Hi guys. just thought I could show my new SoC hat. its 100% beaver. and let me tell you, this is INCREDIBLE hard to work with. its so stiff. this was the hat I got from my good friend Indiana G. it was bashed in the raven bar style..but I love the SoC more so the raven bar style had to go..
I can tell you alittle about what I have done...the brim is trimmed on the sides. the ribbon is taken of and replaced higher on the hat. the bow is replaced.
the hat is still in progress. so it isnt finished yet. still need to do some final touches. I ran out of fullers but I have it ordered so the dust and distrssing has to wait a little while more..
Looks great Holt! Can´t wait to see it dirtied up It´s amazing how you good the brim to look that good, I know how a´hard it is to work with stiff beaver.
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Can you show us as a side and back view when you´re finished?
Indiana Holt wrote:Hi guys. just thought I could show my new SoC hat. its 100% beaver. and let me tell you, this is INCREDIBLE hard to work with. its so stiff. this was the hat I got from my good friend Indiana G. it was bashed in the raven bar style..but I love the SoC more so the raven bar style had to go..
I can tell you alittle about what I have done...the brim is trimmed on the sides. the ribbon is taken of and replaced higher on the hat. the bow is replaced.
the hat is still in progress. so it isnt finished yet. still need to do some final touches. I ran out of fullers but I have it ordered so the dust and distrssing has to wait a little while more..
what'ya think?
You are right, it's very Hard to york this felt. When i made a hat with the beaver felt, i use a another block because i don't have the same result that the Rabbit.
Any further progress IH? Even my Fed 4 Deluxe is made from felt too tough to give it that SoC look. I've been beating the heck out of it for months now and it always returns to shape like memory plastic.
I also have a Penman Raiders but it'll only hold a Raven Bar crease.
and let me tell you, this is INCREDIBLE hard to work with. its so stiff.
My feltmaker tells me they don't use shellac on the dress beaver bodies, but I think the hired help messes up at times. Beaver really does not need shellac at all. In fact, it is better without it, for Indy fedoras. If the hat is stiff, shellac is the culprit. I use denatured alcohol to take out the excess shelllac when needed.
Fedora wrote:I use denatured alcohol to take out the excess shelllac when needed.
Steve: In using the denatured alcohol, do you immerse the hat in it for a period of time like you would with naptha or do you just spray it on until soaked? Just curious, as I have a campaign hat so stiff that Odd Job could use it as a training weapon & wanted to break it down. Thanks!
Very good start, Holt! I can only imagine how hard the beaver is to work with.
In my opinion (and I'm sure this will bring out the torches again just when everyone has started to put them away ), but I really think that rabbit is the way to go for a Raiders if you're trying to get an close SA approximation. You can get a good fascimile of a Temple or LC with beaver (and the CS was beaver, of course). But for the nuances of the Raiders hat, I think that rabbit is the way to go (this isn't considering the resilency of beaver vs rabbit).
It´s amazing how you good the brim to look that good, I know how a´hard it is to work with stiff beaver. 
Beaver really does not need shellac at all. In fact, it is better without it, for Indy fedoras. If the hat is stiff, shellac is the culprit. I use denatured alcohol to take out the excess shelllac when needed.
What happened there?! Is your head ok?
