Club Obi Wan

I recently acquired a Moonstone Fed IV from Michaelson.....Traded him an Akubra Camp Draft in "Tawny Fawn" for it.

The hat arrived open crown, and I thought I'd take a stab at bashing it. I have an older Fed III that I bashed some years back, but that's really the only bashing experience I have.

I was going for the Venice Pier look from Last Crusade, but just wasn't able to get the look I was hoping for, so I contacted John (Bending Oak) at Penman Hats and he bashed it for me. It arrived today, and I'm thrilled with it....It looks just the way I wanted it to.

Here are a few pictures that John took before he shippied it back to me.

My thanks to Michaelson for the trade and to John for the wonderful job he did with the bash!

Looks great. I can vouch for John's bashing skills. Was gonna go for a Moonstone Fed IV before seeing pictures of John's work.
I have a Fed III Deluxe that needs a little TLC. Think I'll look into having John work his magic on it.

Marty

Glad I could do it, and the Campdraft is already on the head of ANOTHER deserving individual who had no fedora....so it worked out all the way 'round.

Well, maybe not for me...but... ;-)

Regards Michaelson

I gotta get one of these Fed 4s... I like the shorter crown. Great bash!

I have my brown FedIV with John for a rebash, though I'm going to go for the Marlo style. I'm eager to see how it turns out! ;-)

Ahhh, Venice! Nice hat. I say you chose wisely.

Are the crowns on the Fed IVs shorter than typical Indy hats? I own an AB Henry so that's all I have to compare one to...

Good grief, Frosty. That was two years ago. What are you doing rooting around in the cellar?

That Moonstone was the prototype.

Regards! Michaelson

It looks great! John has great bashing skills.

That is a great looking bash on the moonstone FedIV!
And also, Frosty has great Thread Necromancy skills!

Joe

I thought we were supposed to "dig up" information here?

My 2-year old FedIV is still stiffer than a corpse and I can't get that deep of dents into it.

So should I go spray bottle or steam?

I wear a 62 with some foam pads in the sides.

jkdbuck76 wrote:My 2-year old FedIV is still stiffer than a corpse and I can't get that deep of dents into it.

So should I go spray bottle or steam?

I wear a 62 with some foam pads in the sides.

Is that typical of thier newer offerings? I am thinking of picking up a moonstone but don't want to fight with stiff felt.

generalFROSTY wrote:

jkdbuck76 wrote:My 2-year old FedIV is still stiffer than a corpse and I can't get that deep of dents into it.

So should I go spray bottle or steam?

I wear a 62 with some foam pads in the sides.

Is that typical of thier newer offerings? I am thinking of picking up a moonstone but don't want to fight with stiff felt.

I've seen on this board that they are less stiff these days. Somebody even posted pics here in the fedora forum. I just can't remember.

Comes to show how important the crease is to get the Indy look. Any hat with a decent Indy block shape will pull off the look with a good Indy crease. Take a hat with a great Indy block and put a horrible Indy crease in it and it will not look good. That Federation looks great. Enjoy it!

Dave

jkdbuck76 wrote:So should I go spray bottle or steam?

I think you need one or the other to put a good bash into a Fed IV. I use water. No danger of overheating the hat. I use distilled water in a spray bottle.

I bashed mine with no water at all...(Fed IV regular), it's kept a perfect shape and was fairly easy to fold, so I'd suggest water only if it really doesn't want to take shape for you...Without the water it workd fine for me, so I'd start from dry and use water as and when you feel it's needed..
I don't have any pictures of mine except the ones up on Facebook, but people are all welcome to join as mates there, I'm down under Benjamin Sharples.. ( fifthchamber@hotmail.com ) and just mention C.O.W. and I'll let you on my list!
Regards..

And no, it's not as nice a bash as John's....(I love the down-angle on the top creases..Perfect..I'll have to try harder..)

generalFROSTY wrote:

jkdbuck76 wrote:My 2-year old FedIV is still stiffer than a corpse and I can't get that deep of dents into it.

So should I go spray bottle or steam?

I wear a 62 with some foam pads in the sides.

Is that typical of thier newer offerings? I am thinking of picking up a moonstone but don't want to fight with stiff felt.

I've had one for about a year now in regular....The crown isn't stiff at all, but the brim is...If I was buying one based on what I know now, I'd splash out the extra for the deluxe version - I've got the deluxe in brown and I think the extra dosh is worth it.

