Club Obi Wan

Is there a reason that raw hat bodies are made in the shape of a cone? Why can't they make them in the shape of a closed cylinder in the first place and eliminate tapering altogether?

My guess is that you can get more versatility in the variety of hat styles you make with the cone, but I could be wrong. It may also have to do with how the felt is spun to make the hat body. Steve? Marc?

I don't know if it's versatility. Aside from a witch's hat, there's nothing else made in the shape of a cone. Everything is some variation of a cylinder or dome. It's probably the same logic that applies to most products; to make it high-maintainance and difficult

My guess is that the hat will shrink during the process to a degree that no one can determine exactly due to a number of reasons. I believe the hat comes off the cone at approximately 3 times the final size? As it goes through the drying process it shrinks considerably.

Take your cylinder mold and make it roughly 3 times bigger than you want it and try to guess how much it will shrink and in which direction. And good luck. Every felt - every blend of furs will be different. Since hats are made from fur and different furs shrink at different rates, you would possibly have a hat that is a bit shorter on one side than the other, for example. That would make it difficult to block.

A cone can be made into many sizes. I also agree with the idea that one shape can be used for many blocks when using a cone.

I think it is much more simple than that...........it is done so that the felt is more easily pulled off of the form it is made from........a cone has to be easier than a cylinder, right?? Only one end to pull from.....my 2 cents....

Taper is not a bad thing. It is not important to most people wearing a felt hat. Most fedoras have taper. It is only important when you want those stovepipe sides, as in the Raiders fedora.

oklahoma_jones wrote:I think it is much more simple than that...........it is done so that the felt is more easily pulled off of the form it is made from........a cone has to be easier than a cylinder, right?? Only one end to pull from.....my 2 cents....

And now they are easier to stack, too. These guys are making a lot of cones...er, hat bodies, after all...

J

The cone shape is from WAY back, when the fur was felted by hand (19th. century and earlier). The felters made triangular felt pieces, the socalled bats. As Rick pointed out already, this bats were HUGE compared to the final raw body. Once the felter had made a couple of bats, he put a triangular cardboard - a bit smaller then the actual bat - on the bat and then another bat. With the help of hot water and steam, he was able to make the edges of the two bats felt together where the cardboard didn't seperate them (boy I hope this makes sense ). Finally the triangular "rawbody" was rolled and rubbed to make it felt tighter and become smaller, always exchanging the cardboard to a smaller size (after a certain time the two original bats would felt with each other and the rolling and shrinking was done without the cardboard). Why the triangular shape you ask? - Back then rawbodies were just that: triangular with an opening in the bottom. No specific crown or brim. But since the brim had to be taken from "somewhere", it made sense to make the rawbodies wider at the bottom then in the top, hence the triangular shape. This was then later copied for the felting machines.

I also agree with the idea that one shape can be used for many blocks when using a cone.

True! Most hatters simply don't WANT an untapered rawbody. However some feltmakers are able to make pretty untapered rawbodies (I get mine custom made ALMOST untapered to start with for instance, but they're still round in opposite to oval, so there will alway be some sort of "movement" necessary in order to make a hat from a rawbody).

Well, hope that answers your question...

Regards,

Marc