Club Obi Wan

Bufflehead Jones wrote:Heck, we're all in trouble if I am the only one that is paying attention.

I'm too broke to pay attention

Indeed, the new logo looks much better now.

now it sounds a lot better

Hmm, it looks like the text at the bottom is off-center. It seems to be a bit too much on the left, you might want to move it to right just a bit.

Point of fact, I ignored Hemingway too and though I was the first to make the suggestion.

Darn!

Hmm, it looks like the text at the bottom is off-center. It seems to be a bit too much on the left, you might want to move it to right just a bit.

INDEED!!! Thanks for pointing it out!

Regards,

Marc

I'm very excited about this project. The idea of getting a lightweight pure beaver felt fedora for a reasonable price is almost too much... time to start saving up those pennies.

Well Steve is mainly after adding a lightweigt felt to the Adventurebilt hat line, while I'm more into offering a denser / better felt than the one currently used, but in the same thickness and that unfortunately is more expensive

I will however also offer light- and heavyweight if the demand is there.

Regards,

Marc

Marc, as an almost lifelong fedora wearer, I recommend you go ahead and plan on the two weight felt plan. There WILL be a demand, I assure you.

Regards! Michaelson

Marc,
I may have missed this but what color is your liner??
Thanks,

Sharpey

They will be the same white bridal satin that Steve uses in his Adventurebilts. In fact they're even from the same maker in the U.S.

Indiana Tom just reworked the logo to be SUPER sharp the other day, then converted it into vector graphic art and finally to a Mac file. I sent it to the liner maker and got reply that with THAT image I should get a CRYSTAL CLEAR printing

But Sharpey: if the demand is there to get a black liner to match the modern HJs... ... it shouldn't be a problem to have them made in black as well...

Regards,

Marc

What's the status on this and the U.S. version? Haven't heard anything for a while.

Inquiring minds want to know!

Regards! Michaelson

Hmm, all this about a new Fedora... I think I might need one

Wow. I missed this thread! okay, I was at an excavation when this was discussed, and now you know, I didn't read all the threads after I went back home ...

But Marc, as I already told you, it's more than good to see you in this business!
Who knows Marc, knows that he won't take a rest until everything (yes EVERYTHING) is exactly like he imagined.

Well, in the German Board someone mentioned, without context of course , the Mad Hatter ... well, you know

Regards,
Jens

Hey gang,

I've been busy as a bee during the last months. The prototype block that I got last week is part of the result from this.

Another is, that I changed the liner maker to someone who can offer an even finer bridal satin. THIS looks like silk(!), but with the advantages of satin. I talked to the liner maker yesterday and he requested to call him up again today, to see if the liners will be done tomorrow (took six weeks already).

Then I got in prototypes from my feltmaker to find out which weigth the rawbody should have in order to get the most authentic Raiders thickness after the pouncing.

Third, I'm negotiating with my sweatband maker to make a special run for me and that is a hard nut to crack, as he usually doesn't make less then 10,000 pieces per order (and that's WITHOUT any special requests).

As I told in the block thread, I blocked a beaver body on the block the same day I got it and now the hat is almost done. I made the dim. cut and finished pouncing yesterday evening, so depending of how much time I can put aside this evening, it should be ready for pictures very soon. What I can tell you already, is that the finish of the felt turned out truly tremendous! A baby's butt is COARSE compared to this one

So stay tuned!

Thanks for your interest,

Marc

Marc, that are good news indeed!
Can't wait to see the first protoptype.

-- Jens

But the felt man!! What about the thinner fabled PORTUGUESE FELT?!

I finished the prototype yesterday, but I ain't happy with the brim yet, so now pics 'til next week

But the felt man!! What about the thinner fabled PORTUGUESE FELT?!

- I think you're mixing up a thing or two here... Steve wants a thinner felt for those who wants a Bogey style hat, as it seems to be, what he used. This he can't get from Winchester, but that Portuguese felter I found, can deliver basicly any weight / thickness desired. And they can deliver in any quality as well. So that gives Steve the option to get a superior and thin felt to add to his line.

I basicly don't care for that super thin stuff, as I'm only making Raiders Fedoras and for that, the felt should have at least some substance to it.

