Club Obi Wan

Does anyone here know the easiest (do it yourself) way of reblocking a tear drop crown in a fur felt Dorfman?


Pitfall

Unbash, than rebash the whole thing. There was a thread before that really showed how to do this. I will see if I can find this. Illinois

You may want to use some cold water (from a spray bottle) or steam when you're doing the rebashing. I'd pop it out and spray it a few times, and let it sit for a tad before going at it.

Trick is, when you're going to make the center dent, use some water or steam to make the felt pliable, and then stick your off hand inside the hat to help guide your dominant hand in shaping the dent. Without some guidance, the teardrop will just pop back into place, so you need your other hand there to steady it. Don't be afraid to hurt the hat, you won't. When you're putting in the center dent, just try to make sure that sucker stays in there.

The main reason that hat appears tapered is because of the teardrop. I've found that teardropping a hat causes taper, but center dents are better if you want to avoid this kind of thing.

Is that a dry bash OR should I use some steam?

The thing with steam is that I'm afraid I don't know how much to use or how to do it. Would I hold the hat upside down so that the crown is being exposed to the steam?

Yep. Trick with steam is, don't hold the hat over it for too long. Count to ten, move the hat away from the steam and fiddle with it a little, and re-steam as needed. Count to 5 each additional time after the first. A little goes a long way.

To be honest, I would have it professionally reblocked by Fedora. The thing with those hats, they're mass produced and not shaped by hand so that teardrop is STAMPED into the felt. I can't imagine a way you could remove those creases without a block. The fur/felt Dorfman's aren't that cheap and Fedora only charges like ten or fifteen bucks for a reblock, so I'd use some caution and go the safe route.

Remember to stay clear of the fire if you use a gas cooker! Hats have been known to catch fire while being bashed.

Regards
-K

Strider wrote:Yep. Trick with steam is, don't hold the hat over it for too long. Count to ten, move the hat away from the steam and fiddle with it a little, and re-steam as needed. Count to 5 each additional time after the first. A little goes a long way.

Agreed. I rebashed my wife's dorfman fur felt with a little steam. Turned it into a center dent, played with the front pinch, and retweaked the brim a bit. Just do a little at a time. Too much steam and it could taper some on you. A little does go a long way as Strider suggests. If you're not happy with it, or can't get the center dent "dents" all the way out, a Fedora (Steve) reblock isn't bad either. But I'd say give it a go first. Besides, it's kinda fun.

So I just pop up the top of the hat and then use steam or water to work the crown into a center dent?


I do believe that the hat was "stamped" with that tear drop crown because when I was messing with it a little I noticed that it looked like the hat's material was cut to that shape in the back.


I'll mess with it a little and if it doesn't work it's not a really big deal. It's not like no one is going to know what type of hat it is. It's just that I'd like to look more like the Raiders style and less like the Temple of Doom.


Pitfall

Pitfall Harry wrote:So I just pop up the top of the hat and then use steam or water to work the crown into a center dent?

Yep.

Well, I reshaped it. I think it turned out ok. I used a spray bottle and worked with it. I hope to have comparison shots of the before and after posted later on tonight.



Pitfall

It probably looks pretty good. I took the teardrop out of my wool DP, pinched the front tight, and that helped a lot.

Actually I started messing with it some more later on in the evening so I'll try and post the finished results Sunday.

It's Sunday. Where's these pics at!?

Ok...

Here are the pics of my "Official" fur felt Indiana Jones hat before and after I reshaped the crown.



Before







After







Before






After





After : Front View

Still kind of tapered, but I think you did a good job reshaping the bash!

The pic makes it look more tapered than it is. I think it's the way I had the hat sitting on the box and the angle I shot it. It doesn't look anything like that when I wear it.

I also think that the crown on my hat is shorter than the crown on the other hats on here.

You did a good job, sir. Sorry I'm late to this thread - I actually soaked the crown of my DP in cold water - yup, just sprayed it on with the dish sprayer in the kitchen sink. COLD water, mind you.

