Fedora

Adam, you are most welcome. I fear your faulty impression is more as a result of the way forum members have reacted to me in past.
But past is past and so it goes.

As far as hat bodies are concerned I have seen them in past and currently as well available from 6 dollars up to 1200.00 each.

Steve Delk is a fine and upstanding man and I wish him only the very best in his new found hobby or business.

I hope every one that desires an IJ hat of the kind Steve can provide will certainly give him a try .

Hat making is not rocket science is what i tell every one and encourage all to try a reblock or to try making a hat.

I have sold raw materils to some and given it to oters for this very reason. The result is we now have another hatter that may well please all.

Its a good thing.

While I encourage folks to try to make hat or do a reblock or more I also encourage them to not get in over thier heads.

Unfortunatly most hear th first part and assume they know all then and forge out on a wild new adventure of headache and heart ache. To make a hat is a very simple thing . To make a lasting hat business that is anoter story. It seems as simple as constructing the most basic hat. You hen mutiply that time 100 and then compound that with 100 people screaming they want the hat yesterday and Ups lost it and you did not do this right and Imeant to say I wanted it this way and oh its ina card board box and the hat is perfect and just like I wanted and then a week later the brim is too stiff too soft or too wide or too narrow.

Well being in business is not an easy affair . Then you tell folks on a hat forum that you never knew existed before the bottom of you heart truth from 30 years ex-perience and they all attack you as they had heard a different story from an up and comming hatter that has a new and novel way to make hats or some Jhonny come lately ideas and it gets to be a real burden. Then there are good intentioned and goo meaning folks that are simply unlearned but want to sound learned and there are some that want to be in power and act learned and bury thier heads to truth.

It can all be one big pain.

Heck the IJ hats, that have historically suited so many fans here from a dozen companies are hats that old time hatters would have never allowed the body of to enter thier shop.

Its a commercial world and I am proud of men like Steve Delk that have choosen to balk against the established commerialism and try to provide quality afforadable head wear. We tried it 2 years ago when we first re opened and could not sell a hat . We then looked at current market offereings and pricing nad choose to get the ultimate materials and to raise our prices to reflect 80% of the price of our competitors and we then started getting more orders than we can keep up with.

Business is a tricky thing and with computers internet and such it can be a balancing act . I choose to not comform to every whim from every nay sayer and to just provide the best hats I could to any one that bought one and then many may hate you but it will always only be the ones that never own your hat. I donot have customer that would not buy from me again or if I do I do not know of them. I have 2 ex customers that I would not sell to again how ever. Most are good people with good thoughts and some are just bad peolple that no amount of goodness will convert.

Now back to hats and forums . I really sish I had some one with the will to set up a forum where bashing and all forms of talk and argumentative conversation is acceptable. I really do. not this forum or any oter but one that is bare knuckles that will allow folks to get on and speak the truth and not be ashamed to do so.

I have the server space with all the goodies if anyone is interested in setting it up let me know. I personally do not have time nor inclination to do it but I have wasted space and free will and would love too see it. Then I could come here and relaxknowing no one would want to beat up on me here:))
 

Molorom

New member
Eric,
You are a great guy but for one time i have to dissagree with you. Do you own any of GH's stuff? how do you know its not fantastic? you arent right about everthing. You wont even give the man a chance. I havent seen what hes done here. I dont think he was even talking to you, was he? i dont mind if you have your own ideas about the way GH acts but can you atleast keep them out of our conversation and to your self so that we can remain in a civil conversation?
Adam
 
Adam, thank you for your very mature stance and attempt to correct the person that is obviously completly out of line. there is nothing here to get in between as Ren and I have nothing between us. You are correct to my knowledge ren does not have any of our products and is not really downing our product but instead only launching personal attacks. I am more than confident he will see the maturity that you and others exercise here and re read th rules of the forum and will want to take the advise of VP. Surly he will wnat to be the first memeber of my Saloon when it opens for such free for all bashing as he is doing but surly he can remain civil here and obey th rules of this forum in the mean time.


Any takers on my offering to open a new forum up that is made specifically for folks with stron opinions like Ren has? I am not wanting to steal any reader from any oter forum and want to actually advertise all the forus on mine but just have a place for folks to get out their true fellings in a place that is mde for it and not do it in a place that clearly is not.

Adam, your age may reflect differently but your attitude and level of maturity certainly speaks loudly of whom is a kid here and whom is not. I am sure all can see you certainly are not the kid . At least you are not the one doing the crying.
 

Steve

New member
"Why is it that Steve is able to offer such a quality hat at such low prices and you offer a hat of equal quality for 500$ or more. "



I heard about this thread and joined up with you folks here at the Raven. Really the above question needs to me answered by me. I am basically not making much money on the hats mentioned. I never went into this venture with the idea of making much money. As with everything else I have done at COW, it is part of my hobby. Being such, it is not my livlihood. With that said, it must also be told that I am not using the same hat bodies as Charlie. His are much more expensive to buy. I am not selling belly beaver, just regular beaver. Also, you gotta figure what it costs to really make custom hats like Charlie. You have to own many hat blocks. I don't have to do this. I am just offering an accurate Indy fedora, handmade, and can get by with just one style of block. If I had to stock 10 styles of hat blocks in all sizes, I would have to charge alot more just to help pay for the investment. Hat making equipment is very, very expensive. Just yesterday, I got some prices on some equipment and it was over 10 grand for the basics. Of course, my business won't be such, that I have to own this sort of thing due to the low volume that I will generate. But, if I had to pump out the hats like most full line hatters, my prices would be right up there with the rest. Charlie is one of the few hatters that will actually help you. He has been of great help to me, even supplying me with bodies to learn on. I can't say enough good words, about him. I own one of his pure belly beaver hats, and it is worth the money. Period. He has the best looking modern felt that I have seen, and I have seen 99 per cent of what is out there. I have seen his finished Indy fedoras, and he has it nailed, even down to the bow. He went to great lengths to supply the first buyers with exactly what they wanted, and probably has not made a dime due to the different blocks he had to find and buying up on liners and sweats that he was not using at the time. I can tell you,he is paying much more for his bodies as he not only offers the Indy fedora, but any, any, sort of hat that you want replicated. And that takes a big investment to do so. He is competitive with all the other hatters. I am the anomoly here(sp?) But, I figured my base of customers would be so small that it would not hurt the other hatters. I am out to provide an accurate Indy fedora at relatively low prices for what