hat-making suppliers

wolf2hawks · Post by **wolf2hawks** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:56 am

I have a question for the ones that decide to do there fedoras the hard way(the do-it-your-selfers)......

Thanks to this forum, I have the information on how to do it, but where are the best places to buy hat blanks, ribbons, sweat bands, etc.. I tried a net search but all I'm finding is places for stuff on womens hats and not fedoras. Plus need to know for sure what supplies I need.

I'm wanting to try and make as much of my gear as possible(thanks to a deal I made for around a thousand dollars of leather tools for $250 bucks I be starting on a gun belt/left handed Browning Hi-Power holster in a couple of months), just thought I'd try hat-making next.(thought the hat might be easier to make than a jacket).

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:37 pm

Well, if you think that hat making is easy, then think again. It takes me several hours to renovate a hat that has been made already and though I'm known to be pretty nitpicky, I hardly believe it can be done much faster, when done properly.

The worst thing on making a hat by hand is the pouncing, where you start out with a low grit sand paper and pounce the body while on the block until you're close to the final desired thickness (also see Fedora's most brillant hat making tutorial). Then you take finer and finer sand paper, ending up with a 800 grit. To get the perfect block is a task on it's own (at least for the Raiders Fedora).

Btw: have you ever tried to install a sweatband? - No? Well, get yourself a cheap hat from ebay, cut out the sweatband and TRY to put it back perfectly even with the brim. If you're STILL interested after that, you can contact Fedora or ###### for a raw body and what else is needed.

They have both great prices and KNOW what they're buying. If you want to research the various felt makers yourself, get yourself one of the current offerings first, so you won't be hatless for the next years.

I don't want to scare you of, but I think you underestimate what it takes to build a hat from scratch.

Regards,

Marc

Mola Ram · Post by **Mola Ram** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:42 pm

I'm wanting to try and make as much of my gear as possible(thanks to a deal I made for around a thousand dollars of leather tools for $250 bucks I be starting on a gun belt/left handed Browning Hi-Power holster in a couple of months)

Leatherworking tools to make a belt,bag strap,hoslter, should only cost you 90$ or so even less.

adam

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:46 pm

Adam, some folks have the knack, some don't. I've watched my son-in-law take material and create incredible things from scratch, with absolutely no plans or instructions, and think absolutely nothing about it. Just because you find it easy doesn't mean everyone is in the same boat. Like I said, you're fortunate to have that 'knack' of being able to do it. In a way, I'm of like mind, but in the area of wishing folks who CAN do these things try and understand we're not all capabile of the DOING same things. Regards. Michaelson

Mola Ram · Post by **Mola Ram** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:51 pm

Michaelson,
Ok maybe i was to brutal.
But wolf2hawks, you should first try getting a cheap hat,
gutting it, then putting all back on. Thats a good start,
and thats how i started to do it. And to make a hat, you NEED
a hat block.
Adam

wolf2hawks · Post by **wolf2hawks** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 1:55 pm

Msrc,
What I'm planning on doing is making a hat from the hat blank, placing and tying the ribbon etc. not a full kill it, skin it, tan it, stew up the meat, and make the ultimate Raider fedora(Believe me, I fully understand this stuff isn't easy. I've been working on my holster and belt for the better part of a year, and I've not even touch knife to leather yet, I'm starting from scratch, bare bones skill that I've learned from doing research on the net, books, talking to leathercrafters, etc.). The idea of starting with a cheap hat is a good idea(I wouldn't waste a 22 sq ft hide that costs about 3.95 a foot before I knew what I was doing). I don't scare off easily, I'm a Student of the Lost Arts, I'm just here to learn.(To show how crazy me and my brother are, he's interested in hand building his own muzzleloading firearms and mountain man skills, and my interest runs into leatherworking, quillwork, chainmail, samurai armor, ancient weaponry, and a multitude of other "lost arts" that most people have forgotten about).

And Molorom, the reason why these leather tools seems a little expensive(beyond the 90 dollars you mention), this has everything including a half a box of patterns and books, stamps, carving and tooling items, tools for snap and grommet setting, skiving knives, gouges, edging tools, items for dying leather and about several hundred pieces of scrap leather to screw up on. I don't plan to limit myself to just holsters, bag straps, etc. I'm wanting to learn to do all manners of leather making. If you look in the latest tandy catalog, there is a set called a leathershop in a box that sells for $799 bucks and doesn't have all this stuff, plus I don't have to come up with it all in one pop(the gents letting me make payments on it, which helps).

I eventually want to start a leatherworking business someday, and this is the best way I've found to get the equipment I need. Leatherworking I feel I've got a knack for, hat making is just another sideline I'd like to try.

Scandinavia Jones · Post by **Scandinavia Jones** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 2:08 pm

wolf2hawks,

nice to see other potential hatters on the board! I've been messing a little bit with some novice hat blocking, and I've got to tell you, it's great fun! In order to make things a bit more challenging, I too have thought about scratch-building a fedora - there's a millinery supplies store in London I'll visit in October and see if I'll get me some felt bodies to start working with...

And to make a hat, you NEED
a hat block.

I was lucky enough to have a family member who could make me one. If you don't have a block source, check with our fellow board member Fedora for tips.
Or check this dude out (have no idea what kind of product he delivers, though):
http://users.erols.com/fjraab/

wolf2hawks · Post by **wolf2hawks** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 2:17 pm

Thanks for the info, Scandinavia.
I just like to make as much of my own gear as possible(being left handed, a Browning Hi-Power owner got me started in leather working). Hat making just adds another hobby to my list.

Gotta go, got a bunch of natives after me(Remove on lousy idol and....)

Mola Ram · Post by **Mola Ram** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 2:22 pm

The idea of starting with a cheap hat is a good idea(I wouldn't waste a 22 sq ft hide that costs about 3.95 a foot before I knew what I was doing)

you are talking about leather hides right?
Adam

wolf2hawks · Post by **wolf2hawks** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 2:29 pm

My humble apology,
I was meaning leather hides for holster making, not for hats. Need to be more specific I guess.(Had my mother just get out of the hospital and back into the nursing home for congestive heart failure, getting ready to go see her, didn't get my thoughts all straight)(Of course that is a common occurance for me anyway).

Scandinavia Jones · Post by **Scandinavia Jones** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 2:44 pm

Have you had any good results with your block yet Scandinavia?

I did a test block of my old Fed, and found that the block was a little too long and too flat on the top. It is being reshaped as we speak, and hopefully, I'll be able to post a little pictorial on the progress sometime in the near future.
Apart from that, the blocking procedure itself was a success, thanks to Fedora's great tutorial!