Club Obi Wan

Forgive me if my hat terminology is off, as I'm not an expert in the fedora section I just wanted advice from you pros about whether I should be concerned about my fedora, and if it needs a reblock?

My gray has something that has been bothering my lately, and I'm not sure if this is supposed to be normal. The part where the brim meets the ribbon, it has an unbroken curve. I'm not sure if this is normal, or if I'm just used to brand-new hats, but my other ABs all have 'edges' where ribbon meets brim. I've included an illustration at the end of this post to better explain what I mean.

The curve is just unbroken in such a way, that the ribbon can be easily slid up or down. Should I get it reblocked? Please note that in the illustration below, the ribbon is in no way drawn to scale



*Note: Figure A. represents what I assume to be a normal curve, while Figure B. represents the 'unbroken' curve.

That happens when the brim break is not properly set in. You don't get that nice 90 degree angle between the crown and the brim. Instead, you get a gradual slope up the crown. A reblock would straighten that out, but that is one of the characteristics of the SoC hat, though with a grey hat, I don't think that look works so great. If it is bothering you, as it would me, send it off to John Penman. He'll fix 'er right up.

Dave

You could only need the hat flanged. Is it happening to the front?sides?or back of the hat? Can you post a pic like you did the drawing?

Probably needs the sweat stitching dropped lower too, if it is an AB. That is the cause of the loss of brim break definition. All the CS hats had the high stitches to give the hat some loss of brim break, at least that was my intent. Works well if there isn't much shellac in the brim. So, just gave away a secret, on how to get a relaxed brim break, over time, with beaver felt. Otherwise, forget about the relaxation, if you install sweats in the "right manner". The tension created by the higher stitches, over time relaxes the brim break, WHICH is what most Indy fans look for. But, you don't. There is always one in every crowd. Kidding you here, so don't take offense. Gosh, I hate to tell my secrets! And that was a pretty big one there. Oh well, may as well share it, as after Indy 5, I am out of full time hatmaking. Fedora

Thank you for the responses everyone! Dr Ulloa and Fedora, thank you both for helping clarify the situation immensely! All part of the master plan to steal Steve's secrets! Mwahahaha! Kidding, of course!

I just wasn't too sure if the loss of brim break was intentional or not, but I suppose it is. And Fedora, it is indeed an AB, a gray KotCS travel hat, to be exact! Out of curiousity though, did Ford's gray fedora also have the high stitches? I ask because I'm not sure if my eyes decieve me, as I always thought that the gray AB you made for Ford had a brim break.

And not to forget BendingOak! In response to your questions Oak, the only thing that is affected is the front, as the sides and back look normal to me. I'm not sure if I should post a picture though, as I think Ulloa and Fedora both hit the nail on the hat.

Castor Dioscuri wrote:Thank you for the responses everyone! Dr Ulloa and Fedora, thank you both for helping clarify the situation immensely! All part of the master plan to steal Steve's secrets! Mwahahaha! Kidding, of course!

I just wasn't too sure if the loss of brim break was intentional or not, but I suppose it is. And Fedora, it is indeed an AB, a gray KotCS travel hat, to be exact! Out of curiousity though, did Ford's gray fedora also have the high stitches? I ask because I'm not sure if my eyes decieve me, as I always thought that the gray AB you made for Ford had a brim break.

And not to forget BendingOak! In response to your questions Oak, the only thing that is affected is the front, as the sides and back look normal to me. I'm not sure if I should post a picture though, as I think Ulloa and Fedora both hit the nail on the hat.

Knowing that it's the front I would agree with Fedora. The snap down is the first to go.


Steve,

Out of curiousity though, did Ford's gray fedora also have the high stitches? I ask because I'm not sure if my eyes decieve me, as I always thought that the gray AB you made for Ford had a brim break.

Oh yeah, every hat for the film had this manner of installing the sweats. It was intentional, as I knew what would happen in most cases over time. The thing is, with the gray hat, it wasn't worn much. Then the first gray hat got really wet because it raned when Ford was first there. The second gray hat is seen in the cafe, and Bernie probably used it because after the first gray hat got wet, it should have seen some loss of defintion in the brim break. I think if you look at some of the brown CS hats in the film, you will see some relaxing occuring. But I never looked, and Bernie was really fussy, so he may have worked to keep the well defined break intact, not sure. It was my attempt at bringing back a sort of SOC look, in so far as beaver will lend that look. Not sure that it worked, on the brim break, but it did work on another area. But only really sharp and skilled hatters will see the other effect of this method. I think I may keep that a secret though. Unless it becomes an issue. When Lee Keppler got his CS from me, his first question was, how'd you get the brim to do that? So, Lee, if you are reading this, now you know!!!

I did 2 major things in constructing the film hats. I have told you folks of this one, but there is one more that I won't share. It is top secret, and makes the CS the CS. I won't ever get any complaints on it though, so no reason to ever tell it! But when you compare the CS to any other fedora, a copy, it won't be completely accurate without using what I did. And is only on the brown hats, not the gray. Fedora