The Conversion Corral

[Landman]

Mike, great! Looks sharp, your reshaping! Very good job!

Thanks Manfred. It has been getting a lot of use in this Texas heat.

 

[Joshbru3]

I re-worked this older conversion of mine this weekend. Originally this was a Resistol Stagecoach. It originally had a 6 1/4 inch open crown with fairly straight sides and a slight round top. I was unable to get the sharp and straight lines that I was looking for from the original crown shape, so I re-blocked it this weekend using my 1920's Lundstrom 6 inch tall block. Its the straightest block I have ever bought and ever seen for that matter. It gives that wonderful 20's/30's look. I also ironed the front of the brim a bit flatter and changed the flange a bit to reflect some of the 20's/30's hats that I love. The crown is now 6 inches open, but with a very flat top, and very straight sides. I actually love how this came out.

Here's the link to the original conversion.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?22306-The-Conversion-Corral/page82

Before:

After:

I was going for a hat that looked like the one in this ad.

 

[Garrett]

Another beauty. Well done, Josh!

 

[thespoiler]

Great job.... I like the bash... Was it done dry or wet?

 

[Joshbru3]

Another beauty. Well done, Josh!

Thanks Garrett!!

Great job.... I like the bash... Was it done dry or wet?

Thank you, thespoiler. This crease and re-block was done with a TON of steam. These western conversions have way too much shellac in the felt to be creased dry. Almost everything I have ever done on a western has needed steam and or water.

 

[alanfgag]

Super... this height seems just right.

 

[mikespens]

Very tasty Josh, well done!

 

[Chepstow]

Josh, wonderful reshaping work, a classic!

 

[BR Gordon]

Josh, I thought that a 6+" crown would be too high, but the proportions on your conversion look great. Another good job.:eusa_clap

 

[Joshbru3]

Super... this height seems just right.

Very tasty Josh, well done!

Josh, wonderful reshaping work, a classic!

Josh, I thought that a 6+" crown would be too high, but the proportions on your conversion look great. Another good job.:eusa_clap

Thank You so much, Gentlemen!!! With the new block profile shape, I was able to crease the crown down just enough to square it up and give it that great early 30's feel. I like the way it looks on me so much better now.

 

[scooter]

Wonderful conversion, Josh, looks terrific!

 

[suitedcboy]

Give me some details of the brim ironing to do this wonderful conversion. I would think it would be wet with distilled water and iron with a warm iron. Is that the procedure?

Wow, no kidding! Very bold, Manfred. Cutting the crown off the black one must have required some serious intestinal fortitude.

Nothing so daring happens at my house, I'm afraid, merely an ironing out of a homburg brim. Even so, I'm pleased with the outcome and wanted to share closeups of a fairly obvious result with this simple conversion.



Here's the whole hat, after:

This is what the top of the brim looks like afterward:


And here's the bottom, where most of the grosgrain binding winds up:


It's a different look, for sure. Opinions?

 

[Joshbru3]

Resistol Stagecoach Conversion in Silverbelly

Since doing my first Resistol Stagecoach conversion, I have been on the hunt for a Silverbelly Stagecoach. I love that these hats come with 6 1/4 inch open crowns with fairly straight sides. The leather sweatbands have stood up to blocking, flanging, steaming, etc. Even though these are stiff hats, they are great for any weather.

This conversion started life as this:

After steaming the crown back to open, ironing the brim flat, and removing the horrible feather and ribbon, I started converting this western into a fedora. I used the straightest block that I own to take any roundness out of the top of the crown and was able to block the hat with the sweatband in. The flat topped/straight sided 6 inch block brought the open crown height down from 6 1/4 inches round, to 6 inches flat. I retained the straight sides. I then used my vintage rounding jack to cut the brim down to 2 1/4 inches wide. I LOVE my rounding jack. There are ways to chop a brim without one, but after using it on a couple of these projects, it just makes life so much easier and neat. The next step was to pounce the felt. The original finish from Resistol was OK, but not great. The felt still felt a bit rough and unrefined. I pounded the brim while it was flat on both sides and then the crown while the block was still in the hat. I used 220 grit first to cut away some of the roughness and then a finished with 400-500 grit. I would usually progress from 120 then 220, then 300, then 400, then 600, then 800, but since the hat was already pounced at the factory, it was smooth enough to allow the use only a couple grits of paper. I then went around the edge with sandpaper and sanded the edge completely round. This is a necessary step because even though the rounding jack gets the edge very round and even, its not perfect. A little cleanup work on the edge of the brim gives the illusion of a better finish, and smooths out the cut line a little better.

The next step was to flange the brim. I decided to go with a much flatter flange than I usually would on some of my thinner felt hats. After studying some old 1920's hat ads, a flatter flange seemed to be standard in the early part of the decade. After the flange was set, I had to pick a ribbon/bow color and style. I went with a black 2 1/8 inch wide vintage ribbon for the job. I was going to do my favorite winged bow design but decided on doing something a bit different. About a year and a half ago I received a late teens/early 20's Lion brand hat with a very cool bow treatment. I decided to copy that treatment exactly for this conversion. I measured the original bow, measured every fold/crease and copied every single stitch location of the original.

Here's what the original looked like:

AND here's what my replica looks like:

After completing the ribbon/bow work, I creased the hat the exact same as my other Resistol conversion. The front crease measures 4 5/8 inches tall, the rear crease measures 4 3/4 inches tall, and the sides measure 5 1/2 inches tall (creased).

Here it is......

 

[Joshbru3]

Resistol Stagecoach Conversion in Silverbelly (cont....)

 

[Chepstow]

Josh, fantastic, great job done. That looks really sharp what you do! You have the feeling what looks good!

 

[bowlerman]

Holy cow, Josh. That's astounding work!

 

[m0nk]

Yeah, that is definitely an amazing job. Makes me want to start-up a conversion project...

 

[Joshbru3]

Josh, fantastic, great job done. That looks really sharp what you do! You have the feeling what looks good!

Holy cow, Josh. That's astounding work!

Yeah, that is definitely an amazing job. Makes me want to start-up a conversion project...

Thank you, Gentlemen!! I kind of want a Resistol Stagecoach conversion in every color now. I have a lot of work ahead of me...

 

[tomb1013]

Josh a job well done!

 

[DOGMAN]

Great work, Josh.Love those conversions.Your an artist keep them coming.