Wyldkarma
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,805
- Location
- Austin, TX
Dang it Max, you're a wealth of knowledge. I have some regular Pecards Leather Care Lotion that I use on hat bands. Never used the "Antique" Pecards. Guess it's a bit different. I'll need to see if I can get Nate to make me a band block. I've got a couple I'd like to stretch out. I had a few that were just a half size too big or were kinda oval and not rounded like my melon head and Nate puts them in my conformer at his shop and sets it in his steamer and and "presto steamo" it fits perfect. But that is only good for small size changes. Nate does lots of small fixes for me like hatbands, sweatbands, blocking, shaping, cleaning, and he's awesome. Just his pure beaver new hat prices are at the top of the scale like Optimos. But he has no problem fixing the stuff I bring in to his shop and the repair prices are resonable, similar to Art Fawcetts. Love watching him work a hat, I like to hang out and chat with him whenever I get the time and he's always friendly and willing to share his knowledge. He's also from Wisconsin, one of the indian tribes there.Sure, Ken!
This is how I stretch a 57 cm hat into a 58.5
First, I had many band blocks made to the exact shape of my head with a conformer.
You can see that the measuring tape marks exactly 58.5 cms. around the block.
A couple of days ago, I put a liberal ammount of Pecard Antique Leather Conditioner on the sweatband.
Today, I add some more, and some on the wooden band block.
Then, I start forcing the hat down the block. It might take just one time, or several times spread over a few days, but eventually, it will go down all the way on the block.
You have to keep it on the block when you aren't weating the hat, or it might shrink again.
The last picture shows how the felt in the front of the hat curves as a result of being stretched. What I do to resolve that is that I sharpen the front pinch, and it disappears.
Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk