The Conversion Corral

[bond]

Here is a recently aquired Art Fawcett Beaver felt (un dyed )I picked up in trade and converted to a style that I like to wear. Added a brim binding in tan mist, and re shaped the felt by pouncing it to a lighter weight thickness after which I reshaped with lots if water and steam to also shrink it down a half size. Not sure if this is finish ribbon yet.

 

[bond]

Final version of the above hat with a vintage grey/green ribbon complimenting a tan mist brim binding .
This hat is Sold . Thanks for all the interest.

 

[ManofKent]

Nice work Bond.

 

[Geldoc]

Really nice, Bond.

 

[bond]

Thanks guys. A real pleasure to work on this one. Beaver felt was nice and malleable .

 

[bond]

Per request for a pic with machine doing the brim binding

 

[B.J. Hedberg]

Beaver Brand western conversion

I bought this Beaver Brand “American Legend” branded western off ebay with the intent of trying to convert it into a fedora. I actually liked the brim, so I thought I would keep it as a western and just reshape the crown; but after reblocking to get the side taper out, it was only 5 1/2,” too low for my tastes.

Still I liked the hat from the front, but after staring at it for a while, I couldn’t help myself. I cut out the sweatband and using just my hatshaper, an ordinary household iron, and my Shark brand steamer, I proceeded to reblock it and iron in a new brim break to raise the crown’s height. After soaking the hat in distilled water, I ironed way for some time. Didn’t quite get the full 6” I wanted, (came in at a little over 5 3/4” when done), and I couldn’t iron all the taper out (which forced me to shape the crown lower than I wanted to square things up), but all in all it worked out OK in the end. Sewed the sweatband back in and installed my old Beaver Brand liner in place of the “American Legend” one which wasn’t as nice.

Spent several hours ironing the soaked brim on top a flat board to get the brim break straight and get rid of the waves. Then I trimmed the brim down to an even dimension (about 2 1/4”) and after sanding the whole thing down, wet the brim through and worked it by hand all around to give it a mostly uniform flange. After it was dry I wet the outside edge of the brim and ironed it all around to even things out. Still could use a bit more ironing, but it came out pretty good for not having a flange to use.

Didn’t have a long enough old ribbon to use, so I swapped out the one on my Worth and Worth straw and temporarily tacked it on. I figure I’ll have to find some 19 linge ribbon sometime, preferably in a color other than black, and make up a new bow. In the end it was a fun project, and while not perfect, it came out close enough to what I like to earn a spot in the rotation for those days I want to wear a light hat, but don’t want to have to worry about fussing over it, and it will get far more use than in its western form. This one will definitely be durable enough to stand up to some use and those rainy days. Not sure I’d try to do this again with a western, but if I came across an older wide brim that needed a new sweatband anyway, I might give it a shot. I think it would have turned out really nice if the quality of the felt had been better and more flexible.

 

[Geldoc]

Nice one. How tall is the crown?

 

[ManofKent]

B.J. - that's a nice conversion

 

[bond]

BJ- heck of a job on that conversion. Good work.

 

[B.J. Hedberg]

B.J. - that's a nice conversion

BJ- heck of a job on that conversion. Good work.

Nice one. How tall is the crown?

Thanks. The front pinch is 4 3/4" shaped, so still 1/4" too short!

 

[bond]

Been working on this old Wormser . Was a hburg and has a price sticker of 6.50 so its an older one .
Had fading issues so after cleaning it in a gas bath I flipped the felt inside out and then pounced it down to a nicer weight. Re ironed brim and sewed on a double stitch binding so the top has the wider part of the binding . Also the sweat was pretty rough so I glued on a sheep skin backing and resized it. Haven't finalized ribbon choice yet and Liner is waiting to go back in as well.

 

[bond]

Liner shot and Ribbon to be in medium grey

 

[Chepstow]

Well done, BJ and Bond. The results looks great!

 

[bond]

Thanks Manfred.

 

[Geldoc]

Bond, you need to do a photo essay of your great conversions!

 

[Phineas Lamour]

Looks awesome, Bond!

 

[bond]

Thanks guys , appreciate the feedback.

 

[DOGMAN]

B.J.,That was a lot of work-great job.Bond,that's a beauty.Also Bond thanks for showing the sewing of the binding.

 

[bond]

Sure thing Dogman. Let me know if you need anything else.