Akubra crown heights.......

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Fedora
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Akubra crown heights.......

Post by Fedora »

I read a post lately regarding the crown heights on the Akubra Federations that Ron took it on himself to provide for us, years ago. For the new folks, this was a project that Michaelson, me, Indydawg and MK got involved with a few years ago. I still admire Ron for foolin' with us Indy fans. He went out on a limb, and got Akubra to make us an affordable hat. And it fills a niche quite nicely, providing a great bang for the buck Indy fedora.

Back to the crown height issue. The Federations come with a very good crown height, and there is a reason for this. At the time we worked with Ron, you could not buy a taller crowned hat. By this I mean an open crown over 5 inches tall. Our other offerings got stuck on the lower crowned hats that were the rule in the 50's and 60's. So, as Stetson told me, they had no dress hats with a higher than 5 inch open crown! Some folks just do not realize what an uphill battle we fought in getting a tall crowned fedora. Ron at Hatsdirect, provided this for us. I must have bought a dozen Federations over the years.

There will be some variance in crown heights from size to size, or this has been my experience. But the variation may not be much. If you wear a size 7, the open crown height may be shorter than say, a size 7 3/4. It is all about proportion. And not all people know how to measure the open crown height of a hat. To get an accurate measurement, you must place a level on the top of the crown, level it up and then measure up to the bottom of the level. Just running a ruler up the sides without the level will not give you an accurate reading. Too much guesswork, and "eyeballin"

As most of you know, there are only a few hats that I endorse, and I am as anal as they come. The Akubra Federation is one of those hats. I have never seen a Federation that came with an unacceptable crown height, and I have seen literally scores of them, many in for reblocks. The Akubra is one of the hats that I will gladly reblock, because I do not have to worry about the hat coming apart when I tug it over the blocks.

Hope this throws some light on the crown height issue with the Federations. regards, Fedora
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Michaelson
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Post by Michaelson »

I, too, am pretty bias in my opinion of the Federations (why wouldn't I be? :wink: ). They're one of my personal favorites, though I'm without one at the moment. I've given away all my Akubras to new members around here. :oops:

Another thing folks need to remember is that the crown height will change after the bash. As Steve said above, until his AB's came along, the only taller crowned hats you could get were customs from Peters Bros. The crowns of the Feds have not changed since they were created for us by the Akubra company. It's all in how they're sized.

Regards! Michaelson
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Michaelson
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Post by Michaelson »

I think maybe 'they' thought you were having a more complicated problem. The easy answers are sometimes the most difficult ones to recognize as being the one being sought.

Regards! Michaelson
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Dre
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Post by Dre »

just a question on bashing a hat...

if you do screw up the bash the first time...can you start over and re-do it? or once you've bashed a hat it stays bashed and you cant go back and fix it? and once it's styled there's no going back?
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Michaelson
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Post by Michaelson »

You can style it again and again. Nothing to worry about. The instructions provided with each hat give you good guidance on those points too.

Regards! Michaelson
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