The Makeshift Block

[Marcus Brody]

How many of you have done the ghetto reblock?

I'm talking about making your own block, but doing it in possibly the most Macgyver-esque ways.

In fact, I've actually done this in the past without even really making anything. This method involved taking a hat that was already still in good shape and saran wrapping it completely. After that I would wet down the 2nd hat and squeeze it over the saran wrap hat-block and let it dry overnight.

I've done this twice, and its worked very well actually.

Another technique I'm trying right now involves a large cylindrical plastic container and a large amount of wet paper towels. Basically the container wasn't large enough, so I filled in the gaps with moistened paper towels.


Anyone else done any crazy things like this?

[GCR]

I've done a poor-man's reblock a number of times on different hats over the years, though I would not consider my method "MacGyveresque"

I just found a tupperware style bucket, about 7 inches tall, straight-sided and big enough to fit on my head. I spray down an old hat with cold water, stretch it over the bucket and let it dry for the next few days. I don't mess around with removing ribbons or sweatbands since I have no skills with a needle and thread. I just reblock the whole hat as is, and bash it dry once it's done. Sometimes it works out with great results, and sometimes I ruin a hat. Unless you're messing around with an old beater you don't care about and are willing to throw away, I wouldn't try it.

That being said, here are some of my results:

This was my Indiana Miller back in 2003 after 3 years of HARD daily wear.
(The 1 3/4 inch ribbon is folded to look like 1 1/2 inch. I remember reading here that someone else tried this so I figured I'd give it a shot.)


I reblocked the hat on my bucket-block and turned that hat into this:



http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p163 ... ler001.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p163 ... ler003.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p163 ... ler004.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p163 ... ler005.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p163 ... ler006.jpg



The hat was a bit too small to begin with, so sadly, I had to part with it. I believe it now resides in the collection of Mr. Indiana Blooze.

I also used the tupperblock to reblock my old Akubra Fed Deluxe, which I then was able to rebash with the Raiders-accurate front pinch height of 4 1/2 inches (it had been bashed with the pinch much taller).



http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p163 ... JPD007.jpg

Reblocked Akubra is on the left in this pic, with my JPD on the right

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p163 ... JPD044.jpg

And I also used the tupperblock to turn my Raiders style JPD (see last pic above) into an Last Crusade style fedora, though this one didn't "take" in the long run.



I'm still planning on picking up a Lamode block at some point, so I can finally retire the tupperblock, but in the meantime, it seems to get the job done.

-GCR

[Marcus Brody]

Ooh, great results you got there.

I've heard of your "block" just never saw the pictures. Needless to say, I'm impressed.

[Dr.Seuss]

Marcus:

Do you "stuff" or pad out the inner/form hat? Otherwise, why does the inner hat not collapse back onto itself?

GCR:

One thousand and one "uses" for Tupperware. With stellar results!

(I went from no block to Lamode block. Of course, I changed mine, a trifle, to better fit my head.)

Sincerely,

[indy89]

Holy smokes! That's the best #### makeshift re-block I've seen!

[Marcus Brody]

Do you "stuff" or pad out the inner/form hat? Otherwise, why does the inner hat not collapse back onto itself?

The times I have done this, the inner hat was stiff enough to retain its own shape under the wet hat. In addition I also make sure the lower hat sits on something that would help it keep its shape, such as a tapered cardboard cylinder.

The other method I just tried actually worked pretty well, but it could have been better if I took a little more time to mold the top part carefully, because it's a bit too flattish and not curved at the top. It's probably the silliest and most non-permanent block ever. Try to imagine a plastic cylinder with paper towels molded onto the bottom of it in the shape of a block. I suppose this also means you could technically do a papier mache block, considering the relative ease at shaping it compared to say wood. Of course, you should probably saran wrap it too though.