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Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:49 pm
by Holt
I have been searching for 4 years now without any luck and just recently I finally found one from the early 1900. maby late 1800's


here it is...

just pulled it of the block and gave it a quick bash. I only had a 2 minute tango with it and it brings out a very awesome Raiders look. Very Raven bar / well of souls look and with alittle more heavy tweaking I am sure it brings out the best SOC look ever I think.


Image

Re: vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:53 pm
by Adventure Dog
Not only do you know how to make a hat have the right shape, you know how to photograph it!
The hat looks great, especially for a quick tango with it! I love those first two pictures! They really show off the nice "Seagull" shape of the top of the hat!

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:23 pm
by iwantamorganreelbad1
:tup: Iwantamorganreelbad1 likes this.

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:38 pm
by Indiana Bugs
Beauty. I love the shape.

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:05 pm
by Dr. Nebraska S.
Eric, your skills with Indy hats never cease to amaze me! Well done! :clap: :clap: :clap:

:TOH: Best wishes,
NS

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:25 pm
by Local Land Surveyor
Nice, Holt. Very Nice. :tup:
Dittos what Nebraska said. You definitely have the eye for the Raiders hat bash style and what angles instantly work as a frame of reference. That appears to be a good block to work a hat on.

LLS

pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:35 pm
by Dalexs
Very nice.
Out of curiosity, are there any numbers stamped on the block?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:38 pm
by parttime
Very nice! Well done :tup: :tup:

-Dusty

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:47 pm
by binkmeisterRick
Dalexs wrote:Very nice.
Out of curiosity, are there any numbers stamped on the block?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
666.

Oh, wait, those are the numbers on the back of his head. :lol:

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:47 pm
by fifthchamber
Great job mate..

That shape looks spot on for what I see in the scenes you mention...Impressive work! :TOH:

pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:52 pm
by lantzn
What brand of hat is that? I can't believe how nice it came out!

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:45 pm
by akasha1963
Looks awesome. WIsh I could send you my hat to reblock.

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:33 am
by Bdgsi11
Man, that hat is beautiful! :notworthy: Excellent job, Holt. Your skills with these hats always amaze me every time. :TOH:

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:20 am
by darthbish
NICE......
any chance of some pics of the block??

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:45 am
by Ian
That's fantastic!! Well done dude!!..Mine's in the post to you.. ;)

Is that your Fed?

Ian

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:14 am
by APL
That is cool, can we see the block and some specs? I'm interested to know more. Thanks!

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:12 pm
by Holt
Thanks guys! :TOH:

I think this block is nearly identical to what the raiders block was. it just looks so right from every angle. I am extremely picky with the blocks and have sent back a few that was not quite right to what I was looking for. like I said, 4 years, it's been a long road to get there but now I finally have it now.

I will post pictures of the block soon. Just came home from shooting a silent film. I'm tired. Anyways, the block is very old and it looks old. cracks everywhere.


pics soon :TOH:

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:22 pm
by Holt
lantzn wrote:What brand of hat is that? I can't believe how nice it came out!

Just my fed4 :TOH:

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 4:42 pm
by kwad
Holt,

You really have put that old Akubra through the ringer and it just keeps getting better looking! :tup:

-Kevin

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:44 pm
by Solent MKIII
Whoah! :o Excellent reblock! :clap: That sucker just screams Raven bar. Great job on finding the block - I think the wait was well worth it. Image

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:58 pm
by darthbish
Holt wrote:Thanks guys! :TOH:

I think this block is nearly identical to what the raiders block was. it just looks so right from every angle. I am extremely picky with the blocks and have sent back a few that was not quite right to what I was looking for. like I said, 4 years, it's been a long road to get there but now I finally have it now.

I will post pictures of the block soon. Just came home from shooting a silent film. I'm tired. Anyways, the block is very old and it looks old. cracks everywhere.


pics soon :TOH:
That'd be excellent….
I dunno about anyone else, but I find that there's often a bit of a 'cabal' like attitude to sharing details of blocks here, so a few a pics, and measurements would be GREAT Holt.
I'm sure many of us would appreciate them.
Thanks :)

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:42 am
by Holt
an update..

I snapped a few more pictures of it. I have tweaked it some more but not much. I haven't had the time and quiet frankly I don't think it's needed. not with this block. I'll maby just see what time does with it..

EDIT

and the siluette of the fedora compared to mine. in this shot you really can the the reverse tapere of Indy's hat. (I flipped my picture to compare with Indy's)

Image

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:19 am
by Hollowpond
Just seeing this now...GREAT job Eric!!!!! Look forward to seeing pics of the block. :TOH:

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:08 am
by Holt
EDIT.

NEW PICTURES WILL COME.

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:18 am
by Ian
Looks spot on especially on the first 2 shots. That block looks very straight sided. Did you tighten the ribbon for the reverse taper or is that just how it settles after removal from the block?
You've a very good eye dude!

