"Killing" the Felt... Is it a lost secret?

[Western New York Indy]

Hey there!

I was hoping some members who have been here longer than me could answer a question I had. I have read that Adventurbilt had a part of their hat making process where the felt was rendered "dead" and this limited shrinking and taper when the hat was exposed to the elements. I've not heard of this process from any other hatters and I wondered whether it was a technique known by other hatters, or was an AB secret. Does anyone actually know what they did to the felt, or is that information long gone/a closely guarded trade secret? I'm not so much looking for answers as to what the actual process was, but just wondering whether it was unique to AB and whether any current hatter still has that knowledge, or if it is a technique that has been lost now.

-WNY Indy

[Indiana Jeff]

My understanding of killing the felt was a result of days gone by when men would have their hats reblocked several times over the life of the hat. The wetting, heating, and drying of the reblock process would cause the fur fibers to felt tighter each time. Eventually the fibers would be so tightly felted the felt would be "dead" and therefore stopping the hat from shrinking or tapering any further.

It was never confirmed to my knowledge, but my impression is that Adventurebilt would block a new hat repeatedly in the making process effectively simulating the reblocking process that would ordinarily be done over years. By reblocking the new felt, the fibers tightened, and a new hat would be effectively dead felt.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Western New York Indy]

Interesting... I can totally see how that would work. I had a feeling there was probably something they did in the blocking process and multiple blockings seems like a good bet as to what it was that they did. I bet that if multiple blockings was indeed the secret, it not only helped the fibers to bind tighter to prevent shrinkage, but also helped to get rid of the air pockets that are formed in the felt when blocked in order to keep them from collapsing in the elements.

Thanks for the input. I was really interested in what exactly killing the felt meant, since I've read about it here but didn't know whether anyone really knew what it technically was. I know that Advintage uses a technique called "pre aging" on their MasterPiece hats and that Marc Kitter had a hand in that product line being started, so maybe it's the same technique...

-WNY Indy

[Indiana Jeff]

I believe it is.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Michaelson]

I believe Penman and Garrison do it just as a matter of process when making or reblocking a hat.

Regards! Michaelson

[Western New York Indy]

I believe Penman and Garrison do it just as a matter of process when making or reblocking a hat.

Regards! Michaelson

Ah, good to know. I'd never heard of other hatters doing it, so I assumed it was just an AB thing. The more you know...

-WNY Indy

[Michaelson]

Most hatters don’t talk about it, as they consider it a ‘secret process’.

Regards! M

[Castor Dioscuri]

If I recall correctly, Delk (or was it Kitter?) passed that knowledge on to Penman... Did Penman ever pass that on to anyone else?

[Indiana Jeff]

Penman and David Garrison learned much from Steve Delk, including his technique to pre-age the felt.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Michaelson]

If I recall correctly, Delk (or was it Kitter?) passed that knowledge on to Penman... Did Penman ever pass that on to anyone else?

Kitter, Dave Garrison and John Penman were personally taught by Steve those ‘black arts’. I’m not sure if any of them have passed that knowledge on.

Regards! M

[Castor Dioscuri]

Ah, thank you both, Jeff and Michaelson! Will be curious to see what the future holds, and if we'll see the next generation of hatters anytime soon!

[Michaelson]

I’m not too concerned, as there are a lot of small production hat makers that are producing some excellent hats using the old ways. Our 3 old timers aren’t the only ones who have had access to the original information. Most large producers just don’t bother as the sooner your hat wears out, the sooner you need to buy a new one. The new guys just quietly make their hats the old way and put them out there for their small group of fans.

Watch some of the Indy websites for the names that pop up. There are some excellent new folks around doing it right.

The craft will not die as long as we keep keep wearing fedoras.

Regards! Michaelson

[Indiana Jeff]

Large producers aren’t going to take the time to pre-age the felt by blocking a hat multiple times. The smaller producers take that time and build the longer production time into the higher price for their hats.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff