Project Cowboy Hat

[Uncle Will]

I'm hoping that some who know about hat shaping can help here. I bought this black Stetson 5X Beaver at a yard sale and think I found a diamond in the rough. I mean really rough! This hat has been shaped pretty crudely and has collapsed and taken on creases where they shouldn't be...This hat looks like a western relative of the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter! I'd like to reshape the dome and work the brim into a good shape.
Do you think that this terrible-looking crease up top can be rounded out and reshaped? Would it be better to give the dome a shape that is entirely different than the present style, so the creases are made in "new" places? I'm betting that creases like these come back to haunt you when the hat gets wet after reshaping...but I'm a beginner and have yet to learn this good stuff. I'm imagining I can make this fifteen dollar mess into a good looking cowboy hat. How should I start?

 

[belfastboy]

I'm hoping that some who know about hat shaping can help here. I bought this black Stetson 5X Beaver at a yard sale and think I found a diamond in the rough. I mean really rough! This hat has been shaped pretty crudely and has collapsed and taken on creases where they shouldn't be...This hat looks like a western relative of the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter! I'd like to reshape the dome and work the brim into a good shape.
Do you think that this terrible-looking crease up top can be rounded out and reshaped? Would it be better to give the dome a shape that is entirely different than the present style, so the creases are made in "new" places? I'm betting that creases like these come back to haunt you when the hat gets wet after reshaping...but I'm a beginner and have yet to learn this good stuff. I'm imagining I can make this fifteen dollar mess into a good looking cowboy hat. How should I start? View attachment 304985 View attachment 304984

It is an uphill battle attempting to reshape a hat without a block. If you want to purchase one the cheapest is HatShapers. They sell a plastic one that is not great but it does work.....and much better than attempting to do without one. With a block great results are not hard. I soak the hat in hot water, use a little soap if it is dirty, rinse well and then block it. Western hats are machine bashed and yes they can leave creases using the hot water and then steam you can lessen them if not remove them entirely. You are doing the right thing in practicing on a hat bought cheap......my experience is the best teacher is jumping in and risk screwing it up.....and often surprising yourself (in a good way) with the result. With all things hat and felt steam is your best friend. A decent felt is like working with a clay.....highly moldable and forgiving.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

The crown can be fixed. It’s a simple matter if you have the tools, but you can also improvise and get good, and sometimes great, results. It looks like the brim also needs work. With steam and patience it will amaze you what you can do with fur felt. Unless there are holes or similar issues no fur felt hat is beyond redemption.

Getting the old crease out is often the easy part. Dealing with the discolored felt from dirt, oils, sun fading, etc. can be much more challenging.

Don’t be surprised if your threads get merged into prior existing threads. The site moderators (called bartenders here) do this often. It’s preferred to put post in existing threads rather than creating new threads: something they tell me is different from other websites. Just don’t be surprised if your threads get merged, it happens to most of us.

 

[Uncle Will]

Thank you guys, Belfast and Deadly, for your excellent feedback. I will try to put my posts into the most appropriate slots as I go, thanks for that info. I like the analogy that steamed felt feels like shaping clay. I have to be careful to not leave finger marks in the dome. There is a lot of tension in the brim, it will be interesting to curl the sides and then slant the front and back. This process will be scary fun. It's one thing to watch instructional videos and another to do the actual work. I'll keep you posted!

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

This might help. Roy knew a thing or two about cowboy hats.
B

 

[belfastboy]

Thank you guys, Belfast and Deadly, for your excellent feedback. I will try to put my posts into the most appropriate slots as I go, thanks for that info. I like the analogy that steamed felt feels like shaping clay. I have to be careful to not leave finger marks in the dome. There is a lot of tension in the brim, it will be interesting to curl the sides and then slant the front and back. This process will be scary fun. It's one thing to watch instructional videos and another to do the actual work. I'll keep you posted!

Short of cutting the brim, wetting and/or steaming a felt then manipulating it rarely does damage to a decent felt....it is most forgiving. Dive in!

 

[Uncle Will]

That was Roy Rogers in that hat crimping video! What a find! He made it look easy. Won't be long till I dive in.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

That was Roy Rogers in that hat crimping video! What a find! He made it look easy. Won't be long till I dive in.

