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Reshaping a Hat Help PLEASE


Marshal Max Henry

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I just got my dream hat from grizzly. Its a 3X brown(Exactly ehat CLint EAstwood wears in the Man with no name series Spaghetti Westerns and Good,Bad and the Ugly . But it is a little to big but moreportantly it does not fit the shape of my head. THe hat is a perfect circle I need the sides pushed in because i have a very oval head (Maybe i was dropped as a child) but if i can push the sides in and get it to stay it would fit me so well.

 

Please if anyone has an idea of how to reshape inthis way i would be so greatful

 

Much OBliged,

 

Max

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a hat stretcher made an Akubra (OZ army hat) fit me perfectly and I too have a long oval head :blink:

http://www.rods.com/The-Hat-Jack-Hat-Stretcher,7399.html?sc=WGB&utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Froogle11&ns_md=Feed&ns_sc=Froogle&ns_cn=Froogle11

$20 and in one of 3 sizes depending on your head size

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...or if you have one of those clothes steamers. Just steam the seam inside and out real good and wear it dry.

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You could try pieces of folded paper towel, or foam weather stripping tape inside the sweat band on the sides, that might help.

Thats what my dad did for my hat when I was a kid, it worked just fine.

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Howdy

 

A hat stretcher will not help with a hat that is too big. Short sections of foam weather stripping inside the hat band is a standard solution for a hat that is too big.

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If i could just make it more narrow so there is not the obvious gap on the sides it would be great!!!

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If i could just make it more narrow so there is not the obvious gap on the sides it would be great!!!

 

As mentioned, foam weatherstrip under the sweatband is probably the best way. When you have a hat that doesn't fit your head shape (there are basically 3: Round, Oval and Long Oval) it's difficult to change that without making the brim look funny. Remember in the future when buying hats to specify oval.

And a wet hat left in a pickup in the sun will shrink. :unsure:

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If it did not cost you a whole lot, get that sucker soaking wet. It may shrink enough to fit you better.

 

Get it wet early on your day off, and wear it until it dries completely. May take a couple of times to shrink to your head. Or you could put it on the hat jack so the front to rear dimension stays the same, and let the sides shrink in, hopefully.

 

If this is a real high dollar hat, you may want to avoid this admittedly risky procedure, get your money out of it, and look for a better fit. There are a lot of hats out there...

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MMH - this is from a hatter friend of mine...

 

"Home Depot or a good hardware store has foam waetherstrip with adhesive on one side. Get the one inch wide stuff. You can put pieces on the back side of the sweat band just like the paper towel trick and the adhesive keeps them in place. With this stuff you can make a loose fitting hat fit perfectly."

 

I'd put equal amounts on both sides and see how it works. I think I'd try it before sticking it in place though.

 

Hope that helps

Grizz

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For a reshaping of that extent, I'd recommend going to a hatter and having it reblocked. It will be difficult to get enough steam on a large enough area to do it yourself. Having a hat blocked by a hatter is inexpensive and effective. It may be the sweat band needs to be changed to accomplish the reshaping you require. Hatters do sweatbands for reasonable prices also.

 

If it's your dream hat, let a professional make it perfect for you.

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In case that eating thing doesn't work I'll give you a real answer First is the hat wide on the sides and tight front to rear (maybe just the wrong shape) or is it wide on the sides and just right or loose from front to rear (too big and wrong shape.

If it just the wrong shape the teapot thing that others have suggested should work.If too big also, fold up a newspaper to make a strip about 1 1/2 inches wide and long enough to go around inside the sweat band. Thickness will depend on how far out you were to start. Wrap a layer of saran wrap around the paper (so paper stays dry) place under sweatband steam and wear until try. The thing is, this is not a one shot deal, you can keep trying until you get a good fit. Good luck it's not easy to find a hat you really like.

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Guest Tennessee Stud, SASS# 43634 Life
Replying to Reshaping a Hat Help PLEASE

 

 

Ever since I got my first hat... been tryin' to figger out how to shape that lid into a unique way...

 

Anybody know how to shape a hat in the form of the Sistine Chapel?

 

ts

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Ever since I got my first hat... been tryin' to figger out how to shape that lid into a unique way...

 

Anybody know how to shape a hat in the form of the Sistine Chapel?

 

ts

 

You just need a little paper mache.

Or great skill at Origami. ^_^

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If the hat is fairly new it has this stuff on it to retain its shape, keep it stiff,no comments Bob.

If you rinse it well around the hat band area several times, dry in the sun it might work, most all my hats shrink a bit, I live near the ocean, high humidity, I keep a stretcher inside all hats.

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If you can't get the hat to fit your head you could try eating a lot to see if you could get your head fat, just an idea

Problem is, once you get the hat to fit, you would have to figure out how to lengthen your gun belt.

 

I think the best course of action here is to grow your hair out on the sides to 'fill in the gap'.

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I've worked professionally with hats for the last 20 years and can confirm that the easiest approach would be to take the hat to a western store in your area. Most larger western stores have (as we do) proper forms and stretchers to create an oval or long oval shape from a round shape, and the folks to accomplish. Second choice would be to wet the hat band area (steam is not necessary) thoroughly and put it on your head until it dries. Contrary to some advice offered though, a quality fur felt hat will easily take the reshaping while a lower cost one (wool felt, or questionable content) will not. My advice is that if the manufacturer will not tell you the exact contact of the fur used (beaver, nutria, european hare, kangaroo, etc. and the percentage of each) don't buy it. A quality hat will last a lifetime through the worst weather and abuse, a cheap one won't. Hope that helps. Take care.

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There waz an extensive discussion on the proper shaping of hats on the CasCity forums. Of course steam and a pro hat man is best. several other methods were discussed. During that discussion I did a bit of research and came up with this set of directions...

 

http://www.thelastbestwest.com/old_west_character_hat.html

 

This site also has some cool hats, holsters and just plain pix...

 

curley

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Howdy!

I've owned MANY hats over the years and have a very long oval head shape. Like another poster mentioned, if it's tight in the front to back direction and loose on the sides, you can easily fix that by wetting it down (or steaming it), putting in a hat jack (like the one the pard gave you a link to) to stretch if fore and aft and letting it dry over night with the jack in it. If it fits nicely front to back and is loose on the sides, it's too big, and I recommend you take it to a hatter and have it re-sized professionally. Been there and done both, depending on the hat...

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