Ian

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:51 am
by Chiliana Jones
awesome Holt!
think about it: maybe it's THE hatblock that HJ used for the original raiders hat you got there. you'll never know ;)


regards


CJ

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:52 am
by Holt
the thought has crossed my mind my friend ;)

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:30 am
by Holt
Who knows. maby this is THE real thing? probbaly not but maby it's little brother?

remember, I did not bash it to look like a specfic scene hat. I just gave it a quick bash and it turned out like this...

EDIT

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:32 am
by APL
Holt wrote:Who knows. maby this is THE real thing? probbaly not but maby it's little brother?

remember, I did not bash it to look like a specfic scene hat. I just gave it a quick bash and it turned out like this...

Image
Wow, I can't believe how spot on that is! Nice job!!

Re: pulled my hat of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:48 am
by Holt
Front view of the Raiders hat.

pretty awesome and spot on to me.


Image

Re: A product of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:30 pm
by Mitch LaRue
Simply outstanding!
:notworthy:

Exceptional work, Holt!
:TOH:

Re: A product of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:48 pm
by Mulceber
I think the real question here, Holt, is "when are you going to open your own hat shop?" You consistently produce perfect Raiders hats. -M

Re: A product of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:59 pm
by Holt
lol. ;)

Re: A product of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:31 pm
by Pwrsrce
Ok...I know I'm the new guy...(guilty as charged)...

But that is AMAZING!

The likeness to the screen used hat is pretty uncanny. Very nice!

Jason

Re: A product of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:52 pm
by IndyFan71
This thread reminded me of a question I'd forgotten to ask in the past when I was trying to look for a block to reform my own tapered lid. Out of both curiousity and ignorance, is there an unwritten rule that folks shouldn't share thier block information or make a mold to share with the community?

It seems a boon to share in this hobby, but I can understand the money side as well. What's the "unwritten" on the subject?

Thanks,

Indyfan71

Re: A product of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:33 pm
by Mulceber
I think people typically don't share it, but that's only because most of the people who have these hat blocks are in the hatmaking business, and so it would be giving away a trade secret.
Holt wrote:lol. ;)
You act like I'm joking. ;) iirc, you're in Europe, aren't you Holt? There'd definitely be a market for you there, as it seems like the only Indy Hats Europeans regularly have access to are Advintage, AB Deluxe and the Fed IV...not to mention HJ :rolling:

Something to think about. I'm no expert, but I think you could definitely make a business out of it if you wanted. -M

Re: A product of a vintage hat block

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:27 pm
by darthbish
Mulceber wrote:I think people typically don't share it, but that's only because most of the people who have these hat blocks are in the hatmaking business, and so it would be giving away a trade secret.-M
All the more reason why it's nice to see some pics from Holt :) ..(although some bigger ones and measurements would be great too)..

I, and I'm sure a few others, would love to have a go at making their own Block, and lets be realistic here....I doubt anyone of us would be lurking around just waiting for that ideal photo, so we could give up our dayjobs, go to all the effort/time/expense/RISK etc of starting out own business and RULE the hatmaking world.......with one style of hat :[

I would never expect the guys from Adventurbilt or Penman Hats to show their block....They've put a lot of work into their creations and they're rightly theirs, but a find like this should be shared for everyone to see...IMHO that is. :TOH:

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:06 am
by Forrest For the Trees
Astonishing results! Where did you find the block, Holt?

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 8:26 am
by Indiana Greg
#52 block? did'ja leave the sweat & ribbon in place? GREAT JOB!

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:25 pm
by Holt
the latest..

gave it alittle spin and voila!

Image

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:50 pm
by Indiana Bugs
Outstanding!

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:56 pm
by Bdgsi11
Looks great! Love the camel humps. :tup: how were you able to form them, if ya don't mind me asking?

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:03 pm
by Holt
no of course not. but the answer is simple,.. it's the block. it gives that extra Raiders magic and if you tweak it right it brings it out. I tried to get the same 'humps' with christies hat or the fed when I first got it and I couldn't bring it out like this...

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:46 pm
by Bdgsi11
I absolutely love it! Great job, holt for sourcing such a brilliantly accurate block! :TOH:

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:34 pm
by darthbish
Holt wrote:no of course not. but the answer is simple,.. it's the block. it gives that extra Raiders magic and if you tweak it right it brings it out. I tried to get the same 'humps' with christies hat or the fed when I first got it and I couldn't bring it out like this...
That's great :)

Any pics/details??

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:29 am
by Holt
here is alittle better picture of the gear and the hat.

(picture flipped back to normal)
Image

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:48 am
by Ian
Amazing dude. It looks nothing like a fed to me at all.
How hard did you work this to get it to a completely different shape? Looks like you just used the fed as a raw body. Again, amazing work dude. :clap:

Ian
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:57 am
by Holt
thanks.

it's just what I did. took one of my old feds. soaked it. took of the ribbon and use it only as a raw body to make a new hat out of it. then I turned it, bashed it and tweaked the details.

I'm really thinking of doing this to HJ's little brother. the hornet.

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:08 am
by Ian
You reckon the felt would take it?

Ian

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk

Re: Raiders hat by a vintage block

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:11 am
by Holt
I hope so..

I have an old one laying around in my closet somewhere....