The Conversion Corral

[Michael R.]

Thank you kindly! Here is a little more steam.

I think I managed to make the brimdimensional despite trying an even 2.5" around. Perhaps the back should be slightly shorter to get it to turn up?

It looks good . My first thought was Box Cutter ! I would have bought a rounding jack , one slip of the box cutter and it would be ruined . And You could always start at 3-2 3/4" and see how you like it . Easier to take off more , can't put it back . But it looks good . I'm sure its like building a house . The builder can see things that others can't . I'd wear it for a while before getting too obsessed about minor dimension issues that nobody notices but you know . Looks like a Fine Job to me . Actually looks fantastic .

 

[Rick Blaine]

I was asked why I thought so highly of The Shady Oak from Peter Bros. I have a 100 w/ a full brim 3 1/8". I got what I reckon to be a pretty nice body, a forty. maybe sixty years old?. At this age, it is not a CB hat. It's a soft, malleable, 4" brim Western Dress hat. Far lighter and tighter felt than in most contemporary dress felt, on the sweat "made from Swiss hoods" is embossed, which I presume meant something at the time, perhaps they were still mercury carotting the felt ?
At any rate forty bucks bought you some nice felt when Stetsons were going from five to ten and an Adam in the same style could be had for $7.50.
It went from this;

to this;



Here it has seen no steam yet nor have I reflanged the brim.

 

[FedOregon]

That looks great!

 

[LuvMyMan]

I was hesitant on posting this here or even at all, given the quality of the other conversions and the expert hatters, but I figure I may as well seek some insight and constructive feedback so that I can start learning. Somone let me know if I should post this elsewhere (or just get my coat).

The original hat was a Stetson cattleman crease 4x Beaver, 3 inch brim and 5 7/8 open crown with "Warnock Hat Works" on the sweat. I bought it off a guy in Wales, so it is a well travelled hat.

I took off the hat band, liner and Stetson spec label but left the sweatband in and steamed it with a soup ladle and glass as per The Danes suggestion (earlier post and pictures above). A block would be a lot easier - still hunting for one...

Big scrub clean then left in a bucket of naphtha / white gas / called something else in UK. I rubbed it with a hat sponge but should have used a brush to scrub (like it says in the Erhmatinger book), still, it is cleaner than it was.

I then pounced it off and on over a few days working up from 240, 400, 600 grit on the inside and then the same on the outside but passing through 800, 1,000, 1,200 grit on the crown. See above comments to Cane Rod Makers questions.

I ironed the brim flat and then spent a looong time measuring a 2.5 inch brim. I then spent a looong time cutting very carefully with a box cutter. I then spent a short time working out why I had wasted a looong time measuring the brim wrong - without a band block or something to measure the distance on a constant, the base of the crown / brim will oscillate. Even if I had a rounding jack, it would be tricky without a band block. I evened it out by eye (but I can tell that it is still not right) and then pounced the edge. I need to get a band block in my size.

I do not have any brim flanges and tried to use the tip of the ironing board to introduce a curve up at the back without success - shellac.

I added the ribbon on which there are so many things gone wrong that it is a miracle it is still on. As you can see, it is also too high. I may just play around making different bows on some old ribbon and taking lessons from my family (my wife and daughter are delighted as I bribed them by buying a better sewing kit which was on promo). Will probably change it - question: I looped the ribbon onto the band - I saw in a video the band sewn on with a gap for the ribbon which is then sewn on (it was a split second in a panning shot) - is that a better way?

My intention was to add some brim binding but I figured I should take things slow (and perhaps not on a Western weight without a lot more pouncing).

This is what my first attempt looks like. If nothing else, it fits me comfortably!

So, comments, advice, suggestions (constructive please!)?

Give yourself a five star rating on your conversion. That is awesome looking!

 

[LuvMyMan]

I was asked why I thought so highly of The Shady Oak from Peter Bros. I have a 100 w/ a full brim 3 1/8". I got what I reckon to be a pretty nice body, a forty. maybe sixty years old?. At this age, it is not a CB hat. It's a soft, malleable, 4" brim Western Dress hat. Far lighter and tighter felt than in most contemporary dress felt, on the sweat "made from Swiss hoods" is embossed, which I presume meant something at the time, perhaps they were still mercury carotting the felt ?
At any rate forty bucks bought you some nice felt when Stetsons were going from five to ten and an Adam in the same style could be had for $7.50.
It went from this;

to this;



Here it has seen no steam yet nor have I reflanged the brim.

Another five star winner! great looking!

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

I was hesitant on posting this here or even at all, given the quality of the other conversions and the expert hatters, but I figure I may as well seek some insight and constructive feedback so that I can start learning. Somone let me know if I should post this elsewhere (or just get my coat).

