A Treatise on Hat-Making and Felting: Including a Full Exposition of the Singular Properties of Fur, Wool, and HairThomson, John, hatter
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A Treatise on Hat-Making and Felting: Including a Full Exposition of the Singular Properties of Fur, Wool, and Hair
Thomson, John, hatter
Hats
We shall refrain from all notice of the methods employed tending to
this deterioration of the new article, and merely describe the making
of the honest, sound, and valid hat, the revival or resuscitation of
which is well worthy of consideration.
A dry, thin, and soft fur or wool body is to be drawn upon the proper
block, generally 3 or 4 inches deep with either a square or round
crown, and the brim spread out upon the bench or bottom board. A
circular piece of gutta-percha gum the size of the intended brim,
having its centre cut out, is to be slipped over the crown down on to
the felt brim; a similar piece of good cloth is likewise slipped over
in the same manner to cover the gum, and now the extreme outer edges of
the felt and cloth are to be carefully cemented together by means of
the gum, by passing round a hot iron. The usual stirrup or bridle is
then thrown over the hat, girding the inner edge of the cloth to the
block, and stuck with the heel of the iron. This partially stuck brim
is finally overlaid with a wet loose brim-cloth and properly ironed,
the heat of the steam from the damp cloth softens the gutta-percha gum
and effects the adhesion of the cloth to the fur body. About half an
inch of cloth will project up on the side crown, which is also made to
adhere to the felt body by the heated iron.
The block is now to be withdrawn, and the hat turned inside out, which
reverses this would-be upper brim to the under side. The hat is next
to be re-blocked, a repetition of the gum and cloth is to be applied
to this side of the brim exactly as with the other, and then succeeds
the covering of the crown, which is to be wholly laid over first with
the gutta-percha and then with the previously prepared cloth cover as a
crown piece, these being held tight by means of the blocking-cord. The
whole crown, both tip and sides, is to be cemented and finished, never
omitting the wet finishing-cloth between the hat and the hot iron, and
the hat is now complete and ready for lining and trimming.
The above makes a good soft pliable cloth hat. But if a stiffer and
firmer hat is wanted of the same material, the felt body is to be put
through the process of the alkaline bath, similar to that of fur hats,
and when dry, proceeded with as above.
Another method of making these cloth hats is to dispense with the fur
body entirely, the block being covered with two thicknesses of cloth
and having a ply of gutta-percha gum between, which are cemented
together by steaming and pressing, using at all times a wet cloth under
the hot iron. The brim is separate and distinct from the crown when
made, and consists of a piece of thick wool padding, which is to be
covered on both sides with the proper cloth, cemented together with the
gum, first one side and then the other, after which the crown and brim
are sewed together.
In all these cases, the gutta-percha gum acts not only as a cement but
also a water-proofing to the hat.
Conclusion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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