First refurbish/restore. Starting pics and in process shots, need advise!

[tonyb]

I'm already getting set for an extended session at the bandsaw and grinder/shaper to make myself a stretcher and a block/tipper. I just gotta figure out how to measure my noggin accurately enough to make a custom block. Might have to cast it or something drastic like that. As for the bash, it's going to be something personal, if probably not really unique, but at least not an outright copy. we'll just have to see how the wood and the felt want to collaborate.

I'd like to see what you come up with. I'm all for new hat blocks, seeing how the old ones are a finite resource, and that the less desirable ones outnumber the more desirable ones by a large margin.

But, even so, for most of us, the blocks we want (and acquire) are the old ones, found on eBay or Etsy or through one grapevine or another. Most of us don't have the tools, or the knowhow, to make our own, and the outfits that make 'em professionally these days want quite a bit of scratch.

I've been told (and I've seen corroborating evidence) that a reasonably competent woodworker can indeed knock out a good hat block. I know of a fellow who worked from numerous detailed photos of a particularly desirable block (a No. 52) to make what looks like a perfect copy.

[tonyb]

I'm already getting set for an extended session at the bandsaw and grinder/shaper to make myself a stretcher and a block/tipper. I just gotta figure out how to measure my noggin accurately enough to make a custom block. Might have to cast it or something drastic like that. As for the bash, it's going to be something personal, if probably not really unique, but at least not an outright copy. we'll just have to see how the wood and the felt want to collaborate.

And ...

Before you invest all that time and effort into making a block, it might be best to get clear on just what type of block you want. Perhaps you know more about this stuff than I'm assuming you do and you are already clear on all of that. But if you ain't, just fire away with the questions.

Again, I'm all for people making new blocks. We could all use more suppliers, and it seems likely that those suppliers will be people who start out as avid hobbyists.

[The Wiser Hatter]

Cool make one of these.


This will measure your head exactly.
You could then use the pattern on a CNC lathe to make an exact copy of your head.

[RBH]

Ed, you should have seen the formillion Mike found on our trip to Florida.
The water had been to it for awhile...it was heartbreaking.