The original hat was a Stetson cattleman crease 4x Beaver, 3 inch brim and 5 7/8 open crown with "Warnock Hat Works" on the sweat. I bought it off a guy in Wales, so it is a well travelled hat.

I took off the hat band, liner and Stetson spec label but left the sweatband in and steamed it with a soup ladle and glass as per The Danes suggestion (earlier post and pictures above). A block would be a lot easier - still hunting for one...

Big scrub clean then left in a bucket of naphtha / white gas / called something else in UK. I rubbed it with a hat sponge but should have used a brush to scrub (like it says in the Erhmatinger book), still, it is cleaner than it was.

I then pounced it off and on over a few days working up from 240, 400, 600 grit on the inside and then the same on the outside but passing through 800, 1,000, 1,200 grit on the crown. See above comments to Cane Rod Makers questions.

I ironed the brim flat and then spent a looong time measuring a 2.5 inch brim. I then spent a looong time cutting very carefully with a box cutter. I then spent a short time working out why I had wasted a looong time measuring the brim wrong - without a band block or something to measure the distance on a constant, the base of the crown / brim will oscillate. Even if I had a rounding jack, it would be tricky without a band block. I evened it out by eye (but I can tell that it is still not right) and then pounced the edge. I need to get a band block in my size.

I do not have any brim flanges and tried to use the tip of the ironing board to introduce a curve up at the back without success - shellac.

I added the ribbon on which there are so many things gone wrong that it is a miracle it is still on. As you can see, it is also too high. I may just play around making different bows on some old ribbon and taking lessons from my family (my wife and daughter are delighted as I bribed them by buying a better sewing kit which was on promo). Will probably change it - question: I looped the ribbon onto the band - I saw in a video the band sewn on with a gap for the ribbon which is then sewn on (it was a split second in a panning shot) - is that a better way?

My intention was to add some brim binding but I figured I should take things slow (and perhaps not on a Western weight without a lot more pouncing).

This is what my first attempt looks like. If nothing else, it fits me comfortably!

So, comments, advice, suggestions (constructive please!)?

I think you did fine, the important thing is you take, and learn, and grow in each hat you tackle. Way to go!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

Good first effort for sure! I have no comments on how to do anything better as I know nothing about the hatting business or doing conversions.

Positive reinforcement, that is a nice thing my friend !

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

I was asked why I thought so highly of The Shady Oak from Peter Bros. I have a 100 w/ a full brim 3 1/8". I got what I reckon to be a pretty nice body, a forty. maybe sixty years old?. At this age, it is not a CB hat. It's a soft, malleable, 4" brim Western Dress hat. Far lighter and tighter felt than in most contemporary dress felt, on the sweat "made from Swiss hoods" is embossed, which I presume meant something at the time, perhaps they were still mercury carotting the felt ?
At any rate forty bucks bought you some nice felt when Stetsons were going from five to ten and an Adam in the same style could be had for $7.50.
It went from this;

to this;



Here it has seen no steam yet nor have I reflanged the brim.

That looks really nice !

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[RJR]

That looks great!

+1

 

[T Jones]

Thank you kindly! Here is a little more steam.

I think I managed to make the brimdimensional despite trying an even 2.5" around. Perhaps the back should be slightly shorter to get it to turn up?

Looks good to me. Just keep going.

 

[Michael A]

I've sort of started working on a Resistol Haymaker. So far all I've done is sand it down a bit and soften it up a bit and remove the old leather braid band and replace it with a ribbon.
DSCN2912 crop by Michael A2012, on Flickr
The ribbon is just tacked on while I decide if I can live with this color combo or not. And bow design.
DSCN2903 crop by Michael A2012, on Flickr
Next up is deciding the brim width I want and finding or making a flange. That might be a multi step process because I may bind the brim at it's current 3 1/4" for the practice before I cut it down.
DSCN2913 crop by Michael A2012, on Flickr

Michael

 

[T Jones]

Off the block. Sized up. Sweat band in and ready to crease and then to sew on the ribbon. Always check the inside of the hat for semetry as you're creasing.

I was pretty bummed out over this Bradford OR clone. It was originally a 7 1/8 and I needed to size it up to a 7 1/4. I had planned to sew the thin ribbon back on it and then this happened....

When I was stretching the hat over the block it ripped on me. No amount of glue and fur fluff was going to hide this, let alone hold it together. I didn't want to throw it away since it was nice felt. So I taped it together and sewed it and hid the stitching under a bronze colored mid ribbon. It seems pretty solid. I don't foresee any problems with it. It's just that I wanted that thin ribbon back on it.

Recreased. Resized, and reflanged.