The tear drop sometimes wants to come back a bit, so I did these two things - first, I let it COMPLETELY DRY (in a room temperature area - not hot, not cold) in an 'open crown' shape - that is, completely pushed up and round like a gum drop. This helped invert the tear drop, to let it sit long enough to dry this way.

Then I dry-bashed it for the most part, only using minor bits of water to make something go a bit farther than it wanted to dry. As soon as that dried, I sprayed the inside of the crown - liberally - with Scouts felt stiffener. I thought about doing that to the open crown, then bashing it, but I never did need to rebash it, so I left it.

The only other thing I did that may have helped keep the teardrop out was turn the hat, so my center pinch didn't line up w/ the old pinch, to avoid any remaining 'fabric memory'. If the teardrop wanted to come back on mine, it would have to do so DIAGONALLY across the new bash, and that's not likely.

J

Well, I ended up messing with it a little more last night and I realised I made the bash on top to deep so I fixed that and now it looks, to me at least , alot more like the Raider's look. It seems to have made the crown stand up higher on my head. I'll have to post more pics soon.

Ofcourse the pics don't really do the hat justice because it looks different in person but it gives people an idea.

I'm happy with it for now.


Thanks for all your help



Pitfall

It will also look different ON your head...don't be shy...just wear sunglasses.

Indiana Jerry wrote:just wear sunglasses.

Well...

Here is the final "update" of my hat. I messed with it a little more because the top dent was to deep and was making the hat taper. Here are the newer pics.

Nice!

Thanks. I think I FINALLY got it!

WOW-That has to be the nicest Dorfman I have ever seen! Of course for a guy like me that is pretty new to this stuff it isn't saying a lot. The bash is great.

Montana Jones wrote: WOW-That has to be the nicest Dorfman I have ever seen! Of course for a guy like me that is pretty new to this stuff it isn't saying a lot. The bash is great.

There's a picture floating around here somewhere of Indiana texas-girl's Dorfman that was reshaped by COW's JPdesigns ... and it looks fabulous. If someone has that pic (which I can't seem to find), please post it

Edit: Found it. ITG, hope you don't mind me posting it.



Pitfall, I think you did a great job!

To be honest this is the nicest Indy hat I've ever owned. The other two I have are from the 80's and cost $20.

After messing with the crown and stuff I'd say it worked out pretty well for the price I paid, which was about $98.

I realize now though that I could have spent a little more and gotten a Akubra hat but maybe down the road I will.

I can't ever see myself spending over $200 for a hat though.


Sometime soon I'll post a pic of me wearing the hat with the new "bash" so you guys can see it being worn.



Pitfall

Pitfall Harry wrote: After messing with the crown and stuff I'd say it worked out pretty well for the price I paid, which was about $98.

I agree with ya.

Pitfall Harry wrote:I realize now though that I could have spent a little more and gotten a Akubra hat but maybe down the road I will.

Yeah, Akubra's are good budget hats, sturdy and well made, too.

Pitfall Harry wrote: I can't ever see myself spending over $200 for a hat though.

Just you wait.

Pitfall Harry wrote: Sometime soon I'll post a pic of me wearing the hat with the new "bash" so you guys can see it being worn.

Goodie.

There's a picture floating around here somewhere of Indiana texas-girl's Dorfman that was reshaped by COW's JPdesigns ... and it looks fabulous. If someone has that pic (which I can't seem to find), please post it

Edit: Found it. ITG, hope you don't mind me posting it.

Couldn't figure out how to copy the image but I knew that someone would do that. I stand corrected. It is now ONE of the best dorfmans that I have seen. They both look pretty darn good to me. Better than anything I have. I applaud anyone who can make that hat look that good.

I'm not discrediting the dorfman by the way. If I could get my hands on one I would.

Pitfall, after seeing the work you've done on that Dorfman, you must order your first Adventurebilt open crown and shape it youself.

