This is what can happen if you do experiments!

So your plan "mushroomed" into a model of an atomic bomb mushroom cloud.
Compare:


Anyway, it is a cool learning experenece.

 

You're a brave man, Henry. Do tell ... just how did you manage to do that?

 

Whoops!

You said "hat stretcher". Is it one of the wood ring with the hand screw in the middle? Or, do you have a "crown block" of wood? Or even still.. a metal or wood dome on a stand with the vice type screw, or gads! a heated plug in one?

Anyway, the hat is supposed to be gently stretched to "relax" the minor shrinkage to the leather sweat and somewhat the felt, often due to , er, sweat or minor rain. Heat too, like leaving the hat in a hot hot car.

You should not stretch the hat to that degree, once you have for example wet the felt and stretched it over a block, as in making a hat, what you see is what you get. You can send that hat to Art or Graham, or any reputable hatter and have it redone withou too much difficulty.

 

Hmm...looks like this guy's hat:

 

Is there any way to salvage it?

 

Show me how,, mon ami>

OK. I was thinking, what were YOU thinking?

How far up did you put it (whoops don't read into that!)

You should ONLY use the stretcher on the SWEATBAND. I don't know how you deformed the crown. How did you do it?

 

Oh no. Don't tell me you ...

 

Yeah, it looks like the stretcher was right up inside the crown.

Yikes.

 

Henry, is that indeed what you did? Kinda looks like it. Don't feel too bad about it, though. I wasted a lot of time and effort working on cars until I learned that, unless I consulted a patient professional every step of the way, I had better limit myself to oil changes.
I saw a variant style of Hallett hat stretcher with a "business end" that reaches 3 1/2 inches into the crown, with no taper. And it has flanges at both ends that lay on the underside of the brim, so that you really can't drop it in too far. Looked pretty nifty. I believe it's available on that famous online auction site.

 

TRUE GROWTH OFTEN FROMOUR MISTAKES

Henry,


Well done in a grand way!!!


A toast to you:cheers1:

 

It is wise to learn from our mistakes.


But, it's a lot wiser and more fun to learn from somebody elses mistakes and then mock them!

 

Now, now, boys and girls, there's nothing wise in mocking. (But I gotta admit, it IS funny.) A big tip of the mushroom hat to Henry. We all owe you a drink, pal, and a pat on the back. Keep on trying 'til you get it right.
By the way, I COULD (if I were feeling masochistic) tell you all about the time I literally cooked a sweatband, or the time I started a fire in a microwave oven by attempting to flash-dry a cap with a metal button.

 

sECOND THE MOTION

No fun intended...i respect a man trying a new way of looking at the world.


Owe you a drink, Henry...:cheers1:

 

I used a hat stretcher on an old fedora, but spent quite a few hours with cardboard, steam and the like to mimic the old shape and then work it back to the desired shape a few milimeters at the time. You localised the stretcher into the top of the crown. I wouldnt have tried it unless it was a hat way past its best and not worth the expense of a shop job. Top marks for effort though.

 

Henry, I'd have tried it myself. I've thought in the past about stretching the top of a fedora to avoid the tapering problem.
However, thanks to your brave effort, now I won't

Hope it gets sorted out. If not though, you have a good hat for further experimentation!


Jeff.