Rebashed my Akubra Fed. Deluxe!

[Pitfall Harry]

I just thought I would share pics of my Akubra Fed. Deluxe that I rebashed today.

I realized this afternoon that I hadn't turned my hat far enough when I bashed it the first time around. I wanted the "Streets of Cairo" look so what I ended up doing was taking the hat back to it's original open crown like the way it was sent and using an iron and cold water to remove the old pinch and then after that I reworked it from the ground up!

Long story short. Here's how my hat looks now. It's not exact but it's close enough for me.

[J_Weaver]

Looking good my friend!

[3thoubucks]

You head is probably on the round side, giving you taper in the sides. You could try turning the hat almost 90 degrees. You should go for a bigger size. I think a regular AB has a little less taper than a Fed. Maybe Fedora could block you a 360 stovepipe

[The real Henry]

Please notice the words of a 15 year old Federation-owner:
Don't rebash it anymore!
I know what I'm speaking of, for me it was like this: Every time I saw my hat in the mirror I wanted to correct the bash and did a tweaking here and there.
After a few months my lid was in a bad shape!

The bash looks a bit better to me, but you should really just wear it!

[Pitfall Harry]

You head is probably on the round side, giving you taper in the sides. You could try turning the hat almost 90 degrees. You should go for a bigger size. I think a regular AB has a little less taper than a Fed. Maybe Fedora could block you a 360 stovepipe

Well, appreciate the tip but I already wear a size larger than I should be and I think my head shape is more ovel shaped than completely round.

I have the hat turned as far as it can go right now without the center of the ribbon being in the middle of my hat. When right now I've got the hat turned far enough on my head without it looking goofy.

For right now the Akubra Fed. Deluxe is completely fine. Some day I might get and AB and when I do I'll talk to Fedora about it. In the mean time I don't think spending that amount of money on a hat I'm not going to wear unless I'm in the rest of my gear isn't very prudent.

[Pitfall Harry]

Please notice the words of a 15 year old Federation-owner:
Don't rebash it anymore!
I know what I'm speaking of, for me it was like this: Every time I saw my hat in the mirror I wanted to correct the bash and did a tweaking here and there.
After a few months my lid was in a bad shape!

The bash looks a bit better to me, but you should really just wear it!

I'm not doing anything to it right now that I know the hat can't handle. These hat's are pretty tough. I'm not sure exactly what all you did to your hat to have it break down on you like that but what I've said above sounds worse than it actually is. I'm very cautious when it comes to the hat and I haven't really messed with it that much.

Thanks for the word of warning though.

[Pitfall Harry]

:arrow:

[Russ]

Please notice the words of a 15 year old Federation-owner:
Don't rebash it anymore!
I know what I'm speaking of, for me it was like this: Every time I saw my hat in the mirror I wanted to correct the bash and did a tweaking here and there.
After a few months my lid was in a bad shape!

The bash looks a bit better to me, but you should really just wear it!

In what way was it in bad shape? Did it have thin spots? irreversible creases? Holes (shudder)? I'm really curious.

[Strider]

I like what you've got going on there, Pitfall. Should you ever want the hat re-blocked, I've heard that Gater had his fed-d re-blocked by Steve, and that it came back looking better than the day he bought it. Just a heads up for later, since the service only costs roughly 30$ (10$ for a re-block plus 10$x2 for round trip shipping costs).

[Ghos7a55assin]

The back is still too high in the profile view- the rake should be a subtle drop from front to the back. The front view taper is quite steep, too. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[The real Henry]

Please notice the words of a 15 year old Federation-owner:
Don't rebash it anymore!
I know what I'm speaking of, for me it was like this: Every time I saw my hat in the mirror I wanted to correct the bash and did a tweaking here and there.
After a few months my lid was in a bad shape!

The bash looks a bit better to me, but you should really just wear it!

In what way was it in bad shape? Did it have thin spots? irreversible creases? Holes (shudder)? I'm really curious.

This what I call a bad shape: viewtopic.php?t=17246
Just kidding!

