Club Obi Wan

Hello to All,

It has been a while since I have been on this Forum and I have spent a little time reading some of the old
conversations and watching some of the You Tube videos posted. The YouTube video that grabbed my attention
was the one where the guy took the Fedora apart and stuck it on a hat block that he claimed was a Steve Delk
hat block. I don't know if it was one of his hat blocks or not, but I use to send Steve emails talking about hat
making. Steve spent a lot of time studying the Raiders hat, he must have spent a year looking at that hat, he made
his own blocks, one of the items that he used when he made his hat blocks was Durham's Water putty, a smart
move if you think about it. Stove pipe shape and over 6" high. I believe that his knowledge of the Raiders Fedora
help a great deal when he was picked to make the Fedoras for the Crystal Skull. I bought one of his Crystal Skulls
Fedoras and I have never worn it, no one has, it is stored in a hat box. The hat was suppose to be beaver but it
is not marked as beaver. I know a lot of you are asking why haven't you worn the hat? Well Steve Delk was a
master at his craft, he created what I see as a master piece and I like it just the way it is, it is clean, no dust or
dirt. I think that Steve's illness kept him from filling all of the orders that he had for Fedoras.
His work is also a great learning tool, I have looked at it, checking out the ribbon, sweatband and liner, figuring
out how he stitched everything together. I followed his advise on making my hat block, cutting sweatbands
and stitching the ends together getting the "Z" stitching done right. I was really amazed when he told me to make
my hat block 24" oval shape, considering that I wear a 7 3/8" hat, the 24" oval worked out perfectly, my last hat
that I made fits me perfectly, I just need to find another place to buy a better sweatband.
I am thinking about making another hat right now, I just can't decide on the color, I know Sable is the color of
the Indy Fedoras, however the Clipper hat which was a steel grey, I think? I could be wrong? I have the one crown
block that is great for 7 3/8" hats and another block that needs additional work, and a little collection of brim flanges.

Sorry for rattling on about this subject,
Darrell

I’m sorry, but was there a question here, or was it just a talk about your hat making journey and experience with Steve?

I was just talking about working on hats and learning a lot through emails with Steve. He was very helpful
with hat making, he loved making hats and helping others that wanted to make hats. Hat making was his
hobby and it turned into a business.

I was reading about the hat block and watched the video. There seemed to be some issue about the hat block
being a Steve Delk hat block, from what I saw in the video it could have been one of Steve's, but anyone could
have made the block using the same method as Steve. I didn't use Durham's Water putty to coat my wood
hat block, I used auto body filler because it was what I had on hand and a good spray paint, it achieved the
same results, protects the wood from water and or steam.
I tried coating the hat blocks with Polyurethane one time, you have to be careful when using a steam iron on
a hat when it is close to a Polyurethane surface, to much heat and your hat felt will get a coat of Polyurethane.
The auto body body filler does a good job but if you don't paint it, the hat felt has a tendency to grip the sides
of the block when you remove the felt, so paint it.

Is anyone using the Durham's Water Putty on wood hat blocks that they have made?
If so how is that working for you?

Basically I was talking about learning hat making from Steve and some of the issues and problems that I have
encountered when working on hats. I still have not learned everything, I still have trouble with the hat ribbon
and getting the "V" shape and pucker on the bow. The sweatband was another problem, however Steve told
me to cut the sweatband to the hat size and the reed should be 5/8" longer, the longer reed gives the
sweatband the bell shape, the sweatband fits snug, the tricky part is sewing the sweatband into the hat.

Does anyone on the forum make their own hats or make hats to sell?
If so, what method do you use to sew the sweatband into the hat?

Well I better stop for now, seems I get to talking about making hats and I get carried away.
Darrell

The video in question has been discussed ad nauseam. Personally, I don't find it very convincing evidence of anything.

I use a stitch awl to install my sweatbands.

jlee562 wrote:The video in question has been discussed ad nauseam. Personally, I don't find it very convincing evidence of anything.

I use a stitch awl to install my sweatbands.

Well I am sorry for bringing it up again, but like I stated in my first post I haven't been to the Forum for a while, I believe
since 2019 and I was just talking about the video after reading some old postings about the subject.
Thanks to another forum member, I have been brought up to date on the video in question, I know now why the hat block
looked like one of Steve Delk's hat blocks, because it was one of his and I understand why the video was put up on YouTube.

After watching the video I realize now that I need to make a stand that will hold my old brim flanges.

I do all of my sewing by hand, I don't use a stitch awl, I tried to use one once and the needles that came with it were to big
to use on fur felts, so I use the smallest needle that I can find.

I also work with leather making gun belts and holsters and I hand sew the leather also, using the saddle stitch with waxed
thread and also the smallest needles that I can find. It takes sometime to get the projects done since it is all hand sewn, edges
are all burnished by hand.

As for hats I can't decide on the color of fur felt to use, Silver Belly or Granite Grey??? The Silver Belly is a very light Grey color.

Darrell

Darrell4926 wrote:

jlee562 wrote:The video in question has been discussed ad nauseam. Personally, I don't find it very convincing evidence of anything.

I use a stitch awl to install my sweatbands.

Well I am sorry for bringing it up again, but like I stated in my first post I haven't been to the Forum for a while, I believe
since 2019 and I was just talking about the video after reading some old postings about the subject.
Thanks to another forum member, I have been brought up to date on the video in question, I know now why the hat block
looked like one of Steve Delk's hat blocks, because it was one of his and I understand why the video was put up on YouTube.

After watching the video I realize now that I need to make a stand that will hold my old brim flanges.

I do all of my sewing by hand, I don't use a stitch awl, I tried to use one once and the needles that came with it were to big
to use on fur felts, so I use the smallest needle that I can find.

I also work with leather making gun belts and holsters and I hand sew the leather also, using the saddle stitch with waxed
thread and also the smallest needles that I can find. It takes sometime to get the projects done since it is all hand sewn, edges
are all burnished by hand.

As for hats I can't decide on the color of fur felt to use, Silver Belly or Granite Grey??? The Silver Belly is a very light Grey color.

Darrell

If you're making a clipper silver belly would be way too light. Might help to take a look at the felt color offerings on Herbert Johnson and also adVintage's websites. Herbert Johnson offers two different grey felts. One is a more tannish grey beaver, and the other is a steel grey rabbit. Thomas at adVintage has three options and explains the details of each on his site.

Sorry, should have specified that I load a standard Singer 70/9 needle into the stitch awl and I use upholstery thread. In reblocking my own hats, have not found that this needle size was too big.

Well the steel grey in rabbit would be the best choice from what I have read about the Indy Clipper hat,
I could be wrong but I think it the hat was made with rabbit fur felt and the color steel grey.
The ribbon looked to be black in color. I was looking at pictures of characters in the Raiders of the Lost Ark,
and I noticed that one of the actors that was suppose to be a German was wearing a grey Fedora and
it had little dents in the hat showing that the hat originally had the pinched front and a crease.