The Conversion Corral

belfastboy · Feb 26, 2020

T Jones said:
I just had a custom block made up a few weeks back by Randal Alan. I first learned of him when I saw Rick Walker, (Phoenix Hat Co), using a custom block that Randal had made for him. The block is plastic and is made of bio-degradable materials. Unlike the plastic Hat Shapers, Randal's blocks are solid rather than hollow, but they're still lightweight. I got with Rick and asked him what he thought of the block Randal made and after talking with Rick I decided I'd try one out, myself. I contacted Randal and told him the profile and measurements I wanted and he nailed it perfectly! After receiving the block 'I took it for a test run' on a small sized, (6 7/8), 4X tan Resistol Western that was in need of a serious refurbishment and a size up, (to a 7 1/4), and a new life to make it wearable once again. I couldn't have been happier with the results. On its first trial run the block did perfectly! No problems whatsoever. So far it seems sturdy enough and I don't foresee any issues for prolonged use at this time. I'd say that for the Hobbyist, and for Hatters who make straw hats, this may definitely fit the bill. It's more cost effective than custom wood blocks and Randal can achieve the perfect profile with his 3-D printing technology. Anyway, here's the results of a quick test run I did on this 4X tan Resistol. The only original thing I used on this hat was the sweat bow. I switched out the original 2 ply thin ribbon for a matching 1/2 inch ribbon and finished it off with an OR style bow. The vertical sided Open Crown is 5 3/4 inches tall and is creased in my preferred 'Teardrop Crease'. As creased, the crown is very straight sided and is 4 3/4 inches at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 inches in the back. The original brim width was 4 inches but because of the size up I lost some width so I trimmed to 3 1/2 inches wide. Anyway, the hat is wearable once again...

Before:

On the block:

Off the block, brim trimmed to 3 1/2 inches, and ready to put together.
(Block by Randal Alan, Rounding Jack by our own Rick Walker, and Band Block by another of our own, Rockwater)

I didn't have a liner for this hat so I found a Stagecoach liner that I had laying around put this in it

Got the sweat reed laying where I want it

The finished hat!

On the head

What are the dimensions of your RA block? Is it close to a #52 but with a domed top rather than a flat top? I am thinking of ordering a block/flange combo.

1967Cougar390 · Feb 26, 2020

T Jones said:
I just had a custom block made up a few weeks back by Randal Alan. I first learned of him when I saw Rick Walker, (Phoenix Hat Co), using a custom block that Randal had made for him. The block is plastic and is made of bio-degradable materials. Unlike the plastic Hat Shapers, Randal's blocks are solid rather than hollow, but they're still lightweight. I got with Rick and asked him what he thought of the block Randal made and after talking with Rick I decided I'd try one out, myself. I contacted Randal and told him the profile and measurements I wanted and he nailed it perfectly! After receiving the block 'I took it for a test run' on a small sized, (6 7/8), 4X tan Resistol Western that was in need of a serious refurbishment and a size up, (to a 7 1/4), and a new life to make it wearable once again. I couldn't have been happier with the results. On its first trial run the block did perfectly! No problems whatsoever. So far it seems sturdy enough and I don't foresee any issues for prolonged use at this time. I'd say that for the Hobbyist, and for Hatters who make straw hats, this may definitely fit the bill. It's more cost effective than custom wood blocks and Randal can achieve the perfect profile with his 3-D printing technology. Anyway, here's the results of a quick test run I did on this 4X tan Resistol. The only original thing I used on this hat was the sweat bow. I switched out the original 2 ply thin ribbon for a matching 1/2 inch ribbon and finished it off with an OR style bow. The vertical sided Open Crown is 5 3/4 inches tall and is creased in my preferred 'Teardrop Crease'. As creased, the crown is very straight sided and is 4 3/4 inches at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 inches in the back. The original brim width was 4 inches but because of the size up I lost some width so I trimmed to 3 1/2 inches wide. Anyway, the hat is wearable once again...

