Club Obi Wan

Steve can probably answer this for me.

How long does it take a rabbit felt hat to "die"? I.e., become taper proof, and stop reacting to wet and dry.

I heard it was about 7 years, but I'm not sure on that one.

As soon as you take it out back and put it out of its misery!

Sorry, I just had to!

ahhh.......bunny skins drying over my Papa's barbed-wire fence....

Memories..

Magno wrote:Steve can probably answer this for me.

How long does it take a rabbit felt hat to "die"? I.e., become taper proof, and stop reacting to wet and dry.

I heard it was about 7 years, but I'm not sure on that one.

I believe it's about 8 years for beaver felt to "die", so I'm guessing rabbit will be the same. Maybe...

By the way, I like you avatar

Gotta love the Rocketteer.

Dave

Thanks! I really thought it was perfect.

Looks like I've got a ways to go before I can ditch the block.

MY Fed Deluxe is four and a half, and has turned really nice and stiff since I reblocked it two weeks ago. Maybe rigor has set in?

Actually Marc told me about the amount of time it takes for fur to die a natural death. And, I can't recall exactly how many years that was.

Back in the old days of hatting, the furs were aged prior to being used in felting a hat. The aging stabilized the fur, and added a mellowness. Think of a vintage Borsalino.

Today, this is no longer done. So, all hats are made with "green fur" and all of the aging has to occur "after" felting. This is not so good.

Marc and I have a little technique he learned about from an old retired hatter in Europe, that adds a little age to the fur artificially. But this requires the hats to stay on the blocks a very long time, which adds to our lead times. It does not replace natural aging, but does help stabilize the fur more so, than if we did not do it.

But with that said, the best hats are made from aged fur, whether it is rabbit, beaver or Buffalo! And of course, this is no longer used in modern felt factories. Sad. Fedora

Did the old use of mercury (no longer used) help in the aging process in times past, Steve?

Regards! Michaelson

You don't know that Michaelson ?

This is what I found on the web:
In times past, a mercury solution was commonly used in the felting process. Mercury nitrate was used in processing the animal hair that is used in making felt.
It caused the fibers of the fur to separate from the pelt and to mat together more readily. This is called "carroting"

Actually I did not even know that a hat could die.
So another question : does reblocking bring the felt to life? (with the use of steam).

Regards!

Nico

as far as i understand......the more reblocks you do, the further you kill the felt.

hmmmmm......steve, where can i go buy a gallon of mercury?

I know you are kidding, but...

I have a pint-size mason jar full of mercury on my desk right now! If you want this shipped, the cost by weight would be astronomical. A gallon would weight about 113 pounds as opposed to a gallon of water at 8.34 pounds. That little 16 ounce jar must weigh about 15 pounds. Amazing stuff if you do not ingest it, absorb it through the skin or heat it and sniff it.

I would like to throw this out there, but wouldn't the death of the felt have some relation to how the hat was treated as it was "dying?" What I mean is, wouldn't a hat that has been rained on, worn in the sun and reblocked 10 times be considered more "dead" than one that was exactly the same age and kept on the closet shelf? I would think that the continuous stretching and shrinking of the felt - along with the loss of the natural oils and moisture would accelerate felt death.

I doubt it is possible to say that there is a life expectancy. It depends on fur blend, treatment, thickess, etc...

Nicolas Jones wrote:You don't know that Michaelson ?

Yes, I knew it.

I was giving Steve an opening to give folks the information as a professional hatter. You messed up the whole thing, Nick.


Regards! Michaelson

Well, you could always demonstrate "killing felt" on Nick.

Chill out BinkmeisterRick!

No one is going to kill my felt! NO WAY!

Regards

Nicolas

rick, shipping is no problem as i use my company's fedex account. fire it over my way so i can play with it.......so do i just dump it on my hat...is that the idea???....i figure when i'm not using it i can keep it in a plastic yogurt tub next to my dog's water bowl........

Ehm, you guys know that mercury is extremely poisonous? well, mercury vapours are. "Mad as a hatter" refers to the early stages of mercury poisoning: you go mad. After that you'll just die.

Regards, Geert

I think they know, gwyddion, they're just having some fun

-KB

gwyddion wrote:Ehm, you guys know that mercury is extremely poisonous? well, mercury vapours are.

Way more than the vapors are poisonous although the mercury pollution typically starts out that way. Mercury is a Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxin. Mercury is released into the air from the burning of fossil fuels. It falls down directly onto waterways or is deposited on land where it can be washed into the water. Bacteria in the water cause chemical changes that transform mercury into a highly toxic form - methylmercury.

It contaminates many lakes and streams. Once it gets into organic tissue it is very difficult to remove it. So the little fish eats mercury containing plants; the bigger fish eats the little fish; the even bigger fish eats that fish. The final consumer eats the biggest fish. The bigger the fish the bigger the chances of mercury contamination through ingestion. So who says fish is healthy? But back to the fun...

Indiana G wrote:rick, shipping is no problem as i use my company's fedex account. fire it over my way so i can play with it.......so do i just dump it on my hat...is that the idea???....i figure when i'm not using it i can keep it in a plastic yogurt tub next to my dog's water bowl........

That would be great. I will ship that out immediately since my boss must not like cool shiny liquid metal. Can you believe that when I was playing with it at lunchtime by showing fellow employees how I can dip my sandwich into it and it does not get wet - he told me to cut it out? What a jerk. Anyways, if your dog starts to exhibit behavior like the T-1000 from Terminator 2, you will want to decrease the amount in the bowl next to the water bowl. He also may experience extreme weight gain.

Drats! my warning came too late great, all we needed: two more hatters

Regards, Geert