My first Fedora

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:39 pm

Hello All,

This is my first post, but visited a number of times and I have been doing a lot of reading here at the forum and I have picked up a lot of information and seen a number of hats. So I thought that I would post a link and a few photos to get some feed back on my hat.

:
So without turning this into a long winded post here is a link to a page with photos of my hat:

Thank you for your time and help,

Darrell

:arrow: http://home.insightbb.com/~darle.bennet ... /index.htm

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:43 pm

Not bad looking at all!

Details, if you please...maker and the like.

HIGH regards! Michaelson

coronado3 · Post by **coronado3** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:58 pm

Is it a Miller?

Indiana G · Post by **Indiana G** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:02 pm

that looks like one of todd's HJ's.....but the ribbon is different and the crown doesn't look like the same block....all right, i'm dying....what hat is that?!?!

welcome to COW by the way

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:56 pm

Hi All,

Thank you for the feed back.

I made this hat myself, I ordered all the items that I would need to make one hat, I wanted to see if I could make my own hat. After receiveing everything that I ordered I discovered that I would need a hat block and after checking prices I made the hat block that I would need. The ribbon I found locally and it was a light color brown, so I had to dye the ribbon to get a dark brown, everything was a learning experiance. It took me a week to make the hat and that includes the time needed to make the hat block. The hat band bow and knot has been changed 3 times trying to get the proper look. Thanks to all the photos that I found on this forum I was able to get close to the looks I wanted. I made photos of each step of the hat making process.

I did make some mistakes during the process and I need to find or make a better tool to use for the trimming process on the brim. The felt is 6X Beaver and I put a white silk linner in the hat.

I have updated the photo page with some more photos showing my hat block and hat during the making process.

I do have a new AB hat on order with Steve AKA: Fedora.

Thank you for all your time and help,

Darrell

Indiana G · Post by **Indiana G** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:39 pm

thats nice work for your first go!

Indiana Kev · Post by **Indiana Kev** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:07 pm

Nice job! I have to say I'm very impressed that you took it upon yourself to make an Indy hat. Good work.

Chiliana Jones · Post by **Chiliana Jones** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:52 pm

good work indeed!

Rio

Raider · Post by **Raider** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:26 pm

Respect!!!

:junior: Raider

Indiana Max · Post by **Indiana Max** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:28 pm

Looks quite good on you, well done and jeah, I was also impressed to read, that you made it yourself, Hats off!

Hatman · Post by **Hatman** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:22 pm

Nice job, I have always wanted to make my
own hat. I have the block just don't know where
to get all the materials. Really looks good on you!!
Congrats,
Hatman

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:53 pm

Hello to Everyone,

Thanks to Everyone for the better than expected feed back. I am rather picky about everything that I do and I have to say that I must have changed the apperiance of the hat band, bow and knot four times, before I settled on my last change. I ask for and received some much needed input from Steve Delk ,AKA Fedora, Marc Kitter and Steve AKA Dalexs and I would like to take this time to say Thank you to all three of them for their help. Then I started looking around the forum and web looking for any closeup photos of HJ Fedoras, AB, AB Delux and any close ups of the Indy Fedora, I was mainly interested in the bow and knot, I never really found a good clear and close photo of the bow and knot, so I settled on the bow and knot that is on my hat now. Then last night I did a bit more shaping or rather bashing of the crown and brim, which was not the first time that I had worked on those areas.

Now the big problem that I have is that I guess I caught the hat making bug, because I like making hats.

Thank you for your time and help,
Darrell

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:54 pm

Hello Group,

I reshaped my hat block yesterday and then I reshaped/bash my hat in an attempt to get the stovepipe look with the Indy pinch and a few other features of Indy's hat.

http://home.insightbb.com/~darle.bennet ... /index.htm

I uploaded new photos of the rework of my hat block and rebash for review. I will take some more photos under better light conditions if you have trouble looking at the changes.