Before:

On the block:

Off the block, brim trimmed to 3 1/2 inches, and ready to put together.
(Block by Randal Alan, Rounding Jack by our own Rick Walker, and Band Block by another of our own, Rockwater)

I didn't have a liner for this hat so I found a Stagecoach liner that I had laying around put this in it

Got the sweat reed laying where I want it

The finished hat!

On the head

That hat turned out awesome. Your conversions are always great to see. Another home run.

Steven

T Jones · Feb 26, 2020

1967Cougar390 said:
That hat turned out awesome. Your conversions are always great to see. Another home run.

Steven

Thank you Steven!

T Jones · Feb 26, 2020

belfastboy said:
What are the dimensions of your RA block? Is it close to a #52 but with a domed top rather than a flat top? I am thinking of ordering a block/flange combo.

The one I have is noticeably straighter all around than the #52. The sides and the front and back are completely vertical where the #52 has some taper to it. The dimensions on mine are 5 3/4 inches tall and from the bottom of the block to the start of the dome is 4 3/4 inches, (if that makes sense). The circumference will be determined by the hat size you're going after. What ever you're trying to achieve Randal can definitely make what you want, and nail it perfectly for you. Im very happy with the block he made for me.

deadlyhandsome · Feb 26, 2020

T Jones said:
I just had a custom block made up a few weeks back by Randal Alan. I first learned of him when I saw Rick Walker, (Phoenix Hat Co), using a custom block that Randal had made for him. The block is plastic and is made of bio-degradable materials. Unlike the plastic Hat Shapers, Randal's blocks are solid rather than hollow, but they're still lightweight. I got with Rick and asked him what he thought of the block Randal made and after talking with Rick I decided I'd try one out, myself. I contacted Randal and told him the profile and measurements I wanted and he nailed it perfectly! After receiving the block 'I took it for a test run' on a small sized, (6 7/8), 4X tan Resistol Western that was in need of a serious refurbishment and a size up, (to a 7 1/4), and a new life to make it wearable once again. I couldn't have been happier with the results. On its first trial run the block did perfectly! No problems whatsoever. So far it seems sturdy enough and I don't foresee any issues for prolonged use at this time. I'd say that for the Hobbyist, and for Hatters who make straw hats, this may definitely fit the bill. It's more cost effective than custom wood blocks and Randal can achieve the perfect profile with his 3-D printing technology. Anyway, here's the results of a quick test run I did on this 4X tan Resistol. The only original thing I used on this hat was the sweat bow. I switched out the original 2 ply thin ribbon for a matching 1/2 inch ribbon and finished it off with an OR style bow. The vertical sided Open Crown is 5 3/4 inches tall and is creased in my preferred 'Teardrop Crease'. As creased, the crown is very straight sided and is 4 3/4 inches at the pinch with a rake sloping to 4 inches in the back. The original brim width was 4 inches but because of the size up I lost some width so I trimmed to 3 1/2 inches wide. Anyway, the hat is wearable once again...

Before:

On the block:

Off the block, brim trimmed to 3 1/2 inches, and ready to put together.
(Block by Randal Alan, Rounding Jack by our own Rick Walker, and Band Block by another of our own, Rockwater)

I didn't have a liner for this hat so I found a Stagecoach liner that I had laying around put this in it

Got the sweat reed laying where I want it

The finished hat!

On the head

That really turned out nice, Terry. It reminds me of Marshall Matt Dillon’s hat.

As for the block, how did you define the oval? Does he have scalable profiles saved? The circumference is the easy measurement; I’d love to have a block designed to exactly fit my head. Lastly, is there any issue with the material taking heat?

belfastboy · Feb 26, 2020

deadlyhandsome said:
That really turned out nice, Terry. It reminds me of Marshall Matt Dillon’s hat.

As for the block, how did you define the oval? Does he have scalable profiles saved? The circumference is the easy measurement; I’d love to have a block designed to exactly fit my head. Lastly, is there any issue with the material taking heat?

