Club Obi Wan

Hey guys,

I recently picked up a vintage Herbert Johnson (circa 1950s) Fedora. And I'm thinking about having a little work done to it. There is a small hole at the pinch where that I'd like to have patched. I also was thinking of replacing the ribbon with something that matched Indy's, and if possible, I was wondering if I could/should have it re-blocked.

What do you guys think?

Any help would be appreciated.

-best

Dan

Not really anything you can do about the hole. I would contact Mr. Penman for the work if you want it Indy looking, otherwise I would call Optimo in Chicago. But the hole might make it difficult for any substantial work to be done.

I would defer to the experts on reblocking, but I would think tearing the weakened area is a risk.

At the risk of drawing a lot of disagreement, you CAN sort of patch (or at least reinforce) the hole and surrounding area if the hole is fairly small.

I still have my grandfather's old Stetson Open Road (his gardening hat) which I used as a camping hat when I was in the Boy Scouts. It developed a small hole which I patched by gluing a small triangular piece of chamois (yes - the stuff we used to dry cars with before they invented microfiber) inside the crown behind the hole. I remember using either rubber cement or clear silicone. (very light coating on the chamois - afraid it would soak through). It won't be perfect, of course, but it won't get worse either (which was really what I wanted to accomplish.) 40 years later it's still there and the hole isn't really noticeable. It's more like a small depression in the top of the front pinch.

Admittedly, the hat hasn't seen much wear in the past 15 years or so, but it was still my regular camping hat well into my 30s, which was close to 20 years after the repair.

An HJ from the 50s? Let's see some pictures.

Beyond that, I'd hesitate making any changes to a vintage hat. Unless it is in desperate need of a cleaning/refurb, leave it as is and enjoy it for the find it is. Finding any decent vintage hat is getting harder and harder.

Concerning the hole, it depends on how big the hole is. Other members here have had success in applying patches similar to what Ridgerunner58 did. Here's a thread that has some good suggestions. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27409&hilit=patch+hole" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Indiana Jeff wrote:An HJ from the 50s? Let's see some pictures.

Beyond that, I'd hesitate making any changes to a vintage hat. Unless it is in desperate need of a cleaning/refurb, leave it as is and enjoy it for the find it is. Finding any decent vintage hat is getting harder and harder.

Concerning the hole, it depends on how big the hole is. Other members here have had success in applying patches similar to what Ridgerunner58 did. Here's a thread that has some good suggestions. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27409&hilit=patch+hole" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

you LINKED to a thread with no pics..

Yeah, the pics are gone, but the information on how members repaired their hats is still there. An option is to contact the members that originally posted pictures and ask them to send something via PM.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Thanks do much guys. The hole is small And is a wear line on the pinch rather than a round hole. The hat needs a new lining and band. So I'll contact the guys you've suggested for help. I'm not looking to do a full conversion. Just a preservation with an Indy flare.

Anakin Starkiller wrote:Thanks do much guys. The hole is small And is a wear line on the pinch rather than a round hole. The hat needs a new lining and band. So I'll contact the guys you've suggested for help. I'm not looking to do a full conversion. Just a preservation with an Indy flare.

If the hole is small, you may be able to kind of jury rig a solution, BUT, if you plan on having any work done to the that, I would do that first before trying the solution below, as the repair would most likely NOT hold up to the reblocking process:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthre ... pair/page2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;