Well, I'm just glad I didn't screw the hat up. That was the first time I've ever tried anything like that before. I just used some of the Raiders hat pics to go by plus some of the instructions on here didn't hurt either.

It looks like Indiana-Texas Girl and I have the same fur felt Dorfman.


I'm still missing two crucial pieces of my gear though. A good jacket and a good whip.

I'm also think about ordering that gun holster from Todd's costumes. My MarkVI bag is on it's way.



Pitfall

prairiejones wrote:Pitfall, after seeing the work you've done on that Dorfman, you must order your first Adventurebilt open crown and shape it youself.

Yeah, I'd love to have one of those. They look like great hats. I'll start a telethon on here to raise money to buy it.

Or I could sell one of my kids! HA!

Indiana Jerry wrote:It will also look different ON your head...don't be shy...just wear sunglasses.

Pitfall Harry wrote:Well...

Here is the final "update" of my hat. I messed with it a little more because the top dent was to deep and was making the hat taper. Here are the newer pics.

First, Harry, let me just express deep concern for your well-being, since you have the complexion of a card-board box!

But you did an EXCELLENT job on that DP!

The hat looks great!

Pitfall, if this is your first attempt at bashing a hat, you'll do just fine on future endeavors!

bink

Indiana Jerry wrote:

Indiana Jerry wrote:It will also look different ON your head...don't be shy...just wear sunglasses.

Pitfall Harry wrote:Well...

Here is the final "update" of my hat. I messed with it a little more because the top dent was to deep and was making the hat taper. Here are the newer pics.

First, Harry, let me just express deep concern for your well-being, since you have the complexion of a card-board box!

But you did an EXCELLENT job on that DP!

Well, you know how they say the camera adds pounds. In my case it makes me look like a Block Head!

I'll try and post a pic of me wearing my hat with the new bash and some of my new gear. I'm still waiting for my MkVI bag.


Pitfall

binkmeisterRick wrote:Pitfall, if this is your first attempt at bashing a hat, you'll do just fine on future endeavors!

bink

Maybe it was just beginners luck. Of course of seen the movies so many times that I know about every angle of THE HAT.


I still think everyone is over analyzing how the hat got it's "look". I bet you could go outside and lay your hat in the street and let a truck run over it and you'd get the correct look.



Pitfall

Pitfall Harry wrote "I still think everyone is over analyzing how the hat got it's "look". I bet you could go outside and lay your hat in the street and let a truck run over it and you'd get the correct look."

Heh, yeah you might be right, however I do get a kick out of people who have such a great enthiusiasm for something as simple sounding as a hat. I like reading the in depth analyses, the still frame 'grabs' from the movies, and the whole controversy over various theories.
It's nice to see people enjoying something I guess, especially in this world of cynicism.
You've done a great bash on that hat by the way. I'd be proud of that if I'd done it
Oh....And I'm betting you will spend that $200 in the near future

Pitfall Harry wrote:I still think everyone is over analyzing how the hat got it's "look".

Maybe. Of course, if they didn't, we wouldn't have a "Fedora" section. Or we might, if only to have threads where people post pictures of their hats. I think the different theories and analysys give the forum depth and flavor.

Besides, without guys like 3thoubucks, we might not know about the "Raiders turn", which was a theory of his at the time he noticed it, but it's pretty much accepted as fact 'round these parts these days. I turn my hat and get a great brim shape every time because of it. Thanks 3K$.

Maybe you should make a partial block for your fedora.

Here's some pics of my DP, I hope to get an AB or Akubera soon, but I just dunked it in water and rebashed it (it was a hair big on me when I got it so this helped shrink it minutely to my size)... I'm considering mashing the sides down a little... I like the height but the 'ToD' airplane scene Taper isnt really workin for me... Also I spent a long time meticulously shaping it just as I thought it looked in the movie, but something still felt off about it, so I crumpled it up a couple times, sat on it, and then reworked it back into its shape and that seemed to give it a little more character: