Baron hats' Mark Mejia makes a hat - video

[sulla]

Am I reposting this? Sorry if I am, didn't find it with a quick search and wanted to share.

http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/mr-drexlers-neighborhood/

 

[r00tuk]

Looks like the link posted does not connect to the video, but rather a video for Wordpress.

 

[sulla]

Whoops, fixed it.

 

[tonyb]

Well, the video gives a clear enough picture of how he gets a hat on the block and rounds the brim and curls its edge. But I see nothing on pouncing (it's possible he gets pre-finished bodies, I suppose) or fitting a sweatband.

Thanks for posting the link, Andy. The vid is cool as far as it goes, which, alas, isn't very far. I'm trying to believe that the uninitiated wouldn't be left thinking that's all there is to making a hat.

 

[HatsEnough]

It seems to me that the video's makers told the hatter to make a hat as fast as he can. My guess is, he was doing a bit of showing off but never imagined he was showing anyone "how to make a hat." I blame the video's makers in this case.

 

[Aureliano]

It seems to me that the video's makers told the hatter to make a hat as fast as he can.

+1

 

[tonyb]

I suspect something similar as that myself.

Perhaps the video maker decided that finishing the body and fitting the sweatband and trimming out the hat and all isn't important enough to include, or not sufficiently interesting. Short attention spans these days, and all that. Still, he devotes half of his two minutes and twenty-six seconds to the hatter getting the body on the block.

 

[jlee562]

Pretty neat little tool to get that pencil roll. If he's getting his felt from Winchester though, it makes their hats seem even more overpriced.

 

[gtdean48]

.... I suppose Hatco sells wholesale rawbodies? And a couple of Eastern European sources?

According to what we heard at the FF3 Garland factory tour, all felt bodies made in Longview go to making HatCo hats = no selling to other hatters.
Winchester is the only US source for felt bodies. There are European sources as used by Optimo...

 

[bowlerman]

It sounds like one of Mark Mejia's first sentences is "This is what we get from Winchester, TN."

 

[bowlerman]

On the topic of "speed hatting" my experience has been that Mark Mejia speaks and listens in a similar fashion. Despite the video editing, I wonder if that method isn't all that far from the truth in his case.
I'll reiterate, however, that my Baron hat has a very, very soft and smooth feel. Make no mistake, though: I did not (and there's no way I could have) pay the Optimo++ price point.
I enjoyed going into his Burbank shop, though my visit was very brief and Mr. Mejia wasn't around then. It's the only hatter's shop I've ever seen in person.

 

[bowlerman]

Pretty neat little tool to get that pencil roll. If he's getting his felt from Winchester though, it makes their hats seem even more overpriced.

It is a cool tool. for a minute I thought I might like to own one, but at around $200 you could get a whole new hat rolled already for you.