The Conversion Corral

[John Galt]

Richard, DOGMAN, Harv, John G., Thanks guys for your comments. I really appreciate them.

John G., You, DOGMAN, and some of the others here really come up with great looking creations. I'd love to get hold of some blocks and flanges etc. and try my hand at a few conversions. The things you guys create are real works of art.

Thanks Terry! I was seriously looking at a 3D wood carving machine to duplicate some if the old blocks. & flanges, but it was expensive and seemed trouble prone. I'm going to get my band saw working soon though, and may try to make you a block based on my Langenberg 7 1/8 LO (but shave a bit off the front, aye?).

 

[DOGMAN]

Richard, DOGMAN, Harv, John G., Thanks guys for your comments. I really appreciate them.

John G., You, DOGMAN, and some of the others here really come up with great looking creations. I'd love to get hold of some blocks and flanges etc. and try my hand at a few conversions. The things you guys create are real works of art.

T Jones,You don't need blocks or flanges.I have one 7 1/4 block but I don't use it(other than to park a hat on).I massage all my conversions into open crowns with a little steam or distilled water and a small ball.I use rubber hoses and a iron to get the brim flanged.Don't get me wrong I would love to have Blocks and flanges,but you can do pretty good with stuff you have around the house.

 

[T Jones]

T Jones,You don't need blocks or flanges.I have one 7 1/4 block but I don't use it(other than to park a hat on).I massage all my conversions into open crowns with a little steam or distilled water and a small ball.I use rubber hoses and a iron to get the brim flanged.Don't get me wrong I would love to have Blocks and flanges,but you can do pretty good with stuff you have around the house.

You use a ball and hoses to get those results? That's really incredible! You come up with some great looking creations! How would you take a taper out of a crown? Is that possible to do without a block or would you have to get a hat that's already pretty much straight sided?

 

[DOGMAN]

You use a ball and hoses to get those results? That's really incredible! You come up with some great looking creations! How would you take a taper out of a crown? Is that possible to do without a block or would you have to get a hat that's already pretty much straight sided?

When I buy old westerns I really look for the tall straight
sided hats.

 

[gtdean48]

You use a ball and hoses to get those results? That's really incredible! You come up with some great looking creations! How would you take a taper out of a crown? Is that possible to do without a block or would you have to get a hat that's already pretty much straight sided?

Hatshaper has a decent straight sided version

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[hatophile]

Great work on those Dog and Bond.
Terry, I agree with others, no beater, that one!

 

[T Jones]

When I buy old westerns I really look for the tall straight
sided hats.

That's exactly what I try to do...The felt quality of Westerns make for nice conversions. You're a real artist at it.

 

[T Jones]

Hatshaper has a decent straight sided version

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I'm looking into buying one of those.

 

[T Jones]

Great work on those Dog and Bond.
Terry, I agree with others, no beater, that one!

Thanks buddy. I appreciate it.

 

[gtdean48]

I'm looking into buying one of those.

http://www.hatshapers.com/Product Pages/Straight_Sided_Dome.htm is what I have.

 

[T Jones]

http://www.hatshapers.com/Product Pages/Straight_Sided_Dome.htm is what I have.

Thanks buddy. Excellent! I'm one of those hard to fit guys who's in between sizes, 7 1/8, 7 1/8 LO, and 7 1/4. I measure at 22 5/8. How large of a block would I need?

 

[gtdean48]

Thanks buddy. Excellent! I'm one of those hard to fit guys who's in between sizes, 7 1/8, 7 1/8 LO, and 7 1/4. I measure at 22 5/8. How large of a block would I need?

I'm a 7 5/8 = 24, so I got the 23 1/2 to allow for the sweatband

 

[TheDane]

I'm one of those hard to fit guys who's in between sizes, 7 1/8, 7 1/8 LO, and 7 1/4. I measure at 22 5/8. How large of a block would I need?

22-5/8" is closer to 7 1/4 than 7 1/8.

22-5/8" = 22.63"
Size 7 1/8 ~ 22.38"
Size 7 1/4 ~ 22.78"

If you're a "Regular Oval", the hat-opening is appr. 1-3/8" longer than wide. If you're a "Long Oval", the opening is app. 2-1/8" longer than wide. Try to measure length and width of the opening in the hat, that fits you the best.

If you're a size 7 1/4 and want to block a hat without removing (or flipping out) the sweatband, you should use a block, that is one size smaller: Size 7 1/8. Do you cut the neck-seam of the sweat and flip it out - or you remove it all together - you should use a size 7 1/4 block. Hope, that helped a little

 

[T Jones]

22-5/8" is closer to 7 1/4 than 7 1/8.

