The Conversion Corral

[Desert dog]

Attempted my second mini conversion over the past few days.

I got this Resistol Beaver 50 for a really good price with a conversion in mind. The felt is pretty decent with a nice hand for what I believe is a 70's hat. It had a nice tall 6" crown and a 3 1/2" brim so it was a perfect candidate for what I was trying to achieve.

Steamed and ironed the brim flat and worked in a kettle curl - still needs a bit of evening out I'm going to have another go at it when I get some more time.

Steamed out the old crease and changed it to a loose diamond with front dents. Also still needs a bit of evening out

Removed the 2 ply ribbon and changed it for an antique white 3/8 ribbon with a campaign bow. First time I've played with grosgrain so I didn't use vintage stock.

Before & after:

View attachment 207578 View attachment 207579 View attachment 207580 View attachment 207582 View attachment 207583

Great work! It looks outstanding!

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[T Jones]

I've been wondering how things have been going for you... Back issues and the accompanying pain aren't anything to sneeze at... The Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to get all of the surgeries I need to have behind me this year...

Prayers your way for better health...

~shoes~

Thank you buddy...and the best of luck to you. Hopefully you can get your own back issues taken care of this year.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

After some time I finally mustered up enough ambition and finished this Caxton that I started awhile back. The hat was originally a late '50s - early '60s black Western with a bound taco curved brim and with a low horseshoe creased crown. It also had a mid ribbon with a double tailed bow. It seemed liked it took me forever to get this finished. I started on this a good while back. It set aside for the longest time. It was a real pain work on with these back issues. It'll probably be a while before I sit down long enough to try and do this again, at least until I see how pain management works out for me.

Anyway, here's the specs on this Caxton Western.
1. It originally started out as a size 7. It's now been reblocked to a 7 1/4.
2. The open crown height is 5 3/4 inches tall and was blocked on my preferred straight sided dome.
3. It's been creased to my preferred Teardrop and is 4 3/4 at the pinch with the rake sloping to 4 inches in back.
4. It's a thin ribbon with a bound brim and also has a 3/8 ribbon with a Strat / OR style bow work.
5. The snap brim is 2 5/8 wide.
6. I was also able to reuse the original liner and sweatband bow, and I put the original manufacturers labels back into the hat...


Before:

Featuring my Rick Walker brim cutter and Rockwater band block

This was as far as I got until I later decided to get ambitious enough to finish it...

Hand sewing really sucks. Definitely a back breaker for me...

Finally finished...I'm done for awhile and I'm definitely going to be wearing this one a lot.

Nice job, Terry. It looks great!
Between stretching to size up and pouncing, do you thin a Western weight felt closer to dress weight?
That's some nice, even, small stitching. My back issues register down my arms into my hands, and I'm also developing arthritis, mainly in my thumbs. It huts to even think about hand stitching fine work like that, at least that much of it. I couldn't keep it straight anyway wearing the old style, silver cup style thimbles, but I did find some pretty cool soft faux leather finger socks with a small circle of metal high on the finger tip, right about where the ridge is on the cup thimbles. I also wear a couple of metal thimble rings on my left, receiving hand. I haven't shoved a needle into my oposite hand for quite a while. All of the above are available really cheap at Wish.com. I'd post a picture, but tapatalk cut me off unless I sign up for VIP. If you put sewing thimbles in the Wish search engine you'll see what I mean.
I've been practicing machine sewing along an edge with old dress shirts. I have some with random colored stitching along the edge of the collar, cuffs and the placard on the front that you button through.
My first attempts at sewing brim bindings were a total disaster, but I'm getting steady on the pedal and learning to feed my material.

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[Hat and Rehat]

That may be my favorite hat you've ever done. Great job! As a veteran of pain management and back pain, I'll give you a few tips. 1. Be firm and clear with the doctor- if the shots don't help the pain, say so and tell him exactly how much pain you feel. Don't downplay it and try to power through it.
2. You're the boss- if you get meds that don't work, tell him. He or she, may try to give you the weakest pills to avoid any issues, but this just makes things worse in the long run because you have to take more than you're supposed to in order to get any relief.
3. This goes with #2- don't let him force you into any procedure you don't want. Some PM doctors try to pressure their patients into surgeries and fancy new electric concraptions. These are paths you cannot come back from. Surgery may improve the pain somewhat, but after the first you will almost always need another before you die. I put mine off for over 5 years until a better disc replacement option was available.
One more thing- I recommend Texas Back Institute highly. People fly in from all over the world to go there, and for good reason. My favorite doctor there is Dr. Ralph Rashbaum. He did my surgery that he designed himself and encouraged me to put off surgery as long as possible. Great guy too.
You can ignore all this, but regardless, I hope things go well and the pain can be healed once and for all. If you have any questions, send me a pm. Good luck!

I've been a believer in stalling off proceedures as long as possible while medicine advances for a long time.

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[Hat and Rehat]

I've been wondering how things have been going for you... Back issues and the accompanying pain aren't anything to sneeze at... The Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to get all of the surgeries I need to have behind me this year...

Prayers your way for better health...

~shoes~

If you have a high deductable and reach it, the temptation to fix everything you can that year becomes pretty powerful.

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[J Williams]

Wow.. looks great


Best,
Joe


——— EVERY Day is HAT Day!!

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Thanks Joe!


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[J Williams]

Looks great! I particularly like how you “converted” it without destroying a “vintage” and hard(er) to find hat. I like the curl and the crown too. Nicely done.


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Thanks Brent, pretty obsessed with this style at the moment. I have Rick making me a BRE clone but I think it’s still 2 months out


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[J Williams]

Great job on the campaign bow, Mr. Williams! Kettle curl, too.


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Thanks Randall! The campaign now was easier than I thought!


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[J Williams]

Great work! It looks outstanding!

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Thanks DD!


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[T Jones]

Nice job, Terry. It looks great!
Between stretching to size up and pouncing, do you thin a Western weight felt closer to dress weight?
That's some nice, even, small stitching. My back issues register down my arms into my hands, and I'm also developing arthritis, mainly in my thumbs. It huts to even think about hand stitching fine work like that, at least that much of it. I couldn't keep it straight anyway wearing the old style, silver cup style thimbles, but I did find some pretty cool soft faux leather finger socks with a small circle of metal high on the finger tip, right about where the ridge is on the cup thimbles. I also wear a couple of metal thimble rings on my left, receiving hand. I haven't shoved a needle into my oposite hand for quite a while. All of the above are available really cheap at Wish.com. I'd post a picture, but tapatalk cut me off unless I sign up for VIP. If you put sewing thimbles in the Wish search engine you'll see what I mean.
I've been practicing machine sewing along an edge with old dress shirts. I have some with random colored stitching along the edge of the collar, cuffs and the placard on the front that you button through.
My first attempts at sewing brim bindings were a total disaster, but I'm getting steady on the pedal and learning to feed my material.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Yeah it's kinda hard to sit down for any amount of time to sew without hurting if you have back issues. After hearing others here who have been through back surgeries I should feel fortunate that my issues aren't as bad as theirs.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Yeah it's kinda hard to sit down for any amount of time to sew without hurting if you have back issues. After hearing others here who have been through back surgeries I should feel fortunate that my issues aren't as bad as theirs.

The sewing machine seems like a wild animal with a will of its own when you first try to use one, not to mention learning how to set it up correctly so you don't get thread snarling down by the bobbin, which is usually accessed through a door sized for female hands. That vintage Singer may not be as bad as later ones. I have an early 200 something, but it hand cranks. No motor. It needs a couple of parts for the bobbin winder.
I bought it when I couldn't control my lead foot on the electric motor pedal so my stitches looked like a drunk driver's path at 3AM.
One day it just got easier. I tried to start right in on hats as a novice, which was pretty dumb. When I started practicing on other things that I could screw up with no qualms I relaxed and improved quickly.

 

[Rmccamey]

Wow, great jobs, both of you. I'm starting to feel inferior, all I do is just "wear" hats!

70s JC Penny’s Marathon conversion:
View attachment 207452
The felt was thick and hard. The hat band and bow poorly installed. This Hat was said to be a size 7 1/4 by the eBay seller, but turned out to be a 1/2. way too big. Oh well. I’ll resell it later.
View attachment 207457
I resanded...and sanded some more a new hand finish. It needed it, believe me. In this photo, I have just started. The hand turned out even and smooth.
View attachment 207458
hand sewed an old, but decent sweat that was robbed from an unknown, cheaply branded trilby and used the original liner.
View attachment 207459
I decided that this hat would bear a new hat band design. I call this one: The Pocket Square bow.

View attachment 207462 View attachment 207464 View attachment 207463
Lots of hours in this one, but it turned out okay, imho.


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Attempted my second mini conversion over the past few days.

I got this Resistol Beaver 50 for a really good price with a conversion in mind. The felt is pretty decent with a nice hand for what I believe is a 70's hat. It had a nice tall 6" crown and a 3 1/2" brim so it was a perfect candidate for what I was trying to achieve.

Steamed and ironed the brim flat and worked in a kettle curl - still needs a bit of evening out I'm going to have another go at it when I get some more time.

Steamed out the old crease and changed it to a loose diamond with front dents. Also still needs a bit of evening out

Removed the 2 ply ribbon and changed it for an antique white 3/8 ribbon with a campaign bow. First time I've played with grosgrain so I didn't use vintage stock.

