Wanna' see TonyB's new set-up!?

[Mario]

Wow. Words fail me... :eusa_clap

 

[steppenwolph]

Awesome new shop, Tony. It looks like you are all settled in. It is kinda cool to see where the magic happens.

 

[fedoralover]

:arated: Yea, we do. How 'bout it, Tony. I have two of your hats at my house, and I know there's no reason for you to be bashful. How 'bout if you take a bow for what you're doing. You deserve it.

ya see Tony, we want to see the man behind the blocks or felt or whatever.

fedoralover

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Thanks for sharing the shop with us, Tony!

 

[daizawaguy]

Great theread HPG! :eusa_clap

 

[scotrace]

Holy Smoke!!

 

[buler]

Very nice Tony!! I see flanges all the time. What would indicate that its a "Western"?

B

 

[tonyb]

Very nice Tony!! I see flanges all the time. What would indicate that its a "Western"?

B

Thanks, Bill.

A Western flange is one large enough to flange a cowboy-hat-size brim, like, you know, three and a half or four inches. Maybe more. And some are shaped in what we think of as cowboy hat styles -- pronounced upturns at the side, for instance. Such a profile spares the hatter the chore of evenly creating such a shape by hand.

Like crown blocks, almost all flanges have numbers stamped into the wood. On crown blocks those numbers are on the bottom. On flanges they're on a vertical face on one end. Typically they tell the hat size (7 1/4, say), the width of the flange in inches (2 1/2, for instance) and the style number. Sometimes, on blocks and flanges, the name of the style is stamped. I have at least one that actually says COWBOY, in capital letters. No secret what it's for, eh?

 

[mayserwegener]

Very nice! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[bolthead]

Amazing Tony....

Looks awesome, all the luck to ya. :eusa_clap

 

[portolan]

Looks Wonderful....Do you have a web site?

Curious minds need to know...

 

[handlebar bart]

Curious minds need to know...

tumwaterhat.com

 

[portolan]

Thanks

I appreciate it. Phil

 

[Delthayre]

The filthy monkey; he schemes

While we're making inquiries, what colors of felt does Tumwater Hat Company offer to match with those interesting spools of ribbon?

 

[tonyb]

While we're making inquiries, what colors of felt does Tumwater Hat Company offer to match with those interesting spools of ribbon?

Well, lessee here ...

There's black; a couple of shades of gray (light and not so light); a dark blue; chocolate brown; a light creamy color I call "cream" (just to be original); a light greenish color the supplier calls "pecan"; a moss green; a sandy color the supplier calls "Sahara" (go figure); and, um, "natural." There may be one or two others whose names are eluding me at this late hour.

I'm always on the prowl for old hat bodies whose forlorn condition disguises what is often high quality vintage felt. With a bit of effort and imagination, these old babes can be made into very nice hats. I got several of them just waiting to be reborn, and it seems that more are always finding their way to me. So whatever colors they happen to be are additional colors I can offer. But that works best when a would-be customer can see and handle the merchandise directly. That's another advantage of having this larger, better organized shop space.

Yet another advantage became clear this evening. The dewy-eyed bride's mother and sister are over for a visit, so this afternoon I stopped by Trader Joe's and stocked up on Three-Buck Chuck. So far, they've emptied three bottles and are working on a fourth. They're watching several episodes of "Big Love" on demand. Now they've taken to singing along with the "God Only Knows" intro to each episode. Me, I got work I can do in my shop -- the shop with the door that closes. And locks.

 

[Mr. Paladin]

tumwaterhat.com

Thanks Bart!

Tonyb, checked out your site for finshed hats...:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap !

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Yet another advantage became clear this evening. The dewy-eyed bride's mother and sister are over for a visit, so this afternoon I stopped by Trader Joe's and stocked up on Three-Buck Chuck. So far, they've emptied three bottles and are working on a fourth. They're watching several episodes of "Big Love" on demand. Now they've taken to singing along with the "God Only Knows" intro to each episode. Me, I got work I can do in my shop -- the shop with the door that closes. And locks.

Perfect!

 

[Mickey D]

Impressive Tonyb. My best to you in your transition to the new shop.

 

[portolan]

How about some FLers posting some of Tony's

hats on their noggins?

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

Shop Shots......Tony, is that Grey Fedora the one I sent out for re-blocking?

Tony,

Very cool shop pics. I just had to ask, that Silver Grey lid on the block in the one picture; is it the one I sent out for re-blocking?

Congrats on the move and the new shop !!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

All the best,

Tim