Rick at Phoenix said in his review that his RA block stood up to the heat he applied. The material did not deform or degrade in any way just a bit of discolouration.

T Jones · Feb 27, 2020

deadlyhandsome said:
That really turned out nice, Terry. It reminds me of Marshall Matt Dillon’s hat.

As for the block, how did you define the oval? Does he have scalable profiles saved? The circumference is the easy measurement; I’d love to have a block designed to exactly fit my head. Lastly, is there any issue with the material taking heat?

Thank you buddy. Ha! You're the second person who said it reminds them of a Marshall Dillon hat! Well, you're close. It's kind of my tribute to some old TV Western hat styles of the 1950s and '60s that I remember watching when I was a kid. To be honest, I didn't even try to calculate the oval. I have some older hats from different manufacturers where a long oval from one manufacturer would fit me perfectly and the same size and same oval from another hat company would fit too snug, and I've got regular ovals that fit me no differently from some long ovals I have....and, I have hats that are 7 3/8 from one manufacturer that fit like a 7 1/4 from another manufacturer. I guess, so far, I've been lucky with just the circumference measurement. Sorry I wasn't much help in that regard.

On my part, I had no problem whatsoever with the block taking heat. The material held up great. The block looked the same before and after. I'm very satisfied with the block.

T Jones · Mar 11, 2020

Here's another quick and easy, and total refurb project I did on a Peurto Fino. I took my Randal Alan hat block for another test run. This hat has been resized, refurbished, reblocked, and completely restyled. Everything original to the hat was reused. It was originally a size 7 5/8 and I blocked it down to a straight sided 7 1/4.

Before: waaay too big and tapered up crown with a 3 1/4 inches wide brim

My preferred block of choice, the Randal Alan.

The hat was stripped down and all the original stuff was saved and reused on this project, even the sweat band which I cut down and put back in the hat...

Reblocked on the RA and the brim cut down to 2 3/4 inches wide, (Rounding Jack from Rick Walker of the Phoenix Hat Co. and Band Block by 'Rockwater'):

Vertical sides all around:

Sweat band cut to size and getting ready to sew the original sweat bow and size tag back on it, (Three pairs of glasses. My eyesight's not as good as it once was):

Everything back in the hat, (I even went with the same stitch spacing on the sweat as it originally was, although I did relocate the size tag):

After: everything put back together, reblocked, resized, the brim reflanged, and completely restyled with all the original stuff back on the hat:

A few pictures on the head under different lighting:

This is closer to the actual color, black:

Another project in the works on the Randal Alan block. This is probably the easiest project that I've had. The hat was already stripped down with nothing on it when when I got it so I'm not sure who the manufacturer actually is. The felt seems decent, though, and it stretched over the block real easy. This one definitely won't be a back breaker for me to do:

Three back to back projects and the Randal Alan block is holding up very well.

Randall Renshaw · Mar 11, 2020

Very nice work, T.
Pretty much a labor of love, isn’t it?
It’d be hard to do all that work for the few bucks profit one might pocket after a sell.
However, remodels and refurbs on one’s own hat is ever so satisfying and worth all the effort.

T Jones · Mar 11, 2020

Randall Renshaw said:
Very nice work, T.
Pretty much a labor of love, isn’t it?
It’d be hard to do all that work for the few bucks profit one might pocket after a sell.
However, remodels and refurbs on one’s own hat is ever so satisfying and worth all the effort.

Thank you buddy. It's definitely satisfying for sure.

T Jones · May 9, 2020

I finally found a donor hat with a thin ribbon brim binding for my late '50s - early '60s 3X Stetson conversion. All I need to do is sew it on and it'll be my OR / Strat clone...

Before:

After:

Just gotta sew the binding in place:

Hitting the weights and trying to build muscle after 60, (65 for me), and I'm wearing this hat for my pose down!

A couple in my Biltmore conversion!

