What Hat Are You Working On Today?

[RickP]

Another box had the new brim curling tool... separate slots for 3/8" and 1/2" curl. Found it on ETSY and Im guessing it came from somewhere in eastern Europe. Fun little piece of wood! If anyone knows what the label says Im all ears lol

Halfway across the world just so I can torture a Texas Cowboy hat lol

 

[RickP]

AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT! Thank god for the new Jiffy Steamer. I was going to roll the brim edge in a pan of boiling water, to get started But soon discovered that I dont have a round pan big enough to roll this big old brim through. Guess Ill have to go digging for a bigger broiler pan that doesnt have any roast residue left inside.. I "Painted" the outer edge with a brush and hot water, and periodically hit it with a bit of steam. It has fought me tooth and nail for every ounce of curl, but after an hour Im starting to make a bit of progress. The bottom edge has the nice rounded roll I was hoping for.... Theres hope! Its just going to take a little work to get the top rolled over just the way I want. I DID discover a valuable tool hanging in the garage... I had about 2 feet of heavy wall silicone tubing that is a perfect fit for working the 1/2" roll with my fingers to get rid of some wavy places. Wish I had enough of it to go all around the brim in one piece, but we have to work with what we have sometimes lol

One hour down... 5 or 6 more to go? The edge of the brim is already substantially more rigid. And the brim doesnt feel so darned big.... I think this is going to work! May not be the best way to do it, but as Sinatra said "I did it MY way!"

 

[RickP]

Day one of the transfomation is at a good stopping point. This has been fun..... fought me every step of the way lol. Lost my daylight for a better pic but can see where it started and where it is now. Finally got most of the wavy edges out of the new curl. Threw the new concho hatband on so its easier to compare "before and during" ( were not to the " after" point yet lol. My gameplan is to work more of a curl-over on top instead of just the edge standing up. Brim feels narrower already. AND NO CUTTING INVOLVED!

The fact that I havent cussed or broken down in tears yet tells me theres hope for a good outcome! Wish me luck!

Company are supposed to start arriving here tomorrow night, so I probably need to finish cleaning the house tomorrow before I try to do anything else on the hat. Give it a chance to rest and dry out

 

[TimmyV]

Day one of the transfomation is at a good stopping point. This has been fun..... fought me every step of the way lol. Lost my daylight for a better pic but can see where it started and where it is now. Finally got most of the wavy edges out of the new curl. Threw the new concho hatband on so its easier to compare "before and during" ( were not to the " after" point yet lol. My gameplan is to work more of a curl-over on top instead of just the edge standing up. Brim feels narrower already. AND NO CUTTING INVOLVED!

The fact that I havent cussed or broken down in tears yet tells me theres hope for a good outcome! Wish me luck!

Company are supposed to start arriving here tomorrow night, so I probably need to finish cleaning the house tomorrow before I try to do anything else on the hat. Give it a chance to rest and dry out

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Curl looks very nice Rick !!
* I "borrowed" one of the wife's 9.5 x 13 x 2 broiling pans to dip the edges in boiling water .

 

[RickP]

Got a last little bit of brim work done in between laundry, cooking and housecleaning for the holiday. Still a ways to go on the brim but I finally coaxed the top of the curl to bend inward... Shape is pretty much what I was hoping for. Its at least good enough to show to friends and family the next couple days. ( they usually seem to only show up just after the ebay box arrives and they dont get to see the finished product till the next holiday) Need to dig around and find my small heating iron from my old r/c aircraft building days. Should be just what I need to iron some minor waves out of the inside of the edge curl. Added a bit of stiffner to the curl, and hoping Ill have time tomorrow to smooth out some uneven spots on the new edges with some sandpaper ... if it looks stiff enough I may try a vibratory sander that Ive used for pouncing... probably get a smother edge with it

Next week I can start on a coin concho hatband... still thinking Morgan Silver Dollars.. Crown is tall enough that they should look great OR.....HOPEFULLY be successful on what appears to be an actual old Navaho concho set on ebay tomorrow... That would look really sharp against the black.

Maybe I need a real life, but I do so enjoy figuring out how to do new things to hats!

 

[rogueclimber]

Got a last little bit of brim work done in between laundry, cooking and housecleaning for the holiday. Still a ways to go on the brim but I finally coaxed the top of the curl to bend inward... Shape is pretty much what I was hoping for. Its at least good enough to show to friends and family the next couple days. ( they usually seem to only show up just after the ebay box arrives and they dont get to see the finished product till the next holiday) Need to dig around and find my small heating iron from my old r/c aircraft building days. Should be just what I need to iron some minor waves out of the inside of the edge curl. Added a bit of stiffner to the curl, and hoping Ill have time tomorrow to smooth out some uneven spots on the new edges with some sandpaper ... if it looks stiff enough I may try a vibratory sander that Ive used for pouncing... probably get a smother edge with it

Next week I can start on a coin concho hatband... still thinking Morgan Silver Dollars.. Crown is tall enough that they should look great OR.....HOPEFULLY be successful on what appears to be an actual old Navaho concho set on ebay tomorrow... That would look really sharp against the black.

Maybe I need a real life, but I do so enjoy figuring out how to do new things to hats!

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That brim is quite the project. Well done!

 

[RickP]

Woo Hoo! got a package in today that replenishes some of my coin concho supply. Walking Liberty Half Dollars (both front and back) Morgan Silver Dollars ( both front and back), and a bunch of Buffalo Nickels ( just the buffalo side). I feel a Coin Concho Hatband project coming on!

 

[RickP]

Brim curl came out pretty decent. The curl tool gave it a good start, then I took a piece of heavy silicone tubing fastened into a snug loop to work the curl over with steam and fingers. Then fashioned a radiused brim block to help iron out some wavy spots on the edges. Always fun to make purpose built tools.

before and after

 

[RickP]

Im thrilled! got a package in today with a concho hatband that I picked up at auction. Appears to be sandcast and handworked. Loops on back are silver soldered on. Im no metallurgy expert, but its non-magnetic and has a definate old silver looking patina... Heavy but Im not convinced its actually silver (but at least I know its not plated sheet metal). Turquoise pieces are too irregular to be fake stuff. One was slightly loose in the mount so I had the chance to remove it and examine before refastening. definately a solid stone and not plastic ( and not the cheap Chinese fake stuff that has a thin sliver of turquoise glued to a stone backing) Way too nice to be a mass produced item. May be a modern manufacture shop produced item, but definately not a cheap stamped piece. It came out of Albuquerque, NM so who knows....

Im also not a southwestern jewelry expert, but to my eye it has a Zuni feel. If anyone knows more than I do, it has a makers mark that looks like a "MR" or "RM". Looking under a loupe, it really looks to me like the makers mark is cast seperately and soldered on

Id be thrilled to know if anyone has seem these and knows what it is, but one way or the other Its a really nice hatband. Was going to whip up a black leather band, but the older brown leather does add just a bit of "Unusual" look to it on the hat.

Think its a perfect fit for the brim curl project Resistol

 

[shopkin]

Really very nice.

I was going to suggest it might be German Silver (copper, nickel and zinc) but maybe not. In photo #6 there is a slight pinkish cast to the front concho which would be characteristic of German silver.

The soldered makers mark is sort of weird. Why not just stamp it? Unless it was put on after the stone was placed.

 

[BobHufford]

The soldered makers mark is sort of weird. Why not just stamp it? Unless it was put on after the stone was placed.

These appear to be cast.

 

[RickP]

The pieces are definately cast, And I agree on the nickel silver thought. Non magnetic and when you tap a silver dollar against it theres a dull thud and no ringing. Years back I knew a couple older artists in New Mexico that wanted a raised makers mark instead of a stamp. They cast a separate logo and then silver soldered it on. This ones not what Id call Artisan quality, but the surfaces and edges are definately hand worked ( too irregular for modern production.... every piece is a little different from the next.). Im guessing this was made in someones studio not terribly long ago. Came out of Alberqueqe and there are lots of jewelry makers in the area.

Cool looking band you cant find at Cavendars Western Wear lol. It does add some heft to the hat

 

[RickP]

Think I finally got the edges of the brim curl worked and ironed to an acceptable level and all the wavy spots are gone. After 30 yrs of sitting in a box, I finally found a good use for the old Tower Hobbies Sealing iron ( origionally used for fabric covering of Radio Controlled aircraft wings) Along with the custom teak ironing form, Its small size makes a great iron for working brim edges! Little bit more sanding and this one will be all done!

Not sure just how many of these Ill be doing, but it was fun! For grins Im thinking Ill try the same treatment on a wool hat who's brim seems to have a mind of its own.... a curl might give it enough structure to stay put.

 

[RickP]

Another day- another curl! This ones a smaller 3/8" curl on the wayward 3x wool Stetson Montes. The brim on this one took off into left field whenever it got steamed or ironed. With a bit of a curl, it now actually seems to be staying put! Im pretty happy for an hour and a half of steaming and shaping. Ill throw in a " fresh out of the box pic for comparison.

No timming was done... the whole original brim is in there somewhere

 

[Blare]

Another day- another curl! This ones a smaller 3/8" curl on the wayward 3x wool Stetson Montes. The brim on this one took off into left field whenever it got steamed or ironed. With a bit of a curl, it now actually seems to be staying put! Im pretty happy for an hour and a half of steaming and shaping. Ill throw in a " fresh out of the box pic for comparison.

No timming was done... the whole original brim is in there somewhere

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Really shaped up nicely Rick!

 

[TimmyV]

Another day- another curl! This ones a smaller 3/8" curl on the wayward 3x wool Stetson Montes. The brim on this one took off into left field whenever it got steamed or ironed. With a bit of a curl, it now actually seems to be staying put! Im pretty happy for an hour and a half of steaming and shaping. Ill throw in a " fresh out of the box pic for comparison.

No timming was done... the whole original brim is in there somewhere

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Looks really nice Rick !!

 

[RickP]

Thinking today is the day my first built from scratch hat ( from a raw cape) gets its sweatband and liner sewn in. The hard work is done and its time for the artistic part. Beautifully soft, smooth surface after pouncing. Love the color. Has zero stiffener in the felt, but it seems to be holding shape nicely. ( I like butter soft hats) Ive looked at it and played with it for a couple months, and finally decided that the 2-5/8" brim is perfect for me. since Im hoping to leave it really soft, Im still debating adding a ribbon binding to maybe add just a tough of structure to the brim. Maybe a combo of brim binding AND decorative stitch lines ( I love stitched brims) . Im thinking 1/8" ribbon on top wrapped over with a 1/4" on the bottom and 2 or 3 closely spaced stitch rows showing on top. Basically down to just a bit of final brim shaping and bash tweaking. Still trying to decide whether to leave it as more of an outback swoop, or make it a snap brim.. Guess I could just pick one, and the make ANOTHER hat as the other lol.

The commercial hatband is just temporary....I did replace the cheap stamped sheet metal with a decent silver buckle set. I do have some nice thin lizard and smooth ostrich that I think would make a nice band for it. ( im tempted to make a traditionally shaped ribbon and bow type band but out of one or both of these... they are rather thin, and with a bit of skiving should fold over and make a nice bow..... have never seen an exotic leather band with a bow) Whatever it is, I can promise it will not be a thick crude leather with raw edges... everything will be nicely finished rolled or burnished edges and THIN leather! I like narrower bands like 1/2"- 5/8", but I might try a 1" lizard just to see what it looks like with a bit wider band ( I have lots of lizard available, and its cheaper than ostrich lol). I suspect Ill have 4 or 5 ribbon or exotic bands made up before I decide on the final form.

 

[RickP]

Need to do a bit of trimming and restitching on the sweatband so it lays flat ( get rid of the waves), and will probably need to trim a bit off the liner ends. Anyway it gives a decent idea of what it will look like as a finished hat

 

[Blare]

Thinking today is the day my first built from scratch hat ( from a raw cape) gets its sweatband and liner sewn in. The hard work is done and its time for the artistic part. Beautifully soft, smooth surface after pouncing. Love the color. Has zero stiffener in the felt, but it seems to be holding shape nicely. ( I like butter soft hats) Ive looked at it and played with it for a couple months, and finally decided that the 2-5/8" brim is perfect for me. since Im hoping to leave it really soft, Im still debating adding a ribbon binding to maybe add just a tough of structure to the brim. Maybe a combo of brim binding AND decorative stitch lines ( I love stitched brims) . Im thinking 1/8" ribbon on top wrapped over with a 1/4" on the bottom and 2 or 3 closely spaced stitch rows showing on top. Basically down to just a bit of final brim shaping and bash tweaking. Still trying to decide whether to leave it as more of an outback swoop, or make it a snap brim.. Guess I could just pick one, and the make ANOTHER hat as the other lol.

The commercial hatband is just temporary....I did replace the cheap stamped sheet metal with a decent silver buckle set. I do have some nice thin lizard and smooth ostrich that I think would make a nice band for it. ( im tempted to make a traditionally shaped ribbon and bow type band but out of one or both of these... they are rather thin, and with a bit of skiving should fold over and make a nice bow..... have never seen an exotic leather band with a bow) Whatever it is, I can promise it will not be a thick crude leather with raw edges... everything will be nicely finished rolled or burnished edges and THIN leather! I like narrower bands like 1/2"- 5/8", but I might try a 1" lizard just to see what it looks like with a bit wider band ( I have lots of lizard available, and its cheaper than ostrich lol). I suspect Ill have 4 or 5 ribbon or exotic bands made up before I decide on the final form.

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Looks really nice, Rick.

 

[RickP]

Got the sweatband modified to add a bit of taper and remove the wavy parts. ( had to trim and resew the leather ends, as well as relocate and sew the size tag and bow back on) Basting stitch is done and the sweatband is in place. Woo Hoo! ZERO fingersticks to this point! That alone makes for a sucessful day! Time for a bit of a break, maybe a Bloody Mary, and a bit of ball throwing to Mr Moose. Then I can flip the sweat out and sew it in place! One step closer