Before I did THAT to my Akubra, It looked like this because of the reason I told Pitfall Harry:

[BendingOak]

The back is still too high in the profile view- the rake should be a subtle drop from front to the back. The front view taper is quite steep, too. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

ghros7, I agree with you on the back being to high. I think what the problem is that for some reason people think the humps shoould be a lot lower. The only time you really see those hump (on the hat ) is when Ford tilts hishat back and he looks down ( Idol grab).

[Pitfall Harry]

The problem is that you guys tend to overagerate the hat's look. Also, nobody ever takes into consideration that we all don't have the same shaped head as Ford's.

The reason the back isn't pushed down as far is because on my head that makes the front taper. As far as the other thing goes it could be the angle and the way I have my head tilted. The last thing this hat has is a taper. The sides are straight up and down!

[BendingOak]

Harry I don't think you understand what we are talking about. Look at your side shot. Your center dent ( it should be around a 1/4 inch lower in the back than the front). You have in going the other way around. I hope this is clear enough.

[3thoubucks]

Read my latest thread. You might get a Fed a size or two too big, pleat it cinch it, then stuff the sweat till it fits. The top of the crown will be bigger than your current hat, so you'll have less taper.

[BendingOak]

hey harry, I'm not dumpping on you man. I like you you dude and think you did a fine job on bashing it. I just know that the front should be higher than the back ( I was trying to help out thats all). I think it's better than just saying nice job
I think people want tht front camel hump look really bad ( so do I). After looking at a lot of fords pics (in raiders) and a lot of pics of pagey. I notice that they both wear there hat with the front sitting higher on there head.

Look at the Idol grab sceens ( just at the time before he grabs th Idol. Fords hat is tilted back on his head. He does the switchand thats when he has the humps( showing up nicely)( my favorite). Then he pulls it back down again to were he wears it like most of us do ( humps don't show up).
I hope this is clear.

Tone thanks man. I think you got what I'm talking about.

[Pitfall Harry]

hey harry, I'm not dumpping on you man. I like you you dude and think you did a fine job on bashing it. I just know that the front should be higher than the back ( I was trying to help out thats all). I think it's better than just saying nice job
I think people want tht front camel hump look really bad ( so do I). After looking at a lot of fords pics (in raiders) and a lot of pics of pagey. I notice that they both wear there hat with the front sitting higher on there head.

Look at the Idol grab sceens ( just at the time before he grabs th Idol. Fords hat is tilted back on his head. He does the switchand thats when he has the humps( showing up nicely)( my favorite). Then he pulls it back down again to were he wears it like most of us do ( humps don't show up).
I hope this is clear.

Tone thanks man. I think you got what I'm talking about.

I didn't think anyone was dumping on me.

I knew what you were talking about in your last post and I have tried it before and again last night. It really doesn't want to stay down once I put the hat on. I may work with it some more but as it is right now I'm very happy with the hat and the way it looks. Thanks to Tone's help I realized I hadn't turned the hat far enough to get the brim distortion that I loved so much from the "Cairo Look".

The crown is straight up in down in person. I think at certain angles it give the illusion of a slight taper because of the "Camel Humps" but I've looked at all of Ford's hat shots from the film from all angles and there is not that big of a difference between the two.

I think 3thoubucks said I should get a hat with a larger crown and I completely disgaree. This crown is tall enough for my head plus I ordered it slightly bigger to allow room incase it shrinks. Showing photos and seeing it in person are two different things. I don't think a larger hat than I have now would look right and I don't think I'd be comfortable with it either. In fact, I had people telling me my order for my Wested was wrong back before I got my jacket and when I did get the jacket it fit perfect on me....actually better that I could even imagine.

Don't get me wrong I appreciate the help and suggestions but what it boils down to is personal taste and everyones unique head shape. When or if I buy and AB from Fedora I'll take all of this into consideration. I don't know if I'll have him do the SoC bash on the hat himself or I'll just bash the hat myself giving it my own unique look.


I don't think my hat looks like "the hat" but it is looking like a darn good Indy hat and hopefully the photos help people that are looking to buy a Akubra Fed or Fed Deluxe.

