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The Conversion Corral

AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,823
I finally finished this Borsalino and as I already said, I went with a black 3/8 thin ribbon with an OR / Strat type bow.

The specs on this one...
1. 5 3/4 open crown
2. The crown is creased to my preferred Teardrop that is 4 3/4 at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 inches to the back.
3. The snap brim is 3 inches wide.
4. It's been reblocked from its original size 7 to a 7 1/4 to fit me.

I'll have more in the WHAYWT thread and also in the Borsalino Brotherhood thread.

Borsa-III-A.jpg


Borsa-III-2-A.jpg


Borsalino-III-and-Dodge-2-A.jpg


Borsalino-III-and-Dodge-3-A.jpg


Borsalino-III-and-Dodge-7-A.jpg


I tried to get some pictures of the front but the color is hard to photograph under certain light...
Great work Terry, as always.
Are there any pics of the insides anywhere?
B
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,786
Location
Central Ohio
Great work Terry, as always.
Are there any pics of the insides anywhere?
B
Thank you Bowen. There's nothing to see on the inside, actually. Everyone of these Borsas I have came to me without the liners. All that's on the inside is a black sweat that has Borsalino stamped on it. I tried contacting the Borsa factory to see if they had liners for these hats but they didn't reply to my email. From what I understand the black Borsas that I have were made for Orthodox Jews so I don't know if they came with much more on the inside than just the Black sweat.
 

J Williams

Practically Family
Messages
638
Location
Vancouver, BC, Canada
So I attempted my first conversion today and I'm pretty happy with a first attempt. I picked up a beat up 4X black resistol for $20 at a local thrift store with the intention of playing around with it. Of course in my haste forgot to take a before photo but it's essentially this hat.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RESISTOL-4...599244?hash=item365246b3cc:g:S90AAOSwFpddTFqJ

I whipped up a crappy 2 3/4 rounding jig (worked great actually) Thorougly wet the brim and crown. Ironed the brim flat and worked out the old crown crease. Trimmed the brim down and put in a new bash. The hat has a bit of a bell shaped curl where the crown meets the brim that I wasn't able to crisp up but I think I'm going to put a bit of a wider ribbon on it.

I was originally going to put a cattlemans on it but it has a pretty tall crown so it looked a little pointy for my liking. Really happy with this teardrop shape. The brim still needs a bit of work and I think I will make a quick 1/2" jig to put a better curl on it but I'm pretty happy overall. Let me know what you think and if anyone has any tips I'm all ears.

f0b4103fc8093d74b3402c1895a902d7.jpg
View attachment 180324
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846c45310ce657de9edc314fd672897f.jpg
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05acedb13d157d2a81f5d9270240e6d5.jpg
4c75a31973e56cabb1cd6e4c5bf62767.jpg
 
Last edited:

Cornshucker77

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,691
Location
Northeast Nebraska, USA
So I attempted my first conversion today and I'm pretty happy with a first attempt. I picked up a beat up 4X black resistol for $20 at a local thrift store with the intention of playing around with it. Of course in my haste forgot to take a before photo but it's essentially this hat.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RESISTOL-4...599244?hash=item365246b3cc:g:S90AAOSwFpddTFqJ

I whipped up a crappy 2 3/4 rounding jig (worked great actually) Thorougly wet the brim and crown. Ironed the brim flat and worked out the old crown crease. Trimmed the brim down and put in a new bash. The hat has a bit of a bell shaped curl where the crown meets the brim that I wasn't able to crisp up but I think I'm going to put a bit of a wider ribbon on it.

I was originally going to put a cattlemans on it but it has a pretty tall crown so it looked a little pointy for my liking. Really happy with this teardrop shape. The brim still needs a bit of work and I think I will make a quick 1/2" jig to put a better curl on it but I'm pretty happy overall. Let me know what you think and if anyone has any tips I'm all ears.

f0b4103fc8093d74b3402c1895a902d7.jpg
View attachment 180324
d1bd97b87b0779056c722379e7645de1.jpg
485ab684f9513823a0becd85a942b91c.jpg
846c45310ce657de9edc314fd672897f.jpg
b8735da8fefad55134d7d3a0695db845.jpg
05acedb13d157d2a81f5d9270240e6d5.jpg
4c75a31973e56cabb1cd6e4c5bf62767.jpg
Nice job!
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,786
Location
Central Ohio
Getting ready to put this Beaver Brand 10X Quality Western back together. I started on it some weeks ago and I'm just now getting back to it. I blocked this up from a size 7 to a 7 1/4 to fit me. I lost some brim width in the size up but I was able to use my handy dandy Phoenix Hat Company Rounding Jack and my equally handy dandy Rockwater band block to trim the brim width to an even 3 1/2 inches. I plan to keep this one a Western, something similar to James Garner's 'Maverick' hat, except with a few of my own touches....

Bret-Maverick-A.jpg


Off the block now and ready to go back together...