:

Thank you for your time and help,

Darrell

GCR · Post by **GCR** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:03 pm

Darrell wrote:Hello Group,

I reshaped my hat block yesterday and then I reshaped/bash my hat in an attempt to get the stovepipe look with the Indy pinch and a few other features of Indy's hat.

http://home.insightbb.com/~darle.bennet ... /index.htm

I uploaded new photos of the rework of my hat block and rebash for review. I will take some more photos under better light conditions if you have trouble looking at the changes. :

Thank you for your time and help,
Darrell

WOW...just WOW

What you have managed to create...on your first attempt...is truly remarkable!!! That hat looks amazing!!! Better...FAR better than many of my old Indy fedoras that were made by hat companies who had been in the business of making hats for DECADES, and this was your first try???

Very, very nice job!!!

-GCR

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:09 pm

Darrell, just to be 'nosey', but with the fine results you have achieved on your own with a beaver hat....why would you want to order an AB? Looks to me like you nailed it at your own bench!

Regards! Michaelson

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 5:03 pm

Well I ordered a hat from Steve just before Christmas, I had been looking at Fedoras all over the web and my wife had been watching what I was doing, and she ask me to order a Fedora for myself as a Christmas gift from her. My grandfather always work a Fedora hat and I have always wanted one for myself, Indiana Jones just made me want a Fedora even more.

I narrowed my choices down to 3 Fedoras, at that point I sent emails to all 3 websites, two of the emails were rather blunt, I almost felt as tho I was bothering them with my emails. Steve's response was friendly and very impressive. I could tell that he really enjoyed making hats and was very particular about the hats he made for his customers, plus he made me a deal that I just could not pass up.

Steve and I exchanged a few emails about the hats he makes and this got me interested in making hats. I have always worked with my hands so I decided to do some research about hat making and where I could order enough materials to make one hat. I can say that the work is not easy but the finished hat is worth the work. The big problem is I am very picky about the work I do, so it is nothing for me to redo something a number of times before I am happy with it.

Fedoraman · Post by **Fedoraman** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 2:44 pm

Steve is a very helpful guy and a top Indy-hat fan!

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 9:30 pm

Steve and Marc are both very helpful. They have helped me with a lot of questions, I still have a lot of questions, but I do not think I will get an answer on some of my questions from Steve or Marc.

When I started looking at Fedoras to make a purchase, I had looked at Fedoras all over the web, in fact I had looked at so many Fedoras I could see the hats with my eyes closed. I finally decided on three Fedoras and out of the three, the Adventurebuilt Fedora was the best that I had seen.

If your looking for a Fedora that will last and is made of quality materials, what would be your choice?

:

My choice would be an AdventureBuilt Fedora.

inexpensive_jones · Post by **inexpensive_jones** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 3:18 pm

Just curious, what did it cost for you to make your own?

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:00 pm

I think that I have around $95.00 in materials. I could have kept cost down if I could have found the right Grosgrain ribbon close by, the only Grosgrain that I could find close by was made of 100% Polyester and it was a Lt.Brown color and I had to buy some dye to change the color and then to get the dye to take effect I had to soak the material in straight dye for over 1 hour, then I mixed about 1.5 cups of water in a sauce pan and then I boiled that for 1 hour, then rinsed in cold water. Soaking the material in straight dye is the one thing you are not suppose to do if you go by the instructions on the bottle.

Then I needed a hat block for size 7 3/8 or 23.25" and after searching for hat blocks and discovering that a good hat block came in two pieces, one block for the crown costing about $250.00 or more and then a brim block which was about an additional $150.00. So I decided to make my own block, which took a lot of time and work.

I know that I could have bought a hat for the amount that I invested, however this has been a learning experiance and I also discoveried that I like making hats.

inexpensive_jones · Post by **inexpensive_jones** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:11 pm

Thanks for the info. You did a great job on the hat, and I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself making another. If you do post it. I know we'd all love to see your handiwork.

Darrell · Post by **Darrell** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:43 pm

Well I have hopes of making more hats, I recently purchased 5 wooden brim blocks, 7 1/2, 7 3/8, 7 1/8, 6 7/8 and 6 3/4 and I have decided that I will be making the crown blocks, I have figured out a easier way to do the work.

I have another hobby, making rc submarines from scratch and I have a bit of experiance making plugs and molds.

I know info on my rc sub does not fit the subject, but the mold making experience will be helpful in making hat blocks using fiberglass..

My first Fedora

My first Fedora

I reblocked and rebashed my hand made hat

Re: I reblocked and rebashed my hand made hat