Club Obi Wan

Thought this hat looked pretty good. Just reblocked my old stetson 10x with my new Raider block. This is the last revision, after almost a decade of playing with that mystical hat shape.













And, off topic but here is the new embroidered crest liner that I put in this old stetson.




Regards, Fedora

The hat looks great. I also like the idea of the embroidered logo. What that ever common in hats? I thought that the logo was ALWAYS printed in.

That looks absolutely perfect Steve! Would you ever consider re-blocking a 30yr old 10x Beaver Brand on that block of yours?

I love the color of that Stetson.

Weston

Looks great Steve - and I can't wait for my CS from you - I am sure it will be a masterpiece --- like all the others you have done!

Cheers
Nick

That felt is beautiful! The hat looks great and I love the embroidered liner. Is that an option on your ABs?

Dave

Steve, thanks for sharing this with us all and I really like the embroidered liner.

It's like watching KotCS! I saw it for the second time tonight, loved it, loved the hats. It's like Raiders, I watch the hats as much as I watch the rest of the movie. The theatre was about 3/4 attended and the print was all chewed up from so many showings. I'd say that's indicates a sucessfull summer blockbuster. - That white gizmo is the same as the one with Swales at HJ... What's it for Fedora? How does vintage Stetson felt compare to vintage HJ?

Hi Steve. Simply beautiful!!! Simply beautiful.

Cheers.

no one makes a raiders hat like yu my friend. awesome fedora....er...fedora

so that's natural dust on her then? i put on the raiders rabbit that you made me a year and a half ago...extra 1/4" on the crown....she had some natural dust on it and it looked #### good

your hats definitely age like wine.

This is my first time writing anything on ANY kind of "chat forum" (make no mistake, I'm a LONG time visitor and reader, but a new Member and now, first-time poster - assuming I got even half of those terms right)...
So, I'm just tinkering and seeing how everything works once I hit Submit on this...
Nice to be saying "Hello" to you all, though...
MLR

Oh, and also...
Where are my manners? Steve that IS a(nother) great looking hat! A pleasure to see. You sure have the skills.
Actually, it's a neat coincidence for me to read that it's a STETSON. In fact, I've got a little story to share:
I'm on vacation this week and decided to use the time to clear out a storage space in my house filled with boxes and shelves...
Beyond (behind) all that clutter was my goal... a closet - blocked for years and years - that held 2 items that were hidden away untouched for years: my David Morgan Bullwhip and my J.J. Hat Center "Royal DeLuxe" Stetson Fedora (both of these items bought about 16 years ago and packed away for the last 12)
Like many gearheads here, the perfect Raiders fedora became a bit of an obsession for me beginning many years ago... As time had gone on (and the sequels came out) I'd also noticed the differences in each hat that appeared in each movie... But was I the only one who noticed - or cared - about such things? (Keeping in mind, of course, that this was well before the INTERNET helped everyone to find each other and share their stories...)
So, back in '92 I tracked down - the old-fashioned way - a hat shop in New York called J.J. Hat Center.
They carried a number of styles (each one trying to tap into that Hat-Seeking Indy Fanbase out there): "The Temple", "The Crusader", etc... But none of them quite captured what I was looking for... Instead, I ordered up an altogether different fedora from them, the "Royal DeLuxe" Stetson. I remember thinking that the hat color, brim & style were "close enough"... or, at least, close enough for me to work with, as that's what I'd decided to do...)
So, when the hat arrived - and with absolute IGNORANCE as my co-pilot - I went to work on what I thought (at the time) to be a ground-breaking endeavor: Here I was, just some guy who knew next to nothing about how a fedora was constructed and before you knew it I was using an X-Acto blade to give the brim what I would later learn was called a "dimensional-cut", re-shaping the top using a spray bottle of warm water & clothes-pins and even replacing the ribbon with the hat band off of a pork-pie hat I used to wear in high school.
The end result was... something I thought was pretty good, but still left me wanting to find the kind of skilled craftsperson who could create the authentic thing... Never stopped wanting that. And, of course, never stopped being an Indy fan.
The hat, as I said, eventually went in the closet and only came out a few days ago and if I sound a little nostalgic and sentimental (or just mental), you'll have to forgive me... ah, the memories...
And by the way, yes, both the hat and the whip are in PERFECT, useable condition... haven't changed a bit.
Now, thanks to all of you and everything I've quietly been learning from reading your posts, I can now see how far from Screen Accurate "perfect" (in color, style, block, bash, pinch & taper) this hat IS... it's not a perfect Indy hat - by far... but you know what? It's a pretty darn good hat.
And once I figure out how to attach an avatar I'll try to figure out how to post a photo (or two)...
So thanks again Steve, because seeing photos that you and others have posted like the ones above have started up that fire again... and it's a welcome fire...
Hmmm... starting to think I should've chosen the name "Longwinded Jones"
And assuming you got this far, thanks for reading all that.
All the Best,
MLR

great story MLR and welcome ain't it great to find treasures in your own home? i think you caught the fever that steve eventually rode to conclusion with AB.

