach.This silver belly hat is a 7 1/2,so this one I won't keep.

 

[Desert dog]

I found this Resistol Weekend Roundup and was going to do a conversion.I like the hat the way it is so I only changed the rope band to a ribbon and bow.

]

I am awfully late in responding, but damn! I love this hat. Everything about it is perfect. I've seen a similar one at auction, but not my size.

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[deadlyhandsome]

My first attempt at a conversion.

Started with this Resistol:

Using nothing but steam, distilled water, time, an iron, and my fingers I got it to here:

A quick dry crease gave me this:

It still needs a good cleaning and I'm undecided on cutting the brim down from its current 3.25 inches. I'm also thinking of asking my very talented wife to have a go at the ribbon.

Suggestions welcomed.



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[deadlyhandsome]

And a noggin shot:

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[Desert dog]

My first attempt at a conversion.

Started with this Resistol:

Using nothing but steam, distilled water, time, an iron, and my fingers I got it to here:

A quick dry crease gave me this:

It still needs a good cleaning and I'm undecided on cutting the brim down from its current 3.25 inches. I'm also thinking of asking my very talented wife to have a go at the ribbon.

Suggestions welcomed.



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Congratulations on that one! I almost bid on that, being a fan of red liner Resistol. I am glad you got it. The brim treatment is so unique to a Resistol western, I might be hesitant to cut it, just my biased western opinion. You may actually like the wider brim on occasion. Check out Dogmans, after just a ribbon change. Either way I'm sure you'll do a fine job, and have fun at it.
Glad to see another lounger get it and looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

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[Desert dog]

And a noggin shot:

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You look pretty darn good in that.

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[BobHufford]

It still needs a good cleaning and I'm undecided on cutting the brim down from its current 3.25 inches. I'm also thinking of asking my very talented wife to have a go at the ribbon.

Congrats on winning that one! I did bid, but got out early due to too many other irons in the fire.

I agree with D-dog that it would almost be a shame to remove that brim treatment. Very unusual.

Then again, it is yours to do what you wish. You might try the ribbon change and see how it is to live with it for awhile. Hard to go back...

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Congratulations on that one! I almost bid on that, being a fan of red liner Resistol. I am glad you got it. The brim treatment is so unique to a Resistol western, I might be hesitant to cut it, just my biased western opinion. You may actually like the wider brim on occasion. Check out Dogmans, after just a ribbon change. Either way I'm sure you'll do a fine job, and have fun at it.
Glad to see another lounger get it and looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

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I'm also reluctant to cut down the brim. I think I'll try to get used to a slightly larger brim than what I'm used to. You guys with your westerns look great, but they never feel or look right to me on my own head.

I'm going to clean it up over the weekend, give the brim a bit of curl, and play with the crease. Maybe I'll expend my hat repertoire?

Any suggestions for the ribbon?

 

[Desert dog]

I'm also reluctant to cut down the brim. I think I'll try to get used to a slightly larger brim than what I'm used to. You guys with your westerns look great, but they never feel or look right to me on my own head.

I'm going to clean it up over the weekend, give the brim a bit of curl, and play with the crease. Maybe I'll expend my hat repertoire?

Any suggestions for the ribbon?

I would just make sure to use a cotton/ rayon, or silk. Vintage ribbon responds good to steam. Polyester is not a good choice.

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[deadlyhandsome]

Congrats on winning that one! I did bid, but got out early due to too many other irons in the fire.

I agree with D-dog that it would almost be a shame to remove that brim treatment. Very unusual.

Then again, it is yours to do what you wish. You might try the ribbon change and see how it is to live with it for awhile. Hard to go back...

I agree. I won't trim it back unless I'm sure, and you good folks are all convincing me to leave it as is.

 

[Cornshucker77]

Finally got around to taking some pictures of the Navy Blue 3X Resistol that Michael R gifted to me. I reused all the original ribbon and brim binding and was even able to save and reattach the original manufacturer's label and 7 1/4 size tag. I was also able to clean up and reuse the original red liner and red sweat bow to 'like new' condition. The original sweat couldn't be saved so I replaced it with a new goat skin leather sweat. It started out as an early '60s lower crowned western with a 3 1/2 brim that, to me, looked disproportionate to the hat. I decided to convert it to a fedora. To start off with, the hat was very well made. The material and the workmanship that went into it originally was as high quality as I ever saw.
I retained the original open crown height of 5 1/2 inches and reblocked it on a straight sided hat block. I creased in my preferred teardrop with a tighter pinch at 4 3/4 with a rake sloping to 4 1/4 at the back. The brim is 2 3/4 wide...

Before:

After:

That is very nice. I really like the high crown, wide brim Fedoras. Good work!

 

[Cornshucker77]

I would just make sure to use a cotton/ rayon, or silk. Vintage ribbon responds good to steam. Polyester is not a good choice.

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I would second that. I don't have experience with silk but, cotton/rayon is much easier to work with than polyester.

 

[DOGMAN]

My first attempt at a conversion.

Started with this Resistol:

Using nothing but steam, distilled water, time, an iron, and my fingers I got it to here:

A quick dry crease gave me this:

It still needs a good cleaning and I'm undecided on cutting the brim down from its current 3.25 inches. I'm also thinking of asking my very talented wife to have a go at the ribbon.

Suggestions welcomed.



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Good 1st try.Have you went back to the start of this thread page 2.Davidson did a write up on how he did his conversions it helped me get started on mine.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Good 1st try.Have you went back to the start of this thread page 2.Davidson did a write up on how he did his conversions it helped me get started on mine.

I have not done that, but I will now. Thanks for the advice.