Club Obi Wan

jlee562

Good idea to steam the inside band a bit too! But stretch slowly! A bit at a time. After steaming with stretcher in place -- let it cool down for several hours. Don't be impatient. Sometimes it takes a while, and you might need to repeat the process a couple of times before satisfied! Just remember...

jlee562

Good idea to steam the inside band a bit too! But stretch slowly! A bit at a time. After steaming with stretcher in place -- let it cool down for several hours. Don't be impatient. Sometimes it takes a while, and you might need to repeat the process a couple of times before satisfied! Just remember...

jlee562

Good idea to steam the inside band a bit too! But stretch slowly! A bit at a time. After steaming with stretcher in place -- let it cool down for several hours. Don't be impatient. Sometimes it takes a while, and you might need to repeat the process a couple of times before satisfied! Just remember...

jlee562

Obviously, I can't speak to the wholesale price that HJ pays; but, I know that the US distributor of FEPSA felts has recently raised their prices as well. There's high demand now because Winchester has not been accepting new customers for some time.

jlee562

Via The Fedora Lounge, this is the tutorial I used: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/stitch-awl-tutorial-sweatband-installation.38010/ If you're feeling especially DIY, you can grab a sweatband, ferrule, and back bow from Pure Beaver Hat supply: https://purebeaverhatsupply.com/products/reeded...

jlee562

I don't have any experience with that particular weight. I tend to like thinner felts in general, but YMMV. Pure Beaver also has my favorite sweatbands too, really good quality.

jlee562

I'm not sure if they're still selling single hoods - their business has expanded considerably since I last purchased - but check out Pure Beaver Hat Supply on Instagram. They stock FEPSA bodies and recently posted about some dress weight rabbit bodies and 'brown sugar' looks pretty good to me: https...

jlee562

No, the Sable is closer to HJs Sable.

jlee562

If the spots don't brush out, you might try a hat sponge.

jlee562

Ditto, actually! The hat that has ended up traveling with me the most is a shantung straw Stetson Open Road with a ventilated/semi-calado weave. Much preferable to wear in hot weather than a felt hat. Try a straw folks, you might like it! Being shantung (shellacked paper 'straw'), it can get wet, kn...

jlee562

With the USD being so favorable against the GBP right now, I’m considering ordering a HJ Raider sable beaver. Has the quality and durability of their hats improved to put them back on par with the best hatters? When KotCS came out, people were avoiding HJ like the plague because their hats were har...

jlee562

All other things being equal, the beaver felt will be more resilient over the long term. Beaver felt tends to resist shrinkage (which can lead to taper), which makes sense if you think about where beaver live as opposed to rabbits. Beaver felt are not immune to tapering/wear, but they should be more...

jlee562

Thanks everyone for all the advice, I really appreciate it! Bearbeast, I would reach out to HJ, but it's an older "new" hat that I had recieved maybe half a year ago, but only now just came around to wearing. I did consider sending it out to HJ for a reblock, but figured I'll wait till it...

jlee562

Well, the first thing you should do is try to steam the crown. The steam should reactivate the shellac that is in the hat, if you push out gently from the inside it should 'set' back in place.

jlee562

If you're only ever going to trim one hat, this may not be worth the price, but they do make brim trimmers that are mostly sold to the western crowd. They make them in 1/8" and 1/2", that is they trim that much off. Look up the m&f brim trimmer, available on a variety of e-commerce sit...

jlee562

I can't comment on the specs of the young Indy hat, but as far as brim widths go, I really like a 3"-3 1/4" brim. I would say not to write it off immediately. It's a different profile than the standard dress fedora, but 3"-ish brims were popular on a lot of midcentury dress westerns.

jlee562

Higher quality felts did have a higher percentage of beaver. Nutria was regarded as the highest quality in the early decades of the 20th century. 100% beaver felts were not as common as they are today though. For a decent span of midcentury years, a 3x Stetson, was an exceedingly nice hat. This ad i...

