The Conversion Corral

T Jones said:

Gotta 3X Beaver Longhorn Western off the block. It's still sitting until I figure out what I want to do with it, this hat is really, really, orange!

It started out as a size 7 1/8 and I blocked it up to a size 7 1/4 on my special made custom RA block. The sides on this hat are completely vertical all around after blocking with an open crown height of 5 3/4 inches...

Before:

Stripped down and ready for the block:

On the RA block:

Off the block, brim ironed and trimmed and ready to be put together:

As far as my assessment of the quality of Longhorn hats, they're really not much different than any other Western hat maker of its era. They're pretty much what one would expect, stiff and thick felted, although the sweat on this one was pretty cheesy, and like other hat manufacturers of its era, it's nowhere near the quality of older vintage hats, ('50s and pre '50s). Basically, if you come across one of these at a decent price, I wouldn't be afraid to buy one, (at a decent price, that is).
In my opinion, when it comes to Western hats of this era, (and I've worked on quite a few), Resistols are of better quality than the rest, and that includes Stetson not being equal in quality to Resistol.

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deadlyhandsome said:

You weren’t kidding: that hat is ORANGE!

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T Jones said:

Gotta 3X Beaver Longhorn Western off the block. It's still sitting until I figure out what I want to do with it, this hat is really, really, orange!

It started out as a size 7 1/8 and I blocked it up to a size 7 1/4 on my special made custom RA block. The sides on this hat are completely vertical all around after blocking with an open crown height of 5 3/4 inches...

Before:

Stripped down and ready for the block:

On the RA block:

Off the block, brim ironed and trimmed and ready to be put together:

As far as my assessment of the quality of Longhorn hats, they're really not much different than any other Western hat maker of its era. They're pretty much what one would expect, stiff and thick felted, although the sweat on this one was pretty cheesy, and like other hat manufacturers of its era, it's nowhere near the quality of older vintage hats, ('50s and pre '50s). Basically, if you come across one of these at a decent price, I wouldn't be afraid to buy one, (at a decent price, that is).
In my opinion, when it comes to Western hats of this era, (and I've worked on quite a few), Resistols are of better quality than the rest, and that includes Stetson not being equal in quality to Resistol.

Click to expand...

belfastboy said:

Perhaps you could sell it as an OSHA approved cowboy safety hat.....lots of shellac and a hardhat to boot.

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T Jones said:

I could definitely do that for sure....and it's plenty orange enough too.

If only it was yellow...

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Tukwila said:

It didn't look that orange on my screen. More rust, to brown tones.

Anyway, great blocking as usual. I look forward to seeing how this one comes out!

When you ordered this RA block, what specs did you give him? Has he applied any special designation to this shape yet?

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T Jones said:

I finally finished up an old hat project that I left unfinished for months. It lacked the brim binding and I finally got around to sewing it on. This was a faded out and well worn '50s era 3X Stetson that I was able to save and convert to a thin ribbon fedora. I believe the hat was originally a size 7 and I blocked it up to a 7 1/4. The original sweat was toast and it looked like it left some faint staining that bled through the felt. But, I kinda like that 'worn lived in look'. I was also able to reuse the original embroidered last drop liner. Anyway, here it is finally finished...

It sports a taller straight crown with a 2 3/4 bound snap brim,

Before:

Embroidered Last Drop liner

In the hat with a new sweat and with the original sweat bow:

Click to expand...

Tukwila said:

Fantastic work, Terry!

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T Jones said:

I finally finished up an old hat project that I left unfinished for months. It lacked the brim binding and I finally got around to sewing it on. This was a faded out and well worn '50s era 3X Stetson that I was able to save and convert to a thin ribbon fedora. I believe the hat was originally a size 7 and I blocked it up to a 7 1/4. The original sweat was toast and it looked like it left some faint staining that bled through the felt. But, I kinda like that 'worn lived in look'. I was also able to reuse the original embroidered last drop liner. Anyway, here it is finally finished...

It sports a taller straight crown with a bound 2 3/4 snap brim,

Before:

Embroidered Last Drop liner

In the hat with a new sweat and with the original sweat bow:

Click to expand...

Steve1857 said:

Another stunning and really well executed conversion, Terry. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Click to expand...

T Jones said:

I finally finished up an old hat project that I left unfinished for months. It lacked the brim binding and I finally got around to sewing it on. This was a faded out and well worn '50s era 3X Stetson that I was able to save and convert to a thin ribbon fedora. I believe the hat was originally a size 7 and I blocked it up to a 7 1/4. The original sweat was toast and it looked like it left some faint staining that bled through the felt. But, I kinda like that 'worn lived in look'. I was also able to reuse the original embroidered last drop liner. Anyway, here it is finally finished...

It sports a taller straight crown with a bound 2 3/4 snap brim,

Before:

Embroidered Last Drop liner

In the hat with a new sweat and with the original sweat bow:

Click to expand...

quikrick said:

WOW TERRY! That is some really great work. Love it!

Click to expand...

T Jones said:

I finally finished up an old hat project that I left unfinished for months. It lacked the brim binding and I finally got around to sewing it on. This was a faded out and well worn '50s era 3X Stetson that I was able to save and convert to a thin ribbon fedora. I believe the hat was originally a size 7 and I blocked it up to a 7 1/4. The original sweat was toast and it looked like it left some faint staining that bled through the felt. But, I kinda like that 'worn lived in look'. I was also able to reuse the original embroidered last drop liner. Anyway, here it is finally finished...

It sports a taller straight crown with a bound 2 3/4 snap brim,

Before:

Embroidered Last Drop liner

In the hat with a new sweat and with the original sweat bow:

Click to expand...

Blare said:

Fantastic

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T Jones said:

I finally finished up an old hat project that I left unfinished for months. It lacked the brim binding and I finally got around to sewing it on. This was a faded out and well worn '50s era 3X Stetson that I was able to save and convert to a thin ribbon fedora. I believe the hat was originally a size 7 and I blocked it up to a 7 1/4. The original sweat was toast and it looked like it left some faint staining that bled through the felt. But, I kinda like that 'worn lived in look'. I was also able to reuse the original embroidered last drop liner. Anyway, here it is finally finished...

It sports a taller straight crown with a bound 2 3/4 snap brim,

Before:

Embroidered Last Drop liner

In the hat with a new sweat and with the original sweat bow:

Click to expand...

Scooterz said:

WOW! Nice work.

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scottyrocks said:

Great job, as always.

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