Black Sheep Hat Works

• Sep 16, 2015

• #1,061

1mach1

Messages

15,259

Location

Arlington, Virginia

Very beautiful, Ginseng! I love the color contrast, the octagonal brim, and the dual felt construction. You wear it very well!

Bob, very nice work. Very nice.

 

• Sep 20, 2015

• #1,062

John Galt

Vendor

Messages

2,080

Location

Chico

Great design, great implementation. It's a pleasure to see something new done with such skill and attention to detail, and the "back story" makes it even better.

 

• Dec 7, 2015

• #1,063

R

Rowen3

New in Town

Messages

4

Was wondering if anyone here owned a regulateur and what they thought of it. I'm especially interested how it behaves if it gets wet. Does the top crease stay sharp or is the watch spring susceptible to rust?

 

• Dec 7, 2015

• #1,064

L

Lotsahats

One Too Many

Messages

1,370

I don't own a Regulateur, but my Black Sheep Shadow Hawk's crease has stayed nice and crisp despite constant, heavy wear through rain and all kinds of weather.

A

 

• Dec 7, 2015

• #1,065

navarre

Vendor

Messages

322

Location

Black Sheep Hat Works

Rowen3 said:

Was wondering if anyone here owned a regulateur and what they thought of it. I'm especially interested how it behaves if it gets wet. Does the top crease stay sharp or is the watch spring susceptible to rust?

Click to expand...

Hey Rowen. The optimo creasing in the crown can hold up to a lot of weather exposure. My Standard full time hiking hat has an optimo crease and still shows well after tons of rain and even the fact that I leave outside of my tent at night, exposing it to condensation most mornings. The crease has softened a bit, but this is after full 24 hour a day exposure for sometimes weeks to months on end (this hat has been with me on more than one long distance hike).

"The Regulateur" was created with a close friend of mine that happens to be a watchmaker. He has owned the first model for about 6 years and he lives here in the Northwest. I I decided to call him about your questions. He reports that his hat is still in fabulous shape.

In regards to the watch springs themselves, they are exclusively from Rolex watches. This isn't for any particular reason other than at the time we created the hat, he had a bevy of them at his disposal. Each time a fine watch is serviced the main spring is replaced. Although he had many variations available, sticking to one brand gave me uniformity of size and shape. He informs me that the metal used in the springs is a proprietary alloy created by Rolex. While he could not give me a breakdown of what that alloy might be, he did add that he has never seen a rusted mainspring, even in the most abused of watches.

I hope that helps.

Bob-

 

• Dec 8, 2015

• #1,066

R

Rowen3

New in Town

Messages

4

Hi Bob,

Thanks for addressing my questions so promptly and thoroughly. It helped a lot. I'll probably be sending you an inquiry after the holidays.

Richard

 

• Dec 10, 2015

• #1,067

ChicagoWayVito

Practically Family

Messages

699

Hey Bob,

Is the sweat below from JW Hats? I know you get some sweats from him but those are usually with the gold stamping. I am curious if you are doing the perforations yourself with a machine or buy them perforated. I am not referring to the word "Temple" but the larger perforations.

Any other loungers know how to do or get these kinds of sweats?

mikespens said:

Click to expand...

 

• Feb 8, 2016

• #1,068

mikespens

Call Me a Cab

Messages

2,913

Location

Tacoma, Wa

Bump'n this thread. Kevin, I'll answer that for Bob, he perforates the sweats himself by hand. His handcraft detailing is his calling card.

I paid a visit to Bob today, our friend Garrett seems to be MIA, we're guessing domestic issues over the volume of hats he's been acquiring Sure it's a temporary setback.

Here's a business as usual shot:

 

• Feb 8, 2016

• #1,069

mikespens

Call Me a Cab

Messages

2,913

Location

Tacoma, Wa

I went to pick up a mild reblock of a Huckel I got from Steve a while back. Very nice basic black hat labeled "Waterproof" with a bit more brim and lower crown than I prefer now. Bob was only able to bump the crown up a bit, the felt wouldn't stretch much, but enough to shorten the brim a bit for me. I'm very pleased with the result, all the bits are original.

