To trim or not to trim?

[charlie farley]

Would it be a disaster if I trimed little off my brim size? I don't want to send it away if I can do it myself.Has anyone else done this? I must add that it is an inexpensive brand new hat not a good vintage one.

 

[tonyb]

Disaster can be averted if you are steady of hand. Measure carefully, use a good pair of scissors and some sandpaper to neaten it up (220 grit would do, I suppose). This method isn't nearly as quick and trouble-free as using the "proper" tools, but it works.

Most Western wear stores (the ones around here, anyway) have those little brim-trimming devices that work from the outside in (as opposed to a rounding jack, which is another tool altogether). Are there any such enterprises "over there"? If so, you might want to check them out first to see if they'll take a minute or two to do it for you.

I'm assuming this is a raw-edged hat we're talking about here. Right?

 

[Lefty]

Here's a thread about trimming.

Also, if you check the Post New Hats Here thread just a few posts above yours, Belly Tank shows an Akubra that he just trimmed. You might try PMing him.

I suggest, however, because you did just get this hat, that you try wearing it for a few days and placing it differently on your head before trimming it. Good luck either way.

 

[woodsie]

TRIM

Would it be a disaster if I trimed little off my brim size? I don't want to send it away if I can do it myself.Has anyone else done this? I must add that it is an inexpensive brand new hat not a good vintage one.

A liitle trim is always a good thing as you get older

 

[charlie farley]

I'm assuming this is a raw-edged hat we're talking about here. Right?

Yes it is raw edged. I would only need 1/4 of an inch off the sides.

 

[charlie farley]

Here is the hat in question what do you think too wide or not?

 

[charlie farley]

Thanks for the link, Lefty, they look good.

 

[tonyb]

Here is the hat in question what do you think too wide or not?

Well, I dunno. I can see why you're considering taking off just a smidgen. But then, I wonder how "true" the photo is -- you know, what the camera angle and whatnot is doing to my perception of your lid.

And I wonder what a somewhat more upturned brim profile would do for it. But without the right flange, getting it to take a new shape could prove difficult.

What brand is it? How much dough you got into it?

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Here is the hat in question what do you think too wide or not?

I'd like to see what it looks like if you push it back, on your head a little, and raise the camera to about the same height as your eyes. Right now, the perspective is as if we're looking up into your face, and you're having to look down.

 

[BellyTank]

I would only need 1/4 of an inch off the sides.

...and something for the Weekend, Sir?


B
T

 

[indycop]

Yes it is raw edged. I would only need 1/4 of an inch off the sides.

If you do decide to cut it I would only cut 1/8 in. at a time. That small of an amount can make a difference.

 

[thunderw21]

Or you could take some of the brim and turn it into crown, thereby shortening the brim a tad and heightening the crown...

 

[charlie farley]

Well, I dunno. I can see why you're considering taking off just a smidgen. But then, I wonder how "true" the photo is -- you know, what the camera angle and whatnot is doing to my perception of your lid.

And I wonder what a somewhat more upturned brim profile would do for it. But without the right flange, getting it to take a new shape could prove difficult.

What brand is it? How much dough you got into it?

I know it's not a very good photo but the shape is ok. it's just that you can't see the front pinch bashes because of the colour and my poor photography. I think I would rather have it too wide than too stingy.That and the fact that it's my very first hat.I remember seeing two films where guys had wide brims.Hanibal (in Florence) and a navy blue hat in Borsalino & co (can't remember what thread I saw it on) and a vintage photo or two. I think I will end up trimming !/8th inch off to start.Oh I'm so confused!

 

[shortbow]

Personally, I think it looks fine just as it is, but if you decide to trim here's what I do.

Lay the hat flat on a good cutting surface, personally I use a reinforced rubber pad I use for leather work.

Find an adjustable compass and set it to the amount you want to take off, I concur with the 1/8" at a time deal, unless you are sure of your preferred brim width.

Scribe a line around the hat, taking care to keep it perpendicular to the edge so as not to vary the width of the line.

Use a box cutter with a new blade to follow the scribe line, in one pass if possible.

Finish off with sandpaper as was suggested.

Good Luck.

 

[tonyb]

I've worked on hats with brims that weren't quite of uniform width all the way around. (I'm not talking "dimensional" brims here, either, but rather evidence of slap-dash production practices.) Indeed, I've seen brims whose edges were decidedly uneven. So make sure that isn't the case on your hat before using shortbow's method. If the brim isn't of sufficiently uniform width, making it so would involve measuring from the bandline (where the crown and brim meet) out, rather than from the outer edge in.

 

[shortbow]

Good thinking there, Tony.

 

[tonyb]

Good thinking there, Tony.

Thanks. All that thinkin' wore me out. Time for a nap.

 

[charlie farley]

Thanks for all the suggestions I'll have a think about it for a while yet.

 

[charlie farley]

Ahh that's better!

I took a ¼" off the brim and I feel a lot better about the proportions now it's down to 2½".That is definitely narrow enough.

 

[Lefty]

Before, we just wanted photos.
Now we NEED them.

Let's see that new look!