Hat Bashing Query

[soulman]

Hello all, I just got (off ebay) a hat from Northwest hats and it is very cool. Well made as seen in other posts here at the COW. It was however bashed in a very TOD fashion. Not bad, but not Raiders. So iv'e been tweaking it a little using light steam and it's sort of close to where I want it to be. My question is do we know how much reshaping a hat can take? This is one of the better hats iv'e been able to own and I dare not ruin it. I should add that iv'e literally had two panic attacks since iv'e started working with it because I stress over destroying it and having my wife go "told ya so!"

[Michaelson]

Keep in mind that all steam does is reactivate the stiffiner that was applied to the felt to hold the bash, allowing the felt to be more pliable to be reshaped.

Depending on how much stiffiner was applied, you may want to curtail the use of steam too much, as too much can, and will, cause the crown to taper.

That said, a good felt will take a ton of reshaping and handling, but I'd leave the final discussion to one of our hat makers to reply to. Just don't get too heavy handed with the steam. That's never a good idea.

Regards! Michaelson

[soulman]

Thanks for the input Michaelson. Thus far iv'e only used enough steam to make the felt pliable. I did attempt the Penman bash tutorial which worked well but I still have some work to do.

[Michaelson]

Slow and sure, and you'll get it where you want it to be.

The mistake folks make is trying to get one to 'move' in one fell swoop.

Sounds to me like you're doing it the right way. Just keep doing what you're doing and you should end up with something you are happy with.

Regards! M

[Chewbacca Jones]

One other bit of advice while you're tweaking. Avoid creating deep, sharp creases until you are ready to commit. Like the famous raiders front crease. Once that's in, it's tough to get out completely.

[soulman]

Whoops, I committed already . It looks fairly nice and is something I want in the hat. I'll go easier from here on in. I am by no means attempting to clone THE hat but I am more after nuances of the Raiders lid. So far it's not too bad and I intend to give it some attention this weekend. once done I'll try to post before and after pics.

[BendingOak]

If you want you can call me 971-246-1832 and I can talk you though it.

[soulman]

Awesome! I may just do that.

[soulman]

Mr. Penman, here are a few reference pictures. I figured it best for you to see where I'm at with regards to the hat before I call. I respect that all time is valuable and would rather not waste anyone's if I didn't have to. With the hat, I want to go Raiders with it save for the turn. I prefer my lid to be straight. I know I'm in the neighborhood so to speak but am eager to learn what else would you suggest.

Hat when it first arrived home...



After some LIGHT tweaking (a little deeper on the side dents, a little tighter on the top creases)



On my noggin...

[BendingOak]

I think your doing fine. Did you see my video on bashing a Raiders hat? Might not be a bad idea to view it a few times.

Looks like your center dent is a little spread too wide and the side creases are a tad too high. Going by the last couple shots.

[Ranging Robert]

That looks good to me, too...but then, I got a cowboy hat soaked today and reshaped the brim for the nth time. Hats are a work in progress for me-always redoing, fiddling and what not until I redo it all again. A good fur felt hat can always come back from a shaping error.

[soulman]

Here's where I'm at thus far. I think I'm 95% satisfied with the crown. I made the center crease tighter and lowered the side dents a touch. I have switched to using a very light mist of cold water as opposed to the steam and found that it seems to be a little bit easier to "mold" the hat. So, if we are on one accord that nothing further (aside from re-blocking the hat) can be done to get it as square as possible I'm off to tackle the brim. Thanks for all of your assistance thus far!!!

[Duck9000]

Looks great to me. Nice job and thanks for the pics!

[soulman]

Thank you, I'm rather liking this hat. Very comfortable to wear and seems well built. Mr. Penman, until I have a free moment to call. Allow me to thank you via this post for your help. You're quite the gentleman.

[BendingOak]

Thank you, I'm rather liking this hat. Very comfortable to wear and seems well built. Mr. Penman, until I have a free moment to call. Allow me to thank you via this post for your help. You're quite the gentleman.

Your very welcome. Feel free, any time.

[CRB]

Can you post a link to the bashing tutorial ? I got a brand new HJ this week and trying to shape it with little success. It seems to taper from the get go every time.

[zeus36]

Penman's Fedora Bash Videos:

Raiders Bash - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozJKQVCgeZ4

Last Crusade Bash - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6hq2sNrU4g

[Michaelson]

Probably not what you had in mind regarding 'bashing', right?