What I want is the best felt I can get combined with a screen accurate felt thickness. And since I can get both from this Portuguese felter, I'm willing to bite the bullet regarding his prices...

I've got in six rawbodies and will soon know which weight is best to start with. Then I need to figure the perfect amount of cooked in stiffner yet and...

More to come,

Marc

Ok, got an envelope from the sweatband maker

After he refused to make custom made reading tapes unless I buy 20,000 pieces - I requested to at least find something that suits better, than the two versions he had in stock. He did! I got a reddish and a tan sample and the tan sample looks VERY close to the color Stetson used on their leathers back in the days. So I'll request to have the leather made to match this reeding tape.

I also got a sample from a "3-D dyeing" that I had requested (oh yeah, I'm a strange customer: don't even want a thousand pieces, yet have the nerve to request everything different then standard ). Now THIS is awesome! Instead of the standard script that is dyed only on the surface of the leather and which can be scratched off with a fingernail and which will vanish after it got saturated with enough sweat, this stuff is just as good as what you see on the vintage hats, if not even better. Truly pressed INTO the leather, so you can actually feel the letters with your finger tips, nice and shiny gold color and you can't scratch it off, even with a knife.

To be continued...

Marc

This is just to demonstrate the ability of the improved block design. I'm extremely happy with it, to say the least. The materials used on this hat were what I had handy and do not repressent the materials I'll use for the Deluxe line. Nonetheless I think it turned out wearable...

Let me know what you think:

Raw body: http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m11pc.jpg

Front: http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m24pe.jpg

Left: http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m31pb.jpg

Right: http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m42xq.jpg

Top: http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m52mi.jpg

Regards,

Marc

Could you get me one raw body? It could make a nice witch hat.

VP The witch.

As I said: this is not from my supplier... the bodies from my supplier do come with a brim break already (thanks God).

Here's a little more news: the liners will probably ship with UPS today and.... drums please...... I probably found HJ's ribbon supplier I got a sample of their darkest brown and it's a PERFECT match to what we see on screen. It is without a doubt THE ribbon!!! I ordered 110 yards (100 meters) right away...

Regards,

Marc

I'd like to see how it looks with a proper centre dent.

Very nice hat Marc. Good job. Looks like you put in a little extra volume in the top of the crown. I like it. The color is also great.

Best regards
Jan

I'd like to see how it looks with a proper centre dent.

Sharp eye! Thank you for pointing this out. You're absolutely right: the top crease isn't right in the picture. I just deepened it and there lowered the back a bit. It didn't affect the untapered look of the crown, so there's gotta be something right about this block shape

Of course this is only a prototype, but your input help to make it better in the end, so keep going please.

Regards,

Marc

Ace wrote:Very nice hat Marc. Good job. Looks like you put in a little extra volume in the top of the crown. I like it. The color is also great.

Best regards
Jan

You signed this: "Jan".

I thought Ace was not Jan and that Jan was not Ace. What just happened?

That looks very good Marc! I would love to see how the hat looks with more camel humps and a deeper top dent.In my limited experience with bashing my own hats, I've found the "crevasse" top dent all but impossible to get without causing the sides to taper.

Keep up the good work!

I thought Ace was not Jan and that Jan was not Ace. What just happened?

Well, in fact my name is Jan too and Im also from Denmark like the other Jan in here. Usually I sign with Ace but sometimes my real name slips in sorry

Ace

I really like the AdventureBilt fedoras. They look great but their just a little bit out of my price range at the moment.

I would love to see how the hat looks with more camel humps and a deeper top dent.

Give me some time yet please. This felt is actually too soft for a Raiders Fedora as it hardly holds the shape. I'll see how the un-stiffened prototype bodies from MY felter (denser felt) acts regarding deeper center dents, but I have to make the second prototype yet.

Once I've figured what weight is perfect, I'll go figure the best possible amount of stiffner...

Regards,

Marc

Ace wrote:

I thought Ace was not Jan and that Jan was not Ace. What just happened?

Well, in fact my name is Jan too and Im also from Denmark like the other Jan in here. Usually I sign with Ace but sometimes my real name slips in sorry

Ace

LOL Oh, ok! Here I was going, hey wait a second! All's well that ends well.