Old guys can still build a little, I guess.

Tukwila · May 9, 2020

T Jones said:
I finally found a donor hat with a thin ribbon brim binding for my late '50s - early '60s 3X Stetson conversion. All I need to do is sew it on and it'll be my OR / Strat clone...

Before:

After:

Just gotta sew the binding in place:

Hitting the weights and trying to build muscle after 60, (65 for me), and I'm wearing this hat for my pose down!

A couple in my Biltmore conversion!

Old guys can still build a little, I guess.

Looking good, Terry! Hats and guns, both!

T Jones · May 9, 2020

Tukwila said:
Looking good, Terry! Hats and guns, both!

Thank you, Tuk!

Blackthorn · May 9, 2020

Wow, great job, TJ!

T Jones · May 9, 2020

Blackthorn said:
Wow, great job, TJ!

Thank you buddy!

Redshoes51 · May 19, 2020

T Jones said:
Hitting the weights and trying to build muscle after 60, (65 for me), and I'm wearing this hat for my pose down!

Old guys can still build a little, I guess.

As much as I've enjoyed your hat work, those 'guns' are equally impressive... I've lost so much muscle tone the past two years... my drs tell me that I may be able to get back to the gym soon...

Great work all the way around!

~shoes~

T Jones · May 19, 2020

Redshoes51 said:
As much as I've enjoyed your hat work, those 'guns' are equally impressive... I've lost so much muscle tone the past two years... my drs tell me that I may be able to get back to the gym soon...

Great work all the way around!

~shoes~

Thank you buddy. That same thing happened to me too. A major surgery several years ago along with some reoccurring back problems had me sidelined for a while. I'm getting older and I just didn't want to be stuck on the couch the rest of my life, (if you rest, you rust).

I went through some physical therapy, got back into the gym, and invested in some weights and an incline bench and started lifting some. Although I have to modify some of my lifting to get around my back and rotator cuff issues. I still have to be careful with all of that.
It's a good sign then if your doctors are confident that you can get back to the gym soon. Good luck, RS! I believe you'll get there!

bond · Jul 31, 2020

Stylepark Homburg conversion for lounger friend . This is a Nice older hat with decent felt and great ribbons. Original Binding was faded and soiled but the unreeded sweat is still solid and liner in pretty good shape.
Hope everyone is staying healthy in these uncertain times.

Blare · Jul 31, 2020

bond said:
Stylepark Homburg conversion for lounger friend . This is a Nice older hat with decent felt and great ribbons. Original Binding was faded and soiled but the unreeded sweat is still solid and liner in pretty good shape.
Hope everyone is staying healthy in these uncertain times.

A beautiful hat

Randall Renshaw · Aug 22, 2020

Finally went with Terry’s recommendations and bought a Randal Alan composite hat block. $135 including extra base, and a matching composite flanger $165, which hasn’t yet arrived. It should be here in a few days.
I couldn’t wait, so I’ve started with the crown on this 50s Dalton.
It was a great fedora, but the crown was super short and badly tapered.
Because the original dark blue ribbon was faded in spots from sweat I’ll need to sew on a new grosgrain hatband, if unable to re-die the blue ribbon and bow that was on it. I hope the die job works.
If, if this hat turns out looking better, I’ll add before and after pics later.

It was a 7 1/8 hat with 2 3/4 brim.
From earlier posts by Terry, I knew that I’d lose some brim width.
it was terribly hard to keep from losing too much. However, with much tenacity and toil, it ended up with a 2 1/2 width all around. Good enough. I’m learning some great methodology on the cuff, as this is only my 3rd attempt on the block.
Tough to keep the brim’s width the same in the process of stretching the very wet crown over the block, but in the end, I was the victor. Learning a good technique toward the end, next time won’t be so hard.

My first two attempts went well and ended up with vertical sides and very square crowns. Well worth all the trouble if you’re one to care about that feature...to borderline OCD levels.

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