Club Obi Wan

Forgive me if this has been covered. I’m new here, and this is my 1st post.

I have always wanted an Indiana Jones hat, but other stuff took priority for years & years. I finally pulled the trigger and got one only to be disappointed.

This is how it arrived

Severely tapered and after steaming out the bash I discovered that the crown was very lopsided… I knew I’d have to make a block and re-block the hat to ever get it right. This thread will document how I did that. I hope it proves to be useful

To get started I had to determine how to shape the circumference
I did this using my Akubra Federation IV as a pattern


Once I had this template I could transfer it to my wood which was 2x8” pine scrap. I know framing lumber isn’t ideal but it was free and I’m not a hat maker so durability isn’t really a concern.

I traced out my shape using the cardboard template 4 times, and cut them out on the bandsaw. I then had to spend some time with my belt sander getting them to just the right size. I eventually got there, and I glued them up.


Now I needed to determine how to carve it, and lucky for me Herbert & Johnson have some great pictures of open-crown Poets that I used for reference.
Front

Side

You can see I used grid lines to get it scaled properly since I know the crown height needs to be 5.5” it was pretty easy

I’ll remove wood in multiple facets to give me what I’m looking for.


Each facet I will remove is color coded here
*Blue will go 1st. This will taper the front and back to match the photo
*Red second to remove the bulk of the waste
*Green 3rd
*Yellow last to leave me with my final shape

I’ll be using a Shinto Rasp to remove this material. This tool makes quick work of it


Marked out my guidelines to start the carving


Remove the Blue section in my diagram



On to removing the red facet in my diagram



Done

Now we move on to the Green facets
Marked



Removed




On to the Yellow facets



I made some contour gauges to verify my curves



You can see they match perfectly even before smoothing out the rough rasp lines


Fits even better after smoothing out



I’ll call that done

It worked out really well when reblocking the hat













My hat photoshopped into Raiders (on right obviously)

Very creative method! Thanks for the detailed post on your process. I found it fascinating.

That's remarkable woodworking! And your revised hat looks great. (Nice Photoshop skills, too.)

How long did it take to make the block?

tubasthebest wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 12:26 pm Very creative method! Thanks for the detailed post on your process. I found it fascinating.

Thanks man.

Howard Weinstein wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 12:50 pm That's remarkable woodworking! And your revised hat looks great. (Nice Photoshop skills, too.)

How long did it take to make the block?

I appreciate it! I’m a hobbyist guitar builder so the woodworking came naturally. This is a variation on how I make a guitar neck round

I timed myself when carving which took 2.5 hours. I didn’t really keep track of the steps prior, but I’d estimate probably an additional 4 hours not counting the time for the glue to set

This is some amazing work on both the block and the hat, man!

Looks like some beautiful and satisfying work!

As a fellow guitar builder, I can appreciate the planning, time, and effort that went into this.

Enjoy that hat!

-Greg

bearbeast wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 2:22 am This is some amazing work on both the block and the hat, man!

Thank you sir

Columbiana Jones wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 6:45 am Looks like some beautiful and satisfying work!

As a fellow guitar builder, I can appreciate the planning, time, and effort that went into this.

Enjoy that hat!

-Greg

Thanks Greg! Nice to know a fellow guitar builder

Nice woodworking skills (and patience)...

...for a non-woodworker: do you think that one could 3D print a hat block, or does it have to be wood?

I'd think a 3D printed block would be a quick and easy way for a beginner like me to reproduce the kind of block that you more experienced blockers are using.

I have a 3-D printed hat block. It serves its purpose. It doesn’t like heat too much, though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If anyone finds a free 3d model for printing suitable for a Raiders block, let us know!!

The trick is to use the right filament to withstand the blocking process. Most 3D printing filaments can withstand temperatures around boiling point, and steam is, well, above that and sometimes superheated well above that in the case of steaming devices. Polyamide can take temps above boiling, but it's generally too soft for blocking. Polypropylene with glass fibers is better, but regular PP won't have the heat resistance. The best is probably PAHT CF15 (heat treated polyamide with carbon fiber) which can take temps well above 100C.

Of course what the job is also matters a lot. Just a simple reblocking to restore shape won't take much if any steam. But a full build from scratch with a felt blank will use copious steam and ironing.

Very nice work, I’m a builder also and I appreciate your process I’ve been thinking about building myself a block lately.
Thanks for sharing!

NorthernRaider

Great work on that block!

I'm a very creative person, but have never worked with wood before. Kudos to you!