Speaking of the photos. I had to clean up my photobucket account because of all of my stored pics so I'm currently redoing everything. That's why alot are missing.

I'll will try and repost some new shots using Bending Oaks suggestion for the back when I get to it.

[BendingOak]

Harry, I'm glade we are cool with each other. Sometimes things on this forum can come across the wrong way.
I think it's like tone has said before. If you happy with it, thats all that really matters. I just know from a post by fedora and I agree with him that the front should be a 1/4 inch higher than the back ( steve please correct me if I'm wrong). I think people crease the front down way to far( try to get the camel humps to show).

[Pitfall Harry]

Actually, there are few scenes in Raiders that I like where you can see the "camel humps" that I like but I'd prefer the straighter look of the SoC scenes.

I don't think I'm every going to get the "ballooning effect" his hat had with my hat because I think like Fedora mentioned in another thread that the hat had been sat on or squished to achieve that look and I don't think I'm brave or crafty enough to try that. I like the crown as is and I feel for me at least the hat is still a bit "square" looking. Other than rebashing and turning the hat just this once I haven't messed with the crown since I got it so what you see is basically the same as before only now it's turned to create the warped brim.

I'll try and work on what you suggested and post new shots soon. One of the reasons I started cleaning out my photobucket account was the fact that I had so many shots of basically the same thing that it made no sense to have them all taking up space.

[Pitfall Harry]

Here are the new shots I took outside today. I did try what Bending Oak and Tone pointed out and everytime I did the crown from the front started to look like Indy's hat in this photo.




So I decided to leave the hat as is. Here are the most current shots of my hat taken outside today.

[Pitfall Harry]

Here is a shot I took outside of the crown a few days ago and after that is the crown after I adjusted the front pinch.

[The real Henry]

Sorry, if this maybe sounds unpolite! IMO your hat doesn't looks much like Ford's lid in that ToD photo, but just like a tapered Raiders-hat!

[Pitfall Harry]

Sorry, if this maybe sounds unpolite! IMO your hat doesn't looks much like Ford's lid in that ToD photo, but just like a tapered Raiders-hat!

I think you misunderstood my ToD comment. I never shot photo's of the hat with the back pushed down like what they were wanting me to do because when I did it my hat took on the appearance of his from the front. I wasn't trying to achieve the TOD so yeah it's the Raiders fedora that I've styled my hat after.

[BendingOak]

Harry, I still think you misunderstood what I said. I think you have to start from the beginning ( no bash). put in the center dent making sure the fron is about a half inch higher that the back. Turn the hat so the brim looks the way you want. Then put in the side bashes. I hope this was a lot more clear.

[Pitfall Harry]

Harry, I still think you misunderstood what I said. I think you have to start from the beginning ( no bash). put in the center dent making sure the fron is about a half inch higher that the back. Turn the hat so the brim looks the way you want. Then put in the side bashes. I hope this was a lot more clear.

Oak, I just adjusted the front pinch on the hat. I didn't try to do what you suggested in the pics above.

I did however mess with the crown a little more the other day and here is the hat as it is right now.

[BendingOak]

you got it my friend, thats it. Now the hat looks good from every angle.

[Pitfall Harry]

you got it my friend, thats it. Now the hat looks good from every angle.

Actually, it's still missing two more things... dirt and sweat!

[J_Weaver]

I agree, I think you've milked that Akubra for all it worth! Good job!

[Pitfall Harry]

I agree, I think you've milked that Akubra for all it worth! Good job!

Yeah, I'm happy where it's at now and I'm done messing with it. I thought about adding a little bit of felt / fabric stiffner to lock in the look but I don't know if that's a good idea or not. The hat is fairly soft right now and comfortable I don't want it to become rigid or something.

[J_Weaver]

Don't worry Harry, the Akubra will hold the bash you put in it. Also it will become softer the more you use it.

[G-MANN]

Great job on the Rebash job Harry

Cheers,
John

[Pitfall Harry]

Yeah, I think I've done it like 4 times now since I got it.

Thanks for the tips guys and I guess I won't worry about the felt stiffner stuff until way down the road or something. By then I'd probably have another hat, maybe an AB!