Don’t expect to get those kind of results with any old piece of fur felt.

 

[Uncle Will]

Hoo doggies, I did it! The Will Rogers hat crimping video above turned the key and gave me confidence to just get in there and do it. It was really fun and my hands got black in the process. I put on my shop coat and didn't worry about dying my clothing black. I found a hat style on the net I thought I'd like and worked toward that shape.
As suggested above, I wet the hat down with hot water and a little dish soap, using a clean kitchen sink sponge, brushing counterclockwise, till it was saturated, but not dripping and reformed the dome in the air like Mr. Rogers did in the video. The 5X Beaver wool was very willing to take on and retain a new shape. Then it came to do the brim, I tied it with a white cloth, like the video showed. I came down this morning and tweaked it a little, using steam to make the felt pliable.
I know it's crude and I think I can refine the shapes more down the road, but wow, I'm wearing a Cowboy Hat!
The hat was a bit small for me and I used a stretcher to open it up and the shoulder that the stretcher left in the dome is noticeable. I wonder if the transition can be eased. Thank you for the direction and encouragement that made this project actually work out! You guys were invaluable.

 

[hatophile]

Hoo doggies, I did it! The Will Rogers hat crimping video above turned the key and gave me confidence to just get in there and do it. It was really fun and my hands got black in the process. I put on my shop coat and didn't worry about dying my clothing black. I found a hat style on the net I thought I'd like and worked toward that shape.
As suggested above, I wet the hat down with hot water and a little dish soap, using a clean kitchen sink sponge, brushing counterclockwise, till it was saturated, but not dripping and reformed the dome in the air like Mr. Rogers did in the video. The 5X Beaver wool was very willing to take on and retain a new shape. Then it came to do the brim, I tied it with a white cloth, like the video showed. I came down this morning and tweaked it a little, using steam to make the felt pliable.
I know it's crude and I think I can refine the shapes more down the road, but wow, I'm wearing a Cowboy Hat!
The hat was a bit small for me and I used a stretcher to open it up and the shoulder that the stretcher left in the dome is noticeable. I wonder if the transition can be eased. Thank you for the direction and encouragement that made this project actually work out! You guys were invaluable.
View attachment 306571 View attachment 306572 View attachment 306574

Nice job!

 

[belfastboy]

Hoo doggies, I did it! The Will Rogers hat crimping video above turned the key and gave me confidence to just get in there and do it. It was really fun and my hands got black in the process. I put on my shop coat and didn't worry about dying my clothing black. I found a hat style on the net I thought I'd like and worked toward that shape.
As suggested above, I wet the hat down with hot water and a little dish soap, using a clean kitchen sink sponge, brushing counterclockwise, till it was saturated, but not dripping and reformed the dome in the air like Mr. Rogers did in the video. The 5X Beaver wool was very willing to take on and retain a new shape. Then it came to do the brim, I tied it with a white cloth, like the video showed. I came down this morning and tweaked it a little, using steam to make the felt pliable.
I know it's crude and I think I can refine the shapes more down the road, but wow, I'm wearing a Cowboy Hat!
The hat was a bit small for me and I used a stretcher to open it up and the shoulder that the stretcher left in the dome is noticeable. I wonder if the transition can be eased. Thank you for the direction and encouragement that made this project actually work out! You guys were invaluable.
View attachment 306571 View attachment 306572 View attachment 306574

Great job. Some of the transition shoulder can be steamed out but it is damned hard to eliminate completely.

 

[belfastboy]

Great job. Some of the transition shoulder can be steamed out but it is damned hard to eliminate completely.

I have asked a few custom cowboy hat makers about how they do their brim work and they all have stated it is done by hand, no molds or flanges to set the brims. Just hand work.

 

[Uncle Will]

B, It will be interesting to make an effective steamer and I will use that to tune the shape and refine the hat. I've barely taken it off since it was almost dry! It's the best hat I own. When I've finished truing and smoothing the surfaces, I'll put the liner back in. I think everybody who visits this forum must wear their hats inside the house/apt in the winter, I do like having a hat on and am really liking this one! I'm lucky to have found it. Thank you again guys, see you around!