Before & after:

View attachment 207578 View attachment 207579 View attachment 207580 View attachment 207582 View attachment 207583

 

[Randall Renshaw]

Wow, great jobs, both of you. I'm starting to feel inferior, all I do is just "wear" hats!

Thanks, Randy, but “Just wearing “ hats is much more fun.
I do conversions out of necessity. If I was as good at conversions as T. Jones maybe I wouldn’t mind doing it.


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[Hat and Rehat]

I stopped at the $1.39/lb. Goodwill Outlet thrift store today, hoping to find some computer cords for pennies. I ended up with yet another Singer sewing machine. It's old enough I think it will have power to sew through thin leather, but new enough to have the option of two needles, which means it may be my answer for making my own reeded sweatbands. The ones I've done so far, with a basic zigzag stitch, didn't quite cut the mustard.

Oh yeah, for $8.00. Generally, things sell by the pound, but nobody would buy the heavier stuff that way, so they cap weights at $8 and $12. I think Bob has even better thrifts, but not by much compared to the 'dumpster diving' style Goodwill outlet. Being Goodwill though, good hats do not usually make it there. I did luck out on a boater last summer. It was on a young woman who is a regular's head. I asked if she actually found it in the bins and she handed to me, saying here, take it.

 

[BobHufford]

Regarding these sewing issues ... are you making yourself as attractive as possible first?

 

[J Williams]

Regarding these sewing issues ... are you making yourself as attractive as possible first?

View attachment 208092

That’s incredible [emoji23]


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[T Jones]

Regarding these sewing issues ... are you making yourself as attractive as possible first?

View attachment 208092

Check!

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Regarding these sewing issues ... are you making yourself as attractive as possible first?

View attachment 208092

Sigh.
I'll never get better at sewing.

 

[Sanford Goldstein]

Attempted my second mini conversion over the past few days.

I got this Resistol Beaver 50 for a really good price with a conversion in mind. The felt is pretty decent with a nice hand for what I believe is a 70's hat. It had a nice tall 6" crown and a 3 1/2" brim so it was a perfect candidate for what I was trying to achieve.

Steamed and ironed the brim flat and worked in a kettle curl - still needs a bit of evening out I'm going to have another go at it when I get some more time.

Steamed out the old crease and changed it to a loose diamond with front dents. Also still needs a bit of evening out

Removed the 2 ply ribbon and changed it for an antique white 3/8 ribbon with a campaign bow. First time I've played with grosgrain so I didn't use vintage stock.

Before & after:

View attachment 207578 View attachment 207579 View attachment 207580 View attachment 207582 View attachment 207583

I’m late for this post but I wanted to say that is an awesome hat... what you’ve done it is great looking, keep it up.

 

[T Jones]

I just had a custom block made up a few weeks back by Randal Alan. I first learned of him when I saw Rick Walker, (Phoenix Hat Co), using a custom block that Randal had made for him. The block is plastic and is made of bio-degradable materials. Unlike the plastic Hat Shapers, Randal's blocks are solid rather than hollow, but they're still lightweight. I got with Rick and asked him what he thought of the block Randal made and after talking with Rick I decided I'd try one out, myself. I contacted Randal and told him the profile and measurements I wanted and he nailed it perfectly! After receiving the block 'I took it for a test run' on a small sized, (6 7/8), 4X tan Resistol Western that was in need of a serious refurbishment and a size up, (to a 7 1/4), and a new life to make it wearable once again. I couldn't have been happier with the results. On its first trial run the block did perfectly! No problems whatsoever. So far it seems sturdy enough and I don't foresee any issues for prolonged use at this time. I'd say that for the Hobbyist, and for Hatters who make straw hats, this may definitely fit the bill. It's more cost effective than custom wood blocks and Randal can achieve the perfect profile with his 3-D printing technology. Anyway, here's the results of a quick test run I did on this 4X tan Resistol. The only original thing I used on this hat was the sweat bow. I switched out the original 2 ply thin ribbon for a matching 1/2 inch ribbon and finished it off with an OR style bow. The vertical sided Open Crown is 5 3/4 inches tall and is creased in my preferred 'Teardrop Crease'. As creased, the crown is very straight sided and is 4 3/4 inches at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 inches in the back. The original brim width was 4 inches but because of the size up I lost some width so I trimmed to 3 1/2 inches wide. Anyway, the hat is wearable once again...

Before:

On the block:

Off the block, brim trimmed to 3 1/2 inches, and ready to put together.
(Block by Randal Alan, Rounding Jack by our own Rick Walker, and Band Block by another of our own, Rockwater)

I didn't have a liner for this hat so I found a Stagecoach liner that I had laying around put this in it

Got the sweat reed laying where I want it

The finished hat!

On the head