Club Obi Wan

Please Delete.

Is it a hole clear through the hat? Sadly, there's not a whole lot that can be done to repair moth or insect damage. If the hole was in the crown, and not the brim, then you could always back the inside of the hole with a fabric tape to stabilize it. You could do the same with the brim, but then you'd have fabric tape showing on the underside of the brim.

I've been spotting a few moths around from time to time. I put cedar blocks (or even shavings in an old stocking) inside hat boxes and drawers sometimes because cedar is a natural deterant for moths and insects that like to munch on your clothes and hats.

Hmmm not steal a thread but what about repairing a small tear in the brim, anyone have an idea or two or three. The tear is small (1/8" to 3/16") species: Rabbit.
Croft

I would consider a tear and a hole to be the same thing in a felt hat. Both go through the entire felt, and both are about as difficult to repair, unless, again, it's in the crown and you can back the inside of the hat with a fabric tape. If it's a tear in the brim, just tell people it's where the bullet almost grazed your skull.

Hmmmmmm,

just tell people it's where the bullet almost grazed your skull.

almost, almost!! who said it was anything but a bullet or or or it could have been a knife, yea thats it a knife, a real big one with a sharp edge, yea thats it.

Well ok I'm joking about how it happened, (or am I) the tear is toward the rear (of the hat) and is only visible if one is looking. I'll chauk it up to adding character to the hat.

Croft

If it's an Indy lid, then you want character in the hat!

Douse it with some Fullers Earth and beat it up badly. You'll then have a great Indy hat.

Just so long as little puffs of dust aren't coming out the hole...

Bullet holes in hats are common in cinema. Barranca's hat in Raiders has bullet holes. ... In a recent "Mythbusters" episode, they tried to shoot Western hats off a dummy's head with various guns, to try and make the hat "fly" off, as seen in the movies. They discovered only a shotgun will make a hat fly off. Pistol and rifle shots barely disturbed the hats, just made holes in 'em. ... If I wanted to fix a hole, I'd sand the inside of the hat, generate some fuzz, then try and glue some compressed fuzz into the hole?

I have seen a lot of bullets that passed right through a house and barely distrubed the walls, just the people in 'em.

Bear with me here: You know that spot, like on Bogey's hat in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, at the top and front of the crown, where if you pinch the hat tightly and grab it from there all the time, it'll get a hole eventually?

Well, I seem to remember an old post where Marc (I think it was him) explained a way to fix such a hole, which involved (as 3k$ said) collecting some felt from the inside of the hat and using it to fill the hole. The difference from 3k$'s method was, the way Marc described it (if I'm right), the proposed repair process actually attempted to 'felt' the new felt into the hat, so that it would stay there without glue or anything. Keep in mind, he also mentioned (again, if my shoddy memory serves) that most _hatters_ won't attempt this. But if anyone could find that post, I'll bet a similar feat could be theoretically attempted to fix the hole Hansolojones is talking about.

That said, I in no way endorse trying it! But good luck if you do try. Maybe Marc will be able to chime in with the legit version of the stuff I just tried to relate...

Please Delete.

Good for you, HSJ! Glad you found a fix. It's not completely impossible to repair holes (especially if they're small) but it's a tricky endeavor, especially on the brim which can be visible from both sides. I'd be interested in seeing pics of the repair job, but don't tell us where the repair was right off the bat. Make us look for it.

Please Delete.

It's the one on the left, right?

VP wrote:It's the one on the left, right?

Make up your mind, VP!

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:

VP wrote:It's the one on the left, right?

Make up your mind, VP!

Regards! Michaelson

I guess that rules out the middle.

Please Delete.

Oh, what a painfully squeezed hat... I did pretty much the same with mine before I found the hole where KJB described...

Maybe a little late but here is the thread KJB mentioned. My hat was the matter... (the hatter finally filled the hole with some fabric glue and some felt from the inside of the hat.)

viewtopic.php?t=19590

Now everybody asks me about the bullet-hole

I have a similar problem. I have a beautiful dark mink Russian hat I picked up when I adopted my younger son, and I stired in in the top of a closet. I put it on last winter, and found a spot abput the size of a quarter where the fur is completely gone and the pale skin shows through. I keep trying to get close enough to the neighbor's cat to get some of her nice, black hair....

delete.