On the block:
IMG-20190526-054452749.jpg


Off the block and got the brim trimmed. Also pictured is the Rounding Jack I got from Rick at the Phoenix Hat Company, and the band block that came with a hat block that Rockwater made for me.
Beaver-Brand-10-X-1-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-2-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-3-A.jpg


 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,813
Location
Denmark
Getting ready to put this Beaver Brand 10X Quality Western back together. I started on it some weeks ago and I'm just now getting back to it. I blocked this up from a size 7 to a 7 1/4 to fit me. I lost some brim width in the size up but I was able to use my handy dandy Phoenix Hat Company Rounding Jack and my equally handy dandy Rockwater band block to trim the brim width to an even 3 1/2 inches. I plan to keep this one a Western, something similar to James Garner's 'Maverick' hat, except with a few of my own touches....

Bret-Maverick-A.jpg


Off the block now and ready to go back together...

On the block:
IMG-20190526-054452749.jpg


Off the block and got the brim trimmed. Also pictured is the Rounding Jack I got from Rick at the Phoenix Hat Company, and the band block that came with a hat block that Rockwater made for me.
Beaver-Brand-10-X-1-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-2-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-3-A.jpg


You're the hat whisperer, Terry.

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk
 

humanshoes

One Too Many
Messages
1,446
Location
Tennessee
Getting ready to put this Beaver Brand 10X Quality Western back together. I started on it some weeks ago and I'm just now getting back to it. I blocked this up from a size 7 to a 7 1/4 to fit me. I lost some brim width in the size up but I was able to use my handy dandy Phoenix Hat Company Rounding Jack and my equally handy dandy Rockwater band block to trim the brim width to an even 3 1/2 inches. I plan to keep this one a Western, something similar to James Garner's 'Maverick' hat, except with a few of my own touches....

Bret-Maverick-A.jpg


Off the block now and ready to go back together...

On the block:
IMG-20190526-054452749.jpg


Off the block and got the brim trimmed. Also pictured is the Rounding Jack I got from Rick at the Phoenix Hat Company, and the band block that came with a hat block that Rockwater made for me.
Beaver-Brand-10-X-1-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-2-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-3-A.jpg


[/QUOTE]
Excellent work as usual Terry. Gotta love a good black western hat.
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,786
Location
Central Ohio
Getting ready to put this Beaver Brand 10X Quality Western back together. I started on it some weeks ago and I'm just now getting back to it. I blocked this up from a size 7 to a 7 1/4 to fit me. I lost some brim width in the size up but I was able to use my handy dandy Phoenix Hat Company Rounding Jack and my equally handy dandy Rockwater band block to trim the brim width to an even 3 1/2 inches. I plan to keep this one a Western, something similar to James Garner's 'Maverick' hat, except with a few of my own touches....

Bret-Maverick-A.jpg


Off the block now and ready to go back together...

On the block:
IMG-20190526-054452749.jpg


Off the block and got the brim trimmed. Also pictured is the Rounding Jack I got from Rick at the Phoenix Hat Company, and the band block that came with a hat block that Rockwater made for me.
Beaver-Brand-10-X-1-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-2-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-10-X-3-A.jpg



Excellent work as usual Terry. Gotta love a good black western hat.
Thank you Rick! Definitely agree with you buddy. No Western hat collection would be complete without a black hat or two...

BTW, I really like that rounding jack! Works perfect everytime![/QUOTE]
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,786
Location
Central Ohio
Getting close to finishing this 10X Beaver Brand Western. I've got the new sweat sewn in and I'm going to put a thin brim binding on it. The ribbon for the brim binding is cut and folded and is sewn in place with temporary basting stitches that will be removed once it's permanently sewn in place with matching black thread.

Beaver-Brand-Binding-1-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-Binding-2-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-Binding-3-A.jpg


I'll have more on this Western when it's finished. In a way, I kinda wish that I would've trimmed the brim down to 3 1/4. Oh well....
 
Last edited:
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Getting close to finishing this 10X Beaver Brand Western. I've got the new sweat sewn in and I'm going to put a thin brim binding on it. The ribbon for the brim binding is cut and folded and is sewn in place with temporary basting stitches that will be removed once it's permanently sewn in place with matching black thread.

Beaver-Brand-Binding-1-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-Binding-2-A.jpg


Beaver-Brand-Binding-3-A.jpg


I'll have more on this Western when it's finished. In a way, I kinda wish that I would've trimmed the brim down to 3 1/4. Oh well....

It looks nice, Terry. I like the brim width, but 3 1/4 would also have been nice. Are you using your sewing machine to see on the binding?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,786
Location
Central Ohio
I'm in the home stretch on my Maverick inspired T.V. Western hat. I finally finished sewing on the binding and shaping the brim. The crown is also creased and I set the hat aside to dry overnight. Tomorrow I'll sew on a matching black thin ribbon. I'm still undecided on whether I want to use a 4 ligne or a 6 ligne ribbon....here's what I have so far

Beaver-Brand-10-X-1-A.jpg


No more hand sewing brim bindings. This is my last one. I'll be using a sewing machine for those from now on
Beaver-Binding-A.jpg
 

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