Club Obi Wan

Steve and Marc, with your current blocks, what heights should the front and rear be creased down to? Mine seems to want to naturally crease right around 4 1/2" - 4 3/4" in the front and 3 3/4" in the rear. The problem I am having, is that when viewed from the front, the left side seems to taper just a bit as opposed to the right side which looks good. A deeper side dent helps, but then I end up with a side dent that goes way past my ear when the hat is worn. I also have the hat turned, with the rear edge of the bow at the front of my ear, (yeah, I like the brim swoop that I get with that big turn). I see this on both my AB and my AB Deluxe, so I assume it's probably my bashing, not the hats. Both of these hats are beautiful, I'm just nit picking at my own bashing skills, or lack thereof. Steve and Marc are artisians, and yes, I will be a repeat customer as soon as Mrs. Blooze will let me.

Blooze, I don't think it is your bashing techniques, but the nature of how the hat will bash with the turn in it. Each one of my hats that has the 'turn' does the exact same thing..........also remember that the bash is what gives the hat its character, and that an asymmetrical bash puts you well on the way to having a more characterful(is that even a word????) fedora........

How many inches is your turn Blooze? The more you turn it, the worse it gets. Seems to affect the Raiders hat. I used to go with the 2/3 inch turn, as indicated by the bow's position, but now I'm into the "Big" 2 inch turn.

They are turned about an inch and a half.

The problem I am having, is that when viewed from the front, the left side seems to taper just a bit as opposed to the right side which looks good. A deeper side dent helps, but then I end up with a side dent that goes way past my ear when the hat is worn.

Yeah, that is normal with a turned hat. The more you turn it, the worse it gets. The hat is no longer symetrical, and this can show up as you mentioned. If you want the sides to match perfectly, you must do away with the turn. I think this explains what you are referring to. When you turn the hat, normally the crease on the right side(opposite of the bow side) can be a deeper crease due to more material being there that came with turning the hat. The bow side will have less material to work with, and generally the crease in that side of the hat will not be as deep as the other side. Now if you try to get the bowside crease as deep as the right side, you can push in some taper in doing so. A catch 22. Hope this helps. Fedora