22-5/8" = 22.63"
Size 7 1/8 ~ 22.38"
Size 7 1/4 ~ 22.78"

If you're a "Regular Oval", the hat-opening is appr. 1-3/8" longer than wide. If you're a "Long Oval", the opening is app. 2-1/8" longer than wide. Try to measure length and width of the opening in the hat, that fits you the best.

If you're a size 7 1/4 and want to block a hat without removing (or flipping out) the sweatband, you should use a block, that is one size smaller: Size 7 1/8. Do you cut the neck-seam of the sweat and flip it out - or you remove it all together - you should use a size 7 1/4 block. Hope, that helped a little

gtdean, Ole, thanks guys. That helps. Some 7 1/4s usually fit me okay from front to back but there's a lot of excess room from side to side. I have a Stetson 7 1/8 LO that fits me well and I have a Knox 7 1/8 LO that's a little tight.

 

[TheDane]

TJ: A new 7 1/4 will probably shrink to fit over time - but not necessarily an old one. It depends on how much "shrinkabillity" (was that even a word up until now?) it's got left. The standard for hat-sizeing seems quite freely interpreted by makers, so most of us are "in-betweens" - at least with some brands [huh]

As very young I was trying on a suit. When I told the shop assistent, I was not quite satisfied with the fit, he replied: "Very nice suit! But tell me, aren't you a little hunchbacked?" Our dialog kind of stopped there, and I bought a great suit in another shop. "No, I'm not! Yes, I play the 5-string banjo, but my parents weren't siblings - and my dad never tried to rape Ned Beatty during a canoe trek, either!" lol

Please empty your inbox, btw

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

The ch-ch-chia hat! Available at the as seen on TV store!

"Faint hat never won fair lady."

Yes, I am the sucker who bought the ch-ch-chia.

Seriously, I was looking for a soft hat to toss in the saddle bag of my motorcycle for frequent travel. I also wanted to move from finishing RevWar period hats and helmets to 20th century styles and methods. This required a sacrificial donor for the experimental project hat. This poor old whiskey colored body fit the bill on all points, so I took the plunge.

After an outer band, bow and sweat band, this hat is quite comfortable and presentable enough for my casual use.



The body was given a very nice C Crown by Bond. Might go with a Diamond/Kite look in the future, but this works for now.



Yeah, the underside is pretty unique, but I actually like it. The photo exaggerates the depth - the true texture is more like a pleasing suede under there.



Still needs some shaping and slight stiffening for the brim to hold shape, but that is part of the learning. Going between a turn down or fedora up turn.

For about $50, it is now a very pleasing travel hat. I also learned quite a bit about the process and look forward to future conversion/restoration efforts after declaring a minor success with this effort.

Fed

 

[John Galt]

Wow! Quite a change. I believe Bond posted pre-trim photos, but I did not realize the depth of the transformation until now. It actually looks pretty good. I don't know what the shave & haircut cost, or how pressing your need was, but you probably did OK overall, given the general rise in prices. All that matters is that you like it.

I also generally prefer soft hats. In that regard, remember that a hat can be returned to a pre-stiffened with an alcohol bath. Hatters help me out here - what kind of alcohol is called for?

 

[John Galt]

An aside - I have read that the "beaver" finish is created by painstakingly working long fibers into a hat body. If you think about the hours that went into Fed's hat - first to create the beaver finish and then to convert it to a more traditional finish - and the skill level required to do both, it should probably have cost a few hundred dollars.

 

[TheDane]

I have de-stiffened a couple of westerns with plain denaturated alkohol. It works great, but it's still a heavy western. No matter what you do to your pork chop, it will never be a juicy beef steak.

The tehcnique with working long hairs into a felt body was to my knowledge used on toppers - not soft velours. Soft velours are made in another way. The fur blends used for finely pounced hats and the blends used for velours are quite different. A closely shorn/pounced velour hat will always be just that ... pork and beef ...

The soft velours are created by using an appropriate fur-blend - primarily of rabbit and hare. During the felting process, hair is drawn out by wet-brushing and/or by working the felt with different tools - ie. sharkskin glued to conical wooden rolls, rotating at high speed. The drawn-out hairs are shorn to length, and the process is repeated again and again. At this point it's important to ensure, that the felt is "tired", so it won't keep on felting too much after the "drawing-out" begins. If the felt keeps on felting, the drawn-out hairs will work themselves back into the body again - and that is not desirable.

 

[T Jones]

I followed DOGMAN'S intructions and used a small ball and water to return this 4X OR to an open crown. I put another C-crown crease in it and I lowered the crown height to 4 1/2 inches at the front pinch and sloped it to 3 3/4 inches at the back. I also reshaped the brim and gave it a deeper fedora curl...I like the wide 2 7/8 brim width...











Here it is drying on my head some....