jlee562

I went with purple, because that's kinda my jam. https://i.ibb.co/9yRBL6Z/20200817-191046.jpg https://i.ibb.co/Hq4Pb53/20210329-145233.jpg If I were picking a liner that I felt (no pun) best suits the hat, I would get olive. White and champagne are certainly classic, but when given the option, I per...

jlee562

Black wasn't in business until 1988. If they were sourcing things in London, it could conceivably be a Christy's or Lock. Not sure if HJ historically sold Panamas, but probably?

jlee562

There are a few second hand BB Panamas floating around the Lounge, so as long as you treat it well, I'd imagine the odds of it falling apart on its own are slim. Panama Hats Direct is decidedly not BB quality, but they offer customization options if you're in the market for a Panama. The real ones a...

jlee562

I can't claim to have done exhaustive research, but I haven't seen the Raiders pinch in vintage photos, nor have I seen a hat styled as such in catalog listings. I deduce from that the crease was not common. The hypothesis that it came out of a well worn hat makes a lot of intuitive sense to me. The...

jlee562

In the world of marketing it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Stetson Temple was based on a hat Stetson made for the movie but wasn’t strictly identical. Same color and overall dimensions but simplified for mass production, ie: finding a pre-shaped block that more or less conformed to the shape t...

jlee562

I mean, sure, it's not "screen accurate" to the HJ hats. But presumably the cockpit hat is a Stetson Temple that was distressed by wardrobe. I don't think Stetson was producing any open crown hats during this period, considering they only returned in a handful of models a few years ago. Of...

jlee562

Curious what the result would be if someone did some shaping work to a Stetson Temple. They still make em, and still describe that "Harrison Ford wore a version of this fedora in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."

jlee562

Maybe this is an inconsequential phrasing quibble; but, in re-reading the thread, I picked up on 'reverse engineering' with regards to the block, and, well I wouldn't phrase it that way. It's not as if someone had to hand carve a new block based on the hat. Assuming what HJ is saying is true with re...

jlee562

In general, the poet was a pretty common/popular design amongst hatters of that 70’s-80’s era, in fact, going all the way back to the turn of century. HJ had their own set of blocks for their own proprietary hat designs — not necessarily for reblocking the HJ Poets. That part isn’t 100% clear. My g...

jlee562

So if I'm reading that article correctly: * HJ never actually "made" the Poet used for Raiders, as they outsourced production for some products and made some other products in-house—the Poet being one that was outsourced. * Swales fine-tuned the outsourced Poets they received, then sent t...

jlee562

I'd concur with that sentiment. I know not everyone is necessarily going to feel the same, but having the HJ branding does add some intangible value for me.

That, and I'm still convinced it's *the* block.

jlee562

The caveat to this comparison is Prop Store's pic was professionally shot indoors, and my selfie was done outdoors with my mobile. But for whatever it is worth, Sable vs the auction pic:

jlee562

AFAIK, there is no direct connection from the deep sable felt to the film hats. Deep Sable was introduced to match the color and density of a Poet obtained from Mr. Swales in 1984/85 that was on loan to HJ from a fan. IMHO the deep sable looks more like how the hat appears indoors on film, and sable...

jlee562

If you want to read period instructions on a naptha bath, Scientific Hat Finishing has you covered: https://archive.org/details/scientifichatfin00erma/page/30/mode/2up If you do a search for naptha on The Fedora Lounge, there's a whole step by step thread. For general cleaning, you need a hat brush ...

jlee562

Setting your hat crown down is really more of a western hat thing, so as not to distort the brim shaping. It's fine, even preferable, to put a soft felt hat like a fedora brim down to prevent distorting the crown. Realistically, you're probably ok to put a modern fedora crown down, there's more stif...

jlee562

Modelling it shouldn't be too hard... I'll have to dig through the annals of COW to find those old block illustrations I remember seeing back in the day. :-k https://hatterssupplyhouse.com/crown-contour-profiles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Hatter's Supply House recentl...