Ian

Ian,
If I may, is the Deluxe that different in terms of softness then? I have been kind of looking for a reason to think about another order, and although the Fed IV Reg is the best hat I own, it's a little strong (as you say) in the brim especially...I'd like to see how different the two were and was considering aiming for the Deluxe in dark Brown this time as opposed to black..
Is it different enough to warrant the cash do you think?
All the best..

And I 'know' you're going to say it IS...
I'm more wondering what justification I can give to my girlfriend for it..LOL
She's less accepting than I am of "stiff brim weaknesses"....
Heh..

fifthchamber wrote:And I 'know' you're going to say it IS...
I'm more wondering what justification I can give to my girlfriend for it..LOL
She's less accepting than I am of "stiff brim weaknesses"....
Heh..

I see your point....The deluxe version is floppier and the felt just feels and looks better. It's never been stiff even straight out of the box. Can't say I noticed any difference in the pounce though. Also, the deluxe seemed to accept the bash more easily than the regular....Oh, and the felt seems slightly thicker in the deluxe version.....

I guess it's an accumulation of small details that add up to a big difference...

That said though, you might as well accept that your hat journey is heading towards getting a custom...

Ian

LOL.....Ian,
Mate, I accepted my fate in that regard a looong time ago...LOL..I've asked Steve to help me work something ideal for me out, so we'll see what happens when that happens!
And yeah, I'd like another one of the Fed's though...I think they hold up very well in both styling and substance, so they're great for back-up hats to the custom that will come later...If you see what I'm thinking?
I've got a black, the custom is brown and more Indy-like (satisfying my gear-head side) and perhaps a grey would even out the balance and stop my missus from yelling at me too much?
Oh...And don't tell her about this site, or it'll go down as "pre-meditated buying" and I'll get "life without parole"..

Be strong dude!!

Ian

I tried...
She started sleeping with her back to me...
I gave up.

I like hats...And I love my feds....But I KNOW my limitations....

And now, before this gets too off-topic.....
Moonstone....In deluxe...Why not?

Defo deluxe....I'll say it again, but I really wish I'd bought the moonstone deluxe over the regular....I never wear my moonstone..

Ian

This is a Moonstone:

You had razor blades for breakfast VP?... Is it a deluxe version?

Ian

This is a Moonstone:

Hahah...Crown is waaaaaay too low for me I think....
And it looks kinda stiff...
Maybe I should just stick to the Regular Fed IV eh?

fifthchamber wrote:

This is a Moonstone:

Hahah...Crown is waaaaaay too low for me I think....
And it looks kinda stiff...
Maybe I should just stick to the Regular Fed IV eh?

.. Like I said, the felt is a little heavier in the deluxe version...

Ian

Hahaha...
Yeah...I'll have to think about it and work a way to pay for shipping...Looks a little over 10kgs...Should only set me back a ton or so?
.....On a serious note...
The amount of time I spent changing disks and waiting for the dials to turn makes me glad I lived to see PS3...Heh...(And yeah, I'm still waiting for a good version of Indy for that...Look what they could do for Batman!)

generalFROSTY wrote:I thought we were supposed to "dig up" information here?

To a point, yes.....but as I said, you're making observations and coming to conclusions looking at photos of a prototype hat that didn't have the final tweaks in the design.

Regards! Michaelson

Aha! But my observations were truthful albeit too late.

I have a regular moonstone. I'm gobsmacked about how soft and floppy it is. As an Akubra I have nothing to compare it to other than my brown Fed IV regular. In comparison they are crazy different(other than colour, of course). I think they may have sent me a "deluxe" on accident. My brown one is stiff as can be after more than a year, whereas my moonstone will fold in a strong wind.

Arch Stanton wrote:I have a regular moonstone. I'm gobsmacked about how soft and floppy it is. As an Akubra I have nothing to compare it to other than my brown Fed IV regular. In comparison they are crazy different(other than colour, of course). I think they may have sent me a "deluxe" on accident. My brown one is stiff as can be after more than a year, whereas my moonstone will fold in a strong wind.

If they have it should have deluxe printed on the 'sweat' and 'heritage' on the liner..

Ian

I have an early Tawny Fawn Fed IV. It is still rather stiff.

I was not able to get the crease the way I wanted it until I wore it to a football game in the rain. I adjusted my crease while it was wet and it has stayed exactly that way ever since. Over two years now.

Matt

So after what I'm hearing here, I am willing to wager that the first Fed IV's had a boatload of stiffener in them and the later ones do not.

Is that a fair statement?

Yep.