 

[belfastboy]

B, It will be interesting to make an effective steamer and I will use that to tune the shape and refine the hat. I've barely taken it off since it was almost dry! It's the best hat I own. When I've finished truing and smoothing the surfaces, I'll put the liner back in. I think everybody who visits this forum must wear their hats inside the house/apt in the winter, I do like having a hat on and am really liking this one! I'm lucky to have found it. Thank you again guys, see you around!

I will lay odds this will NOT be your last hat.....you got the bug!

 

[Uncle Will]

Belfastboy, you're right! I got bit for sure. This vintage Fedora that has gotten limp and floppy is ready for a new shape...

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Hoo doggies, I did it! The Will Rogers hat crimping video above turned the key and gave me confidence to just get in there and do it. It was really fun and my hands got black in the process. I put on my shop coat and didn't worry about dying my clothing black. I found a hat style on the net I thought I'd like and worked toward that shape.
As suggested above, I wet the hat down with hot water and a little dish soap, using a clean kitchen sink sponge, brushing counterclockwise, till it was saturated, but not dripping and reformed the dome in the air like Mr. Rogers did in the video. The 5X Beaver wool was very willing to take on and retain a new shape. Then it came to do the brim, I tied it with a white cloth, like the video showed. I came down this morning and tweaked it a little, using steam to make the felt pliable.
I know it's crude and I think I can refine the shapes more down the road, but wow, I'm wearing a Cowboy Hat!
The hat was a bit small for me and I used a stretcher to open it up and the shoulder that the stretcher left in the dome is noticeable. I wonder if the transition can be eased. Thank you for the direction and encouragement that made this project actually work out! You guys were invaluable.
View attachment 306571 View attachment 306572 View attachment 306574

Way to get after it Uncle Will.
I’ve been known to move the hat stretcher further up the crown with very thin poster-board behind it to lesson that sweatband shoulder. Just takes some fiddling and gentle persuasion.
Keep up the good work. Looks good.
B

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I think everybody who visits this forum must wear their hats inside the house/apt in the winter,

Not everybody, no.

 

[Yahoody]

It will be interesting to make an effective steamer and I will use that to tune the shape and refine the hat....

Well done on your hat! Steamer? I can't tell you how many hats I have built from scratch or just rebuilt over the years using just a tea pot. So many I finally had to buy my wife a new tea pot! The transition is easy to get out but way easier to do it without the crown shaped. Just pop the crown out and redo it later. No big deal. Not easy as mentioned prior without a hat block. And you'll have to get a little rough on the felt but your felt it is tough enough. You can wet the felt to do it which is faster and easier on the felt (how I would do it) or just steam it which will take some doing. A big spatula would be handy to help re-shape the crown or even a good sized rounded bottom coffee cup will help. I'd use both for different amounts of leverage. As will some imagination. But easy enough if you are willing and determined. Your looking for an open crown when done and no transition. Let it dry over night if you wet it (I would) and then come back in a day or so and put your crown shape back in. Decent felt like your hat is like putty. Easy to work with and eventually get any shape you want. Find yourself a proper hat block and things will get a whole lot easier And yes some do. Just not at the table or with company Some of this may help. Making a Western hat by hand? | The Fedora
Lounge

 

[Uncle Will]

Yahoody Abbadatdedhat, Belfastboy, Deadlthandsome, Lean'n'mean and Hatophile, thank you for your input. I appreciate your detailing above how I could ease the shoulder left by the stretcher using tools to stretch the wet felt. Then there is an order of operations through which to do the work. This is good information. I bought a tea kettle and made a tapered spout extension to use as a hat steamer and it works very well! I'm happy to learn that hats can be customized to better suit the wearer. None of my friends wear anything other than beanies and baseball hats. I had no understanding of "good hats" until I came here and now I'm just beginning. You guys have been kind to give time to help me and I'm grateful.
I reshaped the grey fedora pictured above yesterday. I'll post that in the Fedora thread.
Oh, and I read up on hat etiquette and understand when it's OK to have a hat on inside!