jlee562

Very happy with my 3D Printed Randal Alan block (via Etsy). I believe he puts some sort of finishing over the print though. No issues so far, though I am using just a regular ol' iron. Via the Fedora Lounge, Rick @ Phoenix Hats also had a positive experience building a Boss of the Plains replica fro...

jlee562

Well, if the pinch is off center from the geometric middle of the oval, you've got a turned hat anyways. If the whole crease has shifted off center, you sure can correct that by wearing it more and steaming it before plopping on your head. I don't think wetting the sweat is necessarily the best solu...

jlee562

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you saying that the pinch is off from the geometric center of the oval? It should be that way on a turned hat, no?

jlee562

It's just ethanol with additives to make it un-consumable for humans. It's used as a solvent in relation to hats. If you're doing a DIY stiffening, you would mix shellac flakes with denatured alcohol and spray it on.

jlee562

The deal with denatured alcohol is that the shellac is diluted in denatured alcohol to begin with.

jlee562

Denatured alcohol should help reduce the stiffness.

jlee562

As far as the real world is concerned, my understanding is that the average person would periodically just get a new hat. There are certainly examples of period advertisements that market 'a new style for spring.' There's a Stetson Stratoliner ad where the wife says "now I can throw away those ...

jlee562

I would not say my 56 seems like a whole size larger, but it does fit slightly more loose than my other hats. Very slightly. The kind of difference I would just chalk up to manufacturing tolerances.

jlee562

The CS Train hat is definitely a different block: the Indy 4 traveller hat is galaxies away from the Raiders grey. So the felt of the grey Indy 4 hat came from unknown sources? Did Bernie give you a felt cone and you reblocked it on your block? Oh sure. Bernie wanted Oxford Gray. I did not have anyt...

jlee562

I was wondering that very thing just the other day. I found this on Amazon, but not sure I want to spend $80. Fedora Travel Case Panama Hats Bowler Hat Carrier Carry-on Bag for Men Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077MG1D57/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_9PFEQ1RT7KRFQEHYW1E9" onclick="window.op...

jlee562

I had an older Sovereign grade Temple that was just an ok hat. They're using the newer Royal Deluxe quality felt now which I like better than the older, thicker felt. If you don't mind the pressed in crease, the Temple is a decent hat. It's a very wearable fedora with clean lines when the brim is fl...

jlee562

Tacking on a ribbon isn't too hard if you have some basic hand sewing skills. You can probably figure out how the bow is done once you get it off the hat. The ribbon HJ uses is available online (dark brown, 38mm(: https://www.hatblocks.co.uk/product/galloon-ribbon/" onclick="window.open(th...

jlee562

No such thing as a hat with 'no brim flange.' Even flat brimmed hats are flanged. Therefore not entirely sure what you are asking. Fundamentally I think it's a mistake to make any strong conclusions about the shape of the flange from the any of the pics from either auction. The brim break is basical...

jlee562

Well, for one, I take my shangtung 'straw' Open Road. Those things have plenty of shellac in them. I've just tossed it to the side of the seat.... https://i.ibb.co/NTfFGw1/20210812-152435.jpg But if you wanna travel with your felt hat, wear it, stash it in your lap when you need the tray. I would no...

jlee562

Seeing the Raiders hat on Indy in the Last Crusade pic, in my mind, deprives Indy of the growth in age and experience that we get in LC with his more subdued LC fedora. It seems to me that the LC Indy would have a far less peculiar Raiders hat, and a more stylish or subdued fedora by the time he is...

jlee562

P.s. I've never once gotten "nice cowboy hat," even while wearing cowboy hats. Really!? You’re lucky, or they’re saying it out of earshot. ;) I guess it’s all in where you live. I have heard that at least once a year EVERY year for the past 30 years, and everywhere I’ve lived, from Florid...

jlee562

The SOC look is a BASH, not a distressing. I actually fundamentally disagree on this point. A crease in a hat implies some deal of intentionality, whereas we know from Nadoolman's account, that among other things, the hat was sat on in order to introduce irregularity into the look of the hat. To me...

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