Das ist ein zeer goede hoet. Or something like that (yea.h .. it's dutch with some german words..

[Memo to self, stop posting at 5 AM when being awake for TOO long]

Anyhow, that hat already looks very great, and I can't wait to see you up and running for an order. Also great is that shipping will not be as expenseive as a USA order, AND .. drummrollll .. No import costs! If there was any use for the European Union, I bet this is it!

[Ok, I'm rambling again.. ]

Marc,
I think you have done a sterling job on the new fedora.!! Very nice beaver felt

Here's probably the worst picture one can make:



...but my digicam just doesn't allow me to do any better, as this bridal satin just is impossible to take a good picture of.

Anyhow, I am VERY happy with the results. Due to the burgundy background (which is the same as on the vintage HJ - not those with the oval sticker) on the crest, the gold is MUCH better visible. The quality of the satin stand on it's own.

Let me know what you think.

Regards,

Marc

Holy @#$%. Awesome.

Wow!!!!!!!!!!! Wonderful liner. Impressive, most impressive hehe

Marc wrote:
Let me know what you think.

Well, I really think You need a better picture... Besides that, it looks great.

Cheers

You KNOW it's great when even a fuzzy photo looks good!

High regards!

Michaelson

That liner is fantastic!! I'm jealous.

Marc, that liner is impressive. Very classy!

bink

I like it but...it's just not centered correctly, or is that just the pic doing that? It just looks crooked. Looks much better than I thought it would turn out though.

That's due to the angle of the picture Agent5. It's 28mm from the left outer rim of the HP to the left side and 28mm from the right outer rim of the HP to the right side.

Sorry about the picture quality. I know it *****...

Anyway: Thanks for the compliments guys! It wouldn't be the same without Indiana Tom - who spent hours on small details I wanted to be changed on the graphics, but don't know how to do.

Btw: I just finished pouncing on one of the Portuguese raw bodies and it turned out fine fine fine. This felt is just different than any I've worked with earlier and I'm sure Steve can testify. It reminds me more of "polishing" then "pouncing": As Steve claimed on the other thread already, the good felt is right there in front of you and not under a surface of coarser felt, so that saves one some time on the pouncing and one can start out with a finer grit from the get go. But the density of the felt makes it harder to pounce (like the difference between soft and hard wood) and ***** up WAY more sandpaper then a loser felt would do and I ended up using the same amount of time on this one as on any other beaver felt. It is very satisfactory to work with though and I'll be happy to post pictures of this screen accurate Raiders brown Fedora, once I'm done.

Regards,

Marc

It suits the hat Marc. Good show!! Glad I finally got to see what the European AB liner is gonna look like! Knowing what I know of different hats and hatters, and knowing what you are gonna be using, it is a shame that most custom hatters do not go to the extent that you have in sourcing the absolute best in materials, especially when they charge what they charge for a piece felt, satin and leather. With special beaver felt, your liners and your sweats, you will definetely have the highest quality hat that can be bought, anywhere on the planet. You have topped you know who, by leaps and bounds. I am so proud of what you are doing with the AB name!!! I will make and sell a great Indy fedora, and you will make and sell the highest quality hat.......period. We now have a regular and Deluxe AB. It will just depend upon how much a fan wants to spend. I like it!! Fedora

Marc wrote:It is very satisfactory to work with though and I'll be happy to post pictures of this screen accurate Raiders brown Fedora, once I'm done.

And I can say, we will be more than happy to see them!
Marc, this special liner looks AWESOME! Great work. Once again we see how good it is to have top men working on it!
I'm sure, no - I KNOW, that the time you spent on this was not useless spent!

One more time: GOOD WORK!

I also can't wait until I get one of those things IN MY HANDS... Looks very good, my friend. I'm glad that the logo came out so good (I'm happy that I proposed the red and gold logos... looksvery authentic)

Regards

Tom

Way to go Marc. Your Ultra Custom liner will sure looks nice in your Adventurebilt Hats.

Excellent work!

Glad to see it turned out so well. I don't think the picture is that bad, it might be a little fuzzy, but it gets the idea accross, which is the fact that the liner rocks. Say, will any of us Americans who own more than one AB be able to order that liner, so we could have one hat with each liner? That would be fantastic.