Is it possible...

[NeilA]

... to rebash a prebashed hat without a block?


Still being new to the world of hats, I guess I can come up with some of those innane questions. But I really dont want to get rid of this pretty C-crown unless I know that I'll be able to rebash pretty well. My hat is one of those Jaxons from villagehatshop.com and since it came with this bash, I dont know how well it will come out.

Guess I rambled a bit, but I think you get the jist.

Thanks for any advice

 

[gtdean48]

sure it is but depends on how the original crease is done. This Stetson was machine blocked then I did a finger blocking crease job that is still evolving...

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

Yes indeed.

And there's no better example than the Deputy's great modified crease job above.

Here's my more modest effort with a factory crease. My Akubra Bogart came with this crease. The small piches and gentle swoop were just too dainty for me:

So I deepened the pinches and gave it a more pronounced swoop:

So, now it's your turn. Make the hat reflect who you are. Be brave. You can always change it if you don't like it.

 

[gtdean48]

Love that swoop ET! More pronounced pinch fits your profile too....:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Mario]

Love that swoop ET! More pronounced pinch fits your profile too....:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

:arated: Lookin' sharp! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[NeilA]

Thanks for the replys, and those hand creases look great, I may have to try the deep pinch myself.

 

[AlterEgo]

You don't say whether the hat in question is wool felt or fur felt. If wool, fuhgeddaboudit. If 100% fur felt, no prob. In fact, though I've never had one, I hear good things about the Jaxon fur felt, considering the price.

I rarely use steam, but just go for a long walk in the rain, instead. The rain from above plus the heat and moisture from your head combine to make a fur felt hat quite easily shape-able.

Just don't be TOO careful, as such hats can take just about anything you can dish out with your hands (feet?). If the bash is off center or you you simple don't like it, just re-dent while it's moist as many times as you like until you're happy.

Since you're new to this, when you return from singing in the rain, I'd first completely punch out the crown to a dome--like Hoss' hat on "Bonanza." That'll transform it into an open crown just as though it started life that way and give you a tabula rasa to bash anew without being influenced by the dent the hat came with.

One final tip, DON'T try to make the brim neutral by first flattening it out and then monkeying with it. For a newbie, the flange and snappability of the brim are much harder to reconfigure and best left to the very experienced basher if not a professional blocker, not to be confused with Dan Blocker (Hoss), who never so much as thought about reshaping his white ten gallon.

 

[RobFedoraField]

hand creasing

just a word to the wise, if you like the look of a machine "exactness" crease, leave it a lone. you can achieve a very nice looking crease by hand, but I've never been able to get mine to look like a machine did it, but I never wanted it to either.

and it's much easier to modify a crease that to give it a completely different one. increasing the side dents, or raising / lowering the center of the crown is relativlely easy, but going from a cattleman's crease to a tear drop is much more challanging.

have fun which ever way you go...