Leather/Roan sweatband manufacturers

Fedoras4Life said:

I'll be sure to do that.

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ChicagoWayVito said:

That's cool. If you do go up there would you please take pictures of their other colors and post them? I would like to know what they have before I order next time.

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Fedoras4Life said:

The picture was too big so I uploaded it on imgbb.
Here are pictures of what they offer.
https://ibb.co/kjiU8Q
There is one more called chocolate cow, but I didn't take a photo of it as they have discontinued it.

Hope this helps you Chicago.

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ChicagoWayVito said:

You can also get sweats from JW Hats. You need to call them and can get their phone number from their website: www.jwhats.com

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moehawk said:

First, let me be clear that I am not a professional hatter, but an enthusiastic hobbyist.
That said, I bought some of the Fern Thatcher sweatbands a couple years back. I originally got their number from Greg at Winchester. When I called, I spoke to the husband of the owner. Keep in mind it was a couple of years ago, and I didn't take notes, so some details may be a little fuzzy in my recollection. He said the company used to supply all the sweatbands to Stetson and all the other names under the corporate umbrella from sometime in the later 70's into the 90's. What some may call the bad old years...I'm also nearly certain he said they were all made with reconstituted leather. That might be a question to ask. They certainly don't have a very natural feel to me.
Anyway, I bought a dozen cow and 6 calf. The price then was almost the same as CWV stated so most likely the exact same product. I found the calf to be by far the better of the two. Thinner and a little lighter, and more flexible. For some reason, nearly (if not) all of them, cow and calf, had a roughly 1" to 1 1/2" section of the reed tape that was hard as a rock. Needed pliers to push the needle through. I have yet to get a good sewn seam joint on one of the cow, but the calf ones join a lot better. The cow ones are kind of like trying to sew a plastic ruler's ends together.
The weight on these is a factor for me as well. A 1 5/8" X 24" cow from FT weighs 33g. A calf of the same width is 28-29g (I don't have a whole un-cut one so I weighed one cut to 58cm and guesstimated the weight of the trimmed piece ) compared to 19g for a 2" X 24" roan leather from Lounger Bond.
The finish on the FT sweats (cow and calf) holds up to naptha, but comes right off with alcohol, so if you stiffen with shellac and keep alcohol on the workbench to dilute it, keep it off the sweats! No idea if whiskey sweat will remove the finish...
My advice if anyone is going to try the FT sweatbands is skip the cow, stick with the calf.
Better yet, go with a really nice sweatband from Bond. Once I tried a good leather product, it's tough to think about going back to the inferior stuff. Or, if you are really serious about making hats, invest in the gear to manufacture your own high quality leather sweats.
This has been my experience with the FT product vs. others, and my opinions. Yours may be different. Just thought I'd share.

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moehawk said:

I have not tried JW. Are prices and shipping reasonable? Minimum order?

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T Jones said:

I'm the same as you and humanshoes. I like the sweats from JW hats. Super soft and comfortable. I put a few of his sweats in some of my conversions.

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ChicagoWayVito said:

Yeah prices are reasonable about $5 each. I never had a minimum order requirement with them. Shipping is also reasonable. They are nice soft sweats. He makes them for a lot of hatter's, I have seen all the gold leaf logo dies today he had for each custom hatter.

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hatsRme said:

I should have posted this here before, mates... didn't know of the thread.

Don't forget to check (or better yet, have the vendor verify BEFORE you buy) for Dichromate in the tanning process. You may or may not be allergic to it. I am, leaving my forehead to look like I'm 16 again. Most hatters or sweatband vendors don't even know about this, but there was a mil. spec. from the 1940s specifically prohibiting its use in sweatbands. The spec is no longer, but I'm still allergic!

The simple test is to cut a toothpick sized (or larger, making it easier to see the results) slice from the sweat, and put a flame to it. Burn it to an ash. If it turns a lichen-like, or other shade of green, there's dichromate in the leather. See photos...

View attachment 77116 View attachment 77117

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Fedoras4Life said:

I can not seem to get in contact with this company though. I have called for two days in a row at different times and sent emails with out any reply. Are they normally hard to get into contact with?

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Fedoras4Life said:

I can not seem to get in contact with this company though. I have called for two days in a row at different times and sent emails with out any reply. Are they normally hard to get into contact with?

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Michael R. said:

Thanks Charlie , I had a weird breakout a while back , never thought about the sweat being the problem . I think I know what Hat I'd been wearing . Changed to a straw and it seems to have cleared up . It was little bumps , unnoticeable except by feeling , or in certain light at the correct angle you could see them . Pretty sure it was an old Stetson I think from the 80s . My Resistol I bought in the 80s hasn't caused it though . I've worn it for years .

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T Jones said:

He had a lady who was managing his shop for him. I spoke with them earlier this year to order a hat block from him. That's the last I heard from them. Another lady who was training under him said that he was really sick and if I was going to order anything I'd better do it fast. JW's a real nice guy. I had several conversations with him, I hope nothing's wrong. I'm going to try and give him a call this evening when I get off work, just to check on him.

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moehawk said:

First, let me be clear that I am not a professional hatter, but an enthusiastic hobbyist.
That said, I bought some of the Fern Thatcher sweatbands a couple years back. I originally got their number from Greg at Winchester. When I called, I spoke to the husband of the owner. Keep in mind it was a couple of years ago, and I didn't take notes, so some details may be a little fuzzy in my recollection. He said the company used to supply all the sweatbands to Stetson and all the other names under the corporate umbrella from sometime in the later 70's into the 90's. What some may call the bad old years...I'm also nearly certain he said they were all made with reconstituted leather. That might be a question to ask. They certainly don't have a very natural feel to me.
Anyway, I bought a dozen cow and 6 calf. The price then was almost the same as CWV stated so most likely the exact same product. I found the calf to be by far the better of the two. Thinner and a little lighter, and more flexible. For some reason, nearly (if not) all of them, cow and calf, had a roughly 1" to 1 1/2" section of the reed tape that was hard as a rock. Needed pliers to push the needle through. I have yet to get a good sewn seam joint on one of the cow, but the calf ones join a lot better. The cow ones are kind of like trying to sew a plastic ruler's ends together.
The weight on these is a factor for me as well. A 1 5/8" X 24" cow from FT weighs 33g. A calf of the same width is 28-29g (I don't have a whole un-cut one so I weighed one cut to 58cm and guesstimated the weight of the trimmed piece ) compared to 19g for a 2" X 24" roan leather from Lounger Bond.
The finish on the FT sweats (cow and calf) holds up to naptha, but comes right off with alcohol, so if you stiffen with shellac and keep alcohol on the workbench to dilute it, keep it off the sweats! No idea if whiskey sweat will remove the finish...
My advice if anyone is going to try the FT sweatbands is skip the cow, stick with the calf.
Better yet, go with a really nice sweatband from Bond. Once I tried a good leather product, it's tough to think about going back to the inferior stuff. Or, if you are really serious about making hats, invest in the gear to manufacture your own high quality leather sweats.
This has been my experience with the FT product vs. others, and my opinions. Yours may be different. Just thought I'd share.

Click to expand...