Club Obi Wan

does anyone know of a place to buy a tollicker?
thanx!!!
Charlie

Pardon my ignorance (which knows no bounds), but what the what is a tollicker?


Travis

It's a hatter's tool used to form and cut the proper form of the brim. It's curved to rest against the crown of the hat while dried but still on the block. It has a blade on the opposite end.

As far as I know, eBay might be your best bet.

Do a search for Marc de coup. A artisan who made my new rounding jack, and also is making hatter tools for many hatters. Fedora

binkmeisterRick wrote:It's a hatter's tool used to form and cut the proper form of the brim. It's curved to rest against the crown of the hat while dried but still on the block. It has a blade on the opposite end.

As far as I know, eBay might be your best bet.

Thanks

Sorry Bink, but a tolliker is not a rounding jack. There are numerious varieties of tollikers. I have one that defines the brim break. It has a brass edge that presses against the brim break(with arm power) and puts a nice sharp break in this area.(foot tolliker) Some tollikers are designed to curl the brim on the edge for homburgs. None of these tools have blades in them. The blade is in the rounding jack, or brim cutter.

Here are a variety of tollikers mixed in with other tools. The foot tolliker can be seen in the first pic, in the upper left hand corner. This is one kind. Mine has a brass plate on the bottom that does not wear out like the pure wood ones.

DOH! You're right, Steve. I'm getting my tools mixed up again. I need more coffee.

DOH! You're right, Steve. I'm getting my tools mixed up again. I need more coffee.

Oh, I knew you knew the difference! Without my two cups of java in the morning, I am useless!!

At least you never grabbed a rounding jack and forgot to set the width!! So, I ended up with a 1 1/2 inch brim on an Indy fedora!! Wasn't a pretty sight either. (I had just made a stingy brimmed vintage type hat with the tall crown and stingy brim and forgot to reset the rounding jack, probably because I started work before the two cups of coffee) Fedora

Fedora wrote:

DOH! You're right, Steve. I'm getting my tools mixed up again. I need more coffee.

Oh, I knew you knew the difference! Without my two cups of java in the morning, I am useless!!

At least you never grabbed a rounding jack and forgot to set the width!! So, I ended up with a 1 1/2 inch brim on an Indy fedora!! Wasn't a pretty sight either. (I had just made a stingy brimmed vintage type hat with the tall crown and stingy brim and forgot to reset the rounding jack, probably because I started work before the two cups of coffee) Fedora

ouch!!!

thanx for the responces, guys!!!
Charlie

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?li ... d=22496407

honestly, it would be pretty easy to make one of these. looks like a fun project actually. i've been meaning to make one for myself... i think part of the fun in learning how to make hats is making the tools and blocks! i made a simple rounding jack for myself and another one for Fedoraider recently.

here's the jack i made for Fedoraider:

Here is my new one I had made by Marc De coup. I also own a vintage one as a backup.



Marc even etched our logo on mine.

The brass thing on the left side is used to cut derby brims, once you screw out those adjusting screws. Derbies are dimensionally cut to, but, they have more brim on the side than the front and back, so reverse of the Indy cut. Fedora

De coup makes beautiful tools... just way too far out of my price range. especially when it's more fun just making it yourself. DIY!

De coup makes beautiful tools... just way too far out of my price range. especially when it's more fun just making it yourself. DIY!

I think the price is relative. The only other man who makes new rounding jacks is JW of JW Hats. He gets 750.00, for one! Or at one time he did. I paid 250.00 for the one above, and the craftmanship is astounding. He even used walnut as the wood, unlike many of the vintage jacks.

My vintage jack uses a blade that is no longer available, so I had to grind down exacto knife blades when I used it. A pain. This new one uses boxcutter blades, available everywhere.

All of the rounding jacks I have seen use the crescent to match up to the oval of the hat crown. It gives the cutter more control thereby helping to eliminate the "Jiggle" cuts.

I also own a brim cutter, as opposed to a rounding jack. Got it from B and L Products before they closed shop. It just snaps on the edge of the brim, and takes off 1/8 an inch. Comes in handy-sometimes, but I don't use it much. Nice to have it though.

The home made one above looks like it would work ok though. That's the important thing. Fedora

Fedora wrote:

De coup makes beautiful tools... just way too far out of my price range. especially when it's more fun just making it yourself. DIY!

I think the price is relative. The only other man who makes new rounding jacks is JW of JW Hats. He gets 750.00, for one! Or at one time he did. I paid 250.00 for the one above, and the craftmanship is astounding. He even used walnut as the wood, unlike many of the vintage jacks.

My vintage jack uses a blade that is no longer available, so I had to grind down exacto knife blades when I used it. A pain. This new one uses boxcutter blades, available everywhere.

All of the rounding jacks I have seen use the crescent to match up to the oval of the hat crown. It gives the cutter more control thereby helping to eliminate the "Jiggle" cuts.

I also own a brim cutter, as opposed to a rounding jack. Got it from B and L Products before they closed shop. It just snaps on the edge of the brim, and takes off 1/8 an inch. Comes in handy-sometimes, but I don't use it much. Nice to have it though.

The home made one above looks like it would work ok though. That's the important thing. Fedora

at this point in the hobby 250 bucks would far better be spent on ever elusive quality hat bodies.
i tried making the crescent match the oval of the hat at first but the radii on the hat blocks i've made aren't perfect cirlces so as the arc on the block changes so did the depth of the brim cut. i abandoned trying to match a common radius because if found that by using two contact points relatively close together it solved that problem. as it allows the blade to stay at a uniform distance continuously around the body and prevents any pivoting, so long as you are careful.

i tried contacting JW a while back about buying hat bodies and had no luck at all. and there is a message on his site mentioning something about selling the business.

i would love to be able to visit your shop one day and admire all your tools. you are a wealth of knowledge Steve, thanks for all the info you share around here!

Just a question. What are you willing..or better yet...what do you want to pay for a rounding jack?

I have made a few in the last year or so.

Regards,

Ohio

Ohio Jones wrote:Just a question. What are you willing..or better yet...what do you want to pay for a rounding jack?

I have made a few in the last year or so.

Regards,

Ohio

the one's i've made function perfectly fine so i'm not in need of one currently. if i wanted, i could make a copy of a vintage one like De coup has done but i opted to experiment instead. a cheap and easy variation. Fedora is right in saying the price is relative, it's just that i needed one and financially 250 bucks is a large amount for me to dedicate on something i wouldn't use all that often. it was more practical to spend a few hours and little money making my own. when it comes down to it I just like making things for myself. especially wooden things. My Father's a woodworker, grandfather was a woodworker... runs in the blood.

I'd spend 250 bucks for one if i was a professional hatter as it would be used all the time. I'm sure the ones you've made are beautiful and very well made.

I'm have moved to the mind set a long time ago of buy quality ounce and you will never have to buy again. I hate spending money on products ( to save a few bucks) that are just good enough and then you end up buying again to replace that item time and time again.
I went to Mark like the AB guys to get a some of my tools.

here my rounding jack.