Here at Callanan hats we are please to announce that we now use clean natural gas over dirty coal for blocking our hats.
This is good for the hat blockers health and the general environment.
To block a hat, we first dampen the felt body on a steam table.
Once the felt is nice and moist, it becomes more pliable. It is then placed over an aluminum mold (hat shape). The flange is roped (tied) onto the mold and the felt is stamped between the top and bottom mold. The molds use to be heated using coal generated flames. The hot molds press and dry the felt into whatever hat shape they represent.
Here we see a dirty coal fired western mold. The unshaped hat is placed in between the top and bottom molds.
The old coal heated molds tend to get very dirty and it was very difficult to make lighter colored hats.
The worker places the steaming hot felt onto the mold.
He pulls and pats the felt into shape.
He then uses the tie rope to tightly secure the flange.
He then presses the bottom mold into the top mold.
The molds are intensely hot. The felt sits between the molds for a few seconds during which it is pressed/ironed into shape.
The excess material outside the "tie" is called the flange.
The flange is cut off by machine. The suction cup above the machine stops the machine operator from inhaling tiny particles of felt.
Here we have a natural gas heated mold. Much cleaner then the early gas heated molds.
Nice clean natural gas operated cloche molds.
A nice clean gas heated safari mold.
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