can't wait to see your museum pieces

Thanks for the welcome, Indiana G.
As my chattiness would suggest, I'm feeling very much at home here... it seems like a friendly group of people and you're obviously one of them.
I took some pictures of the hat on my digital camera earlier but unfortunately I'm a bit of an old fool when it comes to the stipulation that "you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server" in order to post them. I guess I thought I could post directly from my computer (where I've now uploaded the pics)... I've already sent a short e-mail to the Admin guys to ask about how to add an avatar, so maybe that will give me a clue... in the meantime, my (far more tech-savvy friend) is on vacation right now, so I guess I'll be waiting until he gets back before I find out
a) where on the web a guy can "post" pictures in order to have a link to attach from in the first place
and
b) how I can reduce the size of these bloody big pictures in the first place so that they meet the sizing restrictions
(I realize all of that is old hat to most everybody here, but I've just never been an "Online" kinda guy until now... so if anybody has any helpful words - that aren't TOO sarcastic - I'd welcome them)
Besides, I think it's a pretty darn nice looking hat... for now anyways...
All the Best,
Mitch

Sorry but...You're working on your own hats and you're backed up over a year??

sorry but nothing.....vegeta, your tone implies to me that steve owes you something.

Maybe Fedora did it on his day off?

What Steve does in his well deserved, self-owed, likely SCARCE free time is up to him.

Shane

Very Sharp, Steve. love the new liner. I finally got a chance to speak to steve on the phone the other day. it was a real treat. he is one busy guy and if he can find the time to make himself a hat then good for him.

Vegeta wrote:Sorry but...You're working on your own hats and you're backed up over a year??

Come on now. Can he take some time off? Do you tell me that you work non-stop for a year.


How do you now know that maybe this is a learning project for him? May he was killing two birds with one stone on this hat. Re-do a hat for himself and see what his new liner looks like.

yeah...I guess.

Lets not push the guy to give up hat making any sooner than he is. I don't about you of you but I would like to see Steve making hats as long as possible . He he doesn't get some time off or do some things with hats that are fun he will snap.

Couldn't have said it better myself, BendingOak. Steve deserves to have some free time. If he decides to spend it making a hat for himself, that's fine.

btw, that's a great looking hat, Steve. Always a pleasure to see your work. :junior: -M

also like the idea of the embroidered logo. What that ever common in hats? I thought that the logo was ALWAYS printed in.

Oh, yes, some of the vintage Stetsons came with this exact same sort of liner. That is where the idea for this came from. The first one I saw was in a vintage clear nutria Stetson that I bought on ebay a few years ago. I immediately loved it, and embroidery won't wear off as a stamped logo will. So, I figured, with the price increase I recently had, I would upgrade the liner. And, it pays homeage to the original HJ liner in blue and gold that was in the Raiders fedora.

Sorry but...You're working on your own hats and you're backed up over a year??

Now that is FUNNY, and I don't care who you are. I have yet to have time to make myself a CS fedora........but pulling this old Stetson with sweat still in the hat over my new block was done on my break(I do get to take breaks-right? ) and took all of 10 minutes. And, I wanted to see what the new liner looked like in a hat......so.... I killed two birds with one stone. Pretty economical use of time I would say. I got to see what the new block would yield as well as seeing how the liner looked in a hat. Plus, I could have been lazily satisfied with my old Raiders block, but you apparently don't know how nutty I am!!! Since my customers benefit from my quest, I think it is time well worth spent.

That looks absolutely perfect Steve! Would you ever consider re-blocking a 30yr old 10x Beaver Brand on that block of yours?

One day I MAY have the time, but currently I don't. I limit myself to just ABs these days.

I love the embroidered liner. Is that an option on your ABs?

Yes, I love it as well. Very classy looking, and it has the right theme for these hats. I will use these liners on the CS fedoras for now, once I get them in, and later on all my hats once the staff of ra headpiece is used up. Until the old ones are used up, I will put the staff of ra in the Raiders fedoras, and the new liner in the CS fedora.

That white gizmo is the same as the one with Swales at HJ... What's it for Fedora? How does vintage Stetson felt compare to vintage HJ?

The white object behind the hat? Thats the top part of a Jiffy Steamer. This vintage Stetson is pure beaver, so there is a difference in felt to the vintage HJ. I have had this vintage 10x for many years and pulled it out just to try out the new block. Turned out so nicely that am wearing it now.

so that's natural dust on her then?

No, that'st Fuller's Earth, natural color.

Regards,Fedora

Steve that looks amazing! Great liner as well...I can't wait for mine!

Can I just say:
I haven't even finished saying up my pennies to even ORDER my AB and even knowing that it means I won't have my hat in hand for another year and a half, I, for one would just like to say...
Please, Steve... DO take a little break every so often, man! We all like you as the very level-headed (and SANE) guy you are!
Good God, man... if I lived a little closer to you I'd take you out for a beer every once in a while just to get you away from the block for a breath of fresh air...
(and NOT just to bribe you)
(and even if it meant that every hour you spent catching your breath meant an extra day of waiting)
Your a Master Craftsman... grab a cold drink every now and again and just take a second to pat yourself on the back! God knows the rest of us would.
Alright, that's it from me... (I'm concerned I'm just one more butt-kiss away from Steve thinking I'm flirting with him.)
All the Best,
MLR

Looks like a wonderful hat inside and out and I'll bet it has seen an adventure or two!

Love the new liner, Steve. Having it embroidered is a super nice touch with a great nod to the days of old.

My hope was to get the old liner in my first hat (got it) and the new liner in my Traveler Gray. Sounds like my plan is working!

Looks great Steve!

I was especially enthused hearing about the new embroidered liner being used initially on all CS Fedoras. I will continue to be patient. I will continue to be patient.....

Matt

Fedora, Will Marc also be using this new liner on CS hats?