Gawdzilla

One volume, a layer of foil, the item to be pressed, another layer of foil and the second volume. Crank down the bundle with wire ties.

When I need some stiff cardboard I use the packaging from a case of sodas. If you have the "flat pack" you have about two square feet of cardboard to use. Also, when I need to put pressure on a piece to allow glue to dry I use a ziploc full of pennies.

I've put horns on Tandy's "Aristocrat" Top Hat. The hat made it into Iron Horse magazine.

Doc, and Richard, your patterns are in the mail. If USPS is correct you should get them Tuesday. IF.

One more tip. If you're not sure which of two sizes you need (large or medium, medium or small), cut the outside of the lower brim to the larger size and the hole to the smaller size. If fits, trim the outer brim to smaller size. If it doesn't, cut the inner brim to the larger size. And a two inch band of suede laced to the crown will give you a place to put padding for those "intermediate" size heads.

The black one is the basic model, not tricked out at all. The cowhide one needed an insert of heavy leather to make it stand up. I didn't need one for the top, it seems happy without anything. If you wanted to you could make a "sock" to go over the basic model and change hides and such as you desired. I did one with cow horns, very "medicine man" looking things. Kids loved that one. Two notes. I did the lacing for the crown and top inside out, and then reversed it. It's a heck of a lot easier that way. And as I noted elsewhere, the brim has two more holes than the crown, at least on the large version. AND, there will be envelopes mail in the AM, I was hung up at the VA longer than I liked, but I have the promised copies for everybody in hand.

Any thoughts/experience doing these? I'm thinking of making one with three laced cuts to make it concave. Any tips would be appreciated.

Here are two hats I did from the Tandy pattern. http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv272/PanchoZilla/Leather/Redtopper.jpg http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv272/PanchoZilla/Leather/Blacktopper.jpg

Think outside the (leather) box. I get small geegaws at craft and hobby stores. "Michael's" or "Hobby Lobby" for example. They have sections on necklace and bracelet making. They're also good for feathers, beads, etc.

I, for one, would love to be able to feed a "stubborn" program to that kind of software and have it fix what ever T*ndy did to it back in the '60s.

How do we contact the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal, please? ETA: Found it: http://www.leathercraftersjournal.com/

You know, this would be an excellent project for a CAD student looking to do a project for his school work. And it could be translated into a salable product with some work. Input a picture of a item to the program and have it develop the component parts, complete with 2D draws for templates with the holes already marked and matched. It's certainly no more complex than some of the stuff I've seen CAD programs do at Boeing (well, they have significantly more computing power available but they're doing bigger items as well.)

Makes sense, Mike. Elastic?

Maybe a shallow "cup" at top and bottom, suede or such that can be pulled over the item when it's in place? Only one "cup" would have be very flexible, the other could be as rigid as you think appropriate.

I'll upload a pix Sunday. I'm taking doscent classes at the Endangered Wolf Center and that's eating my time right now.

Will the goofy cowboy picture do it for you?

I have this pack. PM me if you want the whole thing or just one particular style.

PM me an address and I'll send you a copy.

Anybody have the leather flier's hat with the chin strap? Lined or unlined okay.

"A+D" ointment from Wally World is what I used. Worked on everything I tried it on. Very light application gives a "matte" finish, heavier applications look glossier.

Well, I'm impressed. Worked beautifully on Saddle Tan at least. More experiments coming up.

The Kepi is also worn by the French Foreign Legion, among others.

Sounds like the "Hombre" pattern, included in a four-pattern pack that included the "Maverick" and the "top hat" patterns as well. I have that pack.

Limited space, limited budget, so I just use a C-clamp.

If you're looking for feathers to add accent to a hat or such, have a look at the craft stores. I found a good selection at Michael's here in St. Louis. "Eagle" feathers to pheasant feathers and some fanciful stuff as well. One of my hats sports red, white and blue feathers, another has a feather rosette (looks like I was riding a motorcycle and a sparrow ran into me.)