The pictures aren't very good. I kept the ribbon and bow work plain and simple to accentuate more of the crown. The open crown height is 5 3/4. I gave it a teardrop crease with a tight pinch. It's 4 3/4 at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 1/4 to the back. The color is Silverbelly with a bronze colored mid ribbon. The brim width is 2 5/8.

On the head

 

[Michael A]

Off the block. Sized up. Sweat band in and ready to crease and then to sew on the ribbon. Always check the inside of the hat for semetry as you're creasing.

I was pretty bummed out over this Bradford OR clone. It was originally a 7 1/8 and I needed to size it up to a 7 1/4. I had planned to sew the thin ribbon back on it and then this happened....

When I was stretching the hat over the block it ripped on me. No amount of glue and fur fluff was going to hide this, let alone hold it together. I didn't want to throw it away since it was nice felt. So I taped it together and sewed it and hid the stitching under a bronze colored mid ribbon. It seems pretty solid. I don't foresee any problems with it. It's just that I wanted that thin ribbon back on it.

Recreased. Resized, and reflanged.

The pictures aren't very good. I kept the ribbon and bow work plain and simple to accentuate more of the crown. The open crown height is 5 3/4. I gave it a teardrop crease with a tight pinch. It's 4 3/4 at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 1/4. The color is Silverbelly with a bronze colored ribbon. The brim width is 2 5/8.

On the head

Looks like you made a super recovery from that Oh Oh moment. Great looking fedora.

Michael

 

[DocCasualty]

Off the block. Sized up. Sweat band in and ready to crease and then to sew on the ribbon. Always check the inside of the hat for semetry as you're creasing.

I was pretty bummed out over this Bradford OR clone. It was originally a 7 1/8 and I needed to size it up to a 7 1/4. I had planned to sew the thin ribbon back on it and then this happened....

When I was stretching the hat over the block it ripped on me. No amount of glue and fur fluff was going to hide this, let alone hold it together. I didn't want to throw it away since it was nice felt. So I taped it together and sewed it and hid the stitching under a bronze colored mid ribbon. It seems pretty solid. I don't foresee any problems with it. It's just that I wanted that thin ribbon back on it.

Recreased. Resized, and reflanged.

The pictures aren't very good. I kept the ribbon and bow work plain and simple to accentuate more of the crown. The open crown height is 5 3/4. I gave it a teardrop crease with a tight pinch. It's 4 3/4 at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 1/4. The color is Silverbelly with a bronze colored ribbon. The brim width is 2 5/8.

On the head

Nice save and nice looking hat!

 

[T Jones]

Nice save and nice looking hat!

Thanks, buddy. I appreciate that.

 

[T Jones]

Looks like you made a super recovery from that Oh Oh moment. Great looking fedora.

Michael

Thanks Michael and keep at it on your conversion efforts. You have a nice one to start with.

 

[Windsock8e]

Looks good to me. Just keep going.

Thanks, first attempt, lots to learn. Like your work alot!

 

[Rick Blaine]

Off the block. Sized up. Sweat band in and ready to crease and then to sew on the ribbon. Always check the inside of the hat for semetry as you're creasing.

I was pretty bummed out over this Bradford OR clone. It was originally a 7 1/8 and I needed to size it up to a 7 1/4. I had planned to sew the thin ribbon back on it and then this happened....

When I was stretching the hat over the block it ripped on me. No amount of glue and fur fluff was going to hide this, let alone hold it together. I didn't want to throw it away since it was nice felt. So I taped it together and sewed it and hid the stitching under a bronze colored mid ribbon. It seems pretty solid. I don't foresee any problems with it. It's just that I wanted that thin ribbon back on it.

Recreased. Resized, and reflanged.

The pictures aren't very good. I kept the ribbon and bow work plain and simple to accentuate more of the crown. The open crown height is 5 3/4. I gave it a teardrop crease with a tight pinch. It's 4 3/4 at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 1/4 to the back. The color is Silverbelly with a bronze colored mid ribbon. The brim width is 2 5/8.

On the head

THAT is an A1-A job and a major problem solving exercise, BRAVO!

 

[T Jones]

THAT is an A1-A job and a major problem solving exercise, BRAVO!

Thanks buddy. It came out pretty nice despite the problems, and it looks to be a nice solid hat. But, I'm still bummed out over not being able to put the thin ribbon back on it.

 

[humanshoes]

Thank you kindly! Here is a little more steam.

I think I managed to make the brimdimensional despite trying an even 2.5" around. Perhaps the back should be slightly shorter to get it to turn up?

I think you did a great job Windsock. Much better than the first brim trim I did with a compass and an exacto knife. Took me over an hour with mediocre results to show for it. Rounding jack and band block are definitely the way to go if your going to pursue the mad hatter thing as a hobby or trade.