Club Obi Wan

My first fedora is in the mail - A Federation Deluxe. I never paid more than 20$ for a hat before, except for my Resistol (I wear my cowboy hat when I go fly fishing)
I am hoping you guys will walk me through the steps of what to do when it arrives. I mean, help me turn it into the best Raiders hat I can get (without spending any more money.)
Don't get me wrong, I am not a cheapo, I have alot of money invested in my khukuri collection, I just get a little choked up at 200$ + for the hat.
Maybe I just need to get used to it... Im from Texas originally, so I know that hats and boots can be $$$ (Especially exotic cowboy boots, those Tony lamas go for more than 300$)

Anyway, when the Federation Deluxe arrives, please help me.
Thy paduwan,
Danny

Congrats on the first hat order! As for the bashing there are a few different bashing tutorial threads floating around so you might want to check those out while waiting for the hat! Post some pics when you get it.

Welcome I.D.! You're going to like the Fed Delux. I got the same one and now have 2 other hats in the hopper! There is a wealth of knowledge from the experts here on this site, so your in good hands.

Stick with this and you'll be fine.

http://eaglesnest.goblinjournals.com/pagey.html

The only time I use steam is on the brim of my Akubra. NOT THE CROWN!!!!!! Let me know if you have questions.
Here it is.

Again prairiejones is right. I have a Fed Deluxe and used the same tutorial.

This is important:

Personally I don't advocate the use of steam for bashing. If you have a rabbit felt that is really VERY unresponsive, you might try a little steam, but a little water is probably a safer bet. If you find the bash doesn't hold "permanently" at once - don't worry, you can pinch and resqueeze the dents each time you put your hat on. The bash will soon become fixed and will look more natural.

Water will do the trick, use a spray bottle.


Good luck
-K

I had to read the entire string before I finally understood what the heck you were talking about.

I believe you meant you received an email from Jenny at 'HatsDirect.com', didn't you? The Federation is the hat, NOT the location of said hat.

Or, are you talking about something else here?

Regards! Michaelson

K on the run wrote:Water will do the trick, use a spray bottle.


Good luck
-K

I'm not sure I would want to use yellow, red, or blue water on my hat

Sorry, yes, I meant Jenny at hats direct...

Serial Hero wrote:

K on the run wrote:Water will do the trick, use a spray bottle.


Good luck
-K

I'm not sure I would want to use yellow, red, or blue water on my hat

me neither.
-K

I shaped my fedora about four months ago just before Halloween. I used a lot of water with a spray bottle, but I did NOT use any steam. Steam's unnecessary, I think, and given the risks involved (tapering) not worth the trouble when water works just fine and won't cause any tapering on its own.

Don't heat the wet hat afterwards, either, or you could run into the same problem.

step one is already giving me trouble. i turned the hat, but that changes the brim shape into high on one side low on the other, not at all like the pics...
how far is the edge of the ribbon from the center ridge of the front of the hat?
(approximately)
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/takflet/alb ... 57925984/1

Looks like you have it turned just fine. Just refine the brim with some steam. Don't steam the crown. Steam the sides of the brim where it should start to bend down. Immediately grab the front of the brim with both hands and let the hat hang down, creating the downward slant. Let it cool off and it should stay. Does this make sense? Then you can start to play around with this technique to get the shape that you want. This is what I did with the one in the pic I posted. I can take some pics to show you some of the techniques I used if you need me to.

danny,

it looks like you have some taper happening on the crown. in my experience, this taper happens when you've tried to put the top center dent in too deep especially in the back of the hat. there's just not enough felt on the top to take up the slack so the sides start colapsing.

perhaps if you relax that center dent, the hat will get you that stovepipe look as in ROTLA.

i hope this helps. if you were looking to have it tapered like that, then no worries....to each his own. don't you just love bashing a nice virgin open crowned hat! i loved it so much, i just ordered another open crown hat.

cheers

ok, i guess im expecting too much too soon.
ill try a little steam on the brim and a little less deep top bash.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/takflet/alb ... 59793542/4

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/takflet/alb ... 59786055/5

how does it look?[/url]

I think the link's broken.

-K

Yeah, I can't see em either.

ok, go here http://new.photos.yahoo.com/takflet/albums/
and look under "indiana jones stuff"