Here's a before:


And now:





Typical Huckel detail, a built in hat hanger:

 

• Feb 8, 2016

• #1,070

mikespens

Call Me a Cab

Messages

2,913

Location

Tacoma, Wa

FYI, Bob has acquired a bunch of vintage raw bodies and some velour Alpine style hats ready to convert into dress weight hats. There are some nice colors available, I picked a nice blue body for a future project. Visiting Bob is both pleasurable and dangerous

 

• Feb 8, 2016

• #1,071

1mach1

Messages

15,259

Location

Arlington, Virginia

mikespens said:

FYI, Bob has acquired a bunch of vintage raw bodies and some velour Alpine style hats ready to convert into dress weight hats. There are some nice colors available, I picked a nice blue body for a future project. Visiting Bob is both pleasurable and dangerous

Click to expand...

Oooooo. I envy you Mike. Sounds like y'all always have a blast when you get together.

 

• Feb 8, 2016

• #1,072

hatsRme

Messages

10,473

Location

Boston area

1mach1 said:

Oooooo. I envy you Mike. Sounds like y'all always have a blast when you get together.

Click to expand...

It always feels like we missing a great party, Mike!

 

• Feb 8, 2016

• #1,073

RJR

Messages

10,620

Location

Iowa

mikespens said:

FYI, Bob has acquired a bunch of vintage raw bodies and some velour Alpine style hats ready to convert into dress weight hats. There are some nice colors available, I picked a nice blue body for a future project. Visiting Bob is both pleasurable and dangerous

Click to expand...

I truly understand the "dangerous"!

 

• Feb 9, 2016

• #1,074

mikespens

Call Me a Cab

Messages

2,913

Location

Tacoma, Wa

Thanks fellas, your all spot on, glad the feeling comes across. Truly lucky to have such a kool local hat maker

 

• Feb 17, 2016

• #1,075

jlee562

I'll Lock Up

Messages

5,052

Location

San Francisco, CA

Just got a shot of my finished hat from Bob:

 

• Feb 17, 2016

• #1,076

mayserwegener

Messages

17,233

Location

Maryland

Looks great!

 

• Feb 17, 2016

• #1,077

mayserwegener

Messages

17,233

Location

Maryland

mikespens said:

I went to pick up a mild reblock of a Huckel I got from Steve a while back. Very nice basic black hat labeled "Waterproof" with a bit more brim and lower crown than I prefer now. Bob was only able to bump the crown up a bit, the felt wouldn't stretch much, but enough to shorten the brim a bit for me. I'm very pleased with the result, all the bits are original.

Here's a before:


And now:





Typical Huckel detail, a built in hat hanger:

Click to expand...

Mike, I missed this post. It looks fantastic with the higher crown. It's great Bob was able to keep all the original parts.

 

• Feb 17, 2016

• #1,078

moontheloon

I'll Lock Up

Messages

8,590

Location

NJ

jlee562 said:

Just got a shot of my finished hat from Bob:

Click to expand...

absolutely gorgeous !!

is that a fray on the bow ?

brim looks pretty wide ... 2 7/8 or straight up 3 ?

masterfully crafted and designed

 

• Feb 17, 2016

• #1,079

L

Lotsahats

One Too Many

Messages

1,370

mayserwegener said:

Looks great!

Click to expand...

Awesome! I'm hoping I'm not far behind.

 

• Feb 17, 2016

• #1,080

jlee562

I'll Lock Up

Messages

5,052

Location

San Francisco, CA

moontheloon said:

absolutely gorgeous !!

is that a fray on the bow ?

brim looks pretty wide ... 2 7/8 or straight up 3 ?

masterfully crafted and designed

Click to expand...

Good eye, 3" brim, 5 1/2" crown.

Heather gray felt with the shortest finish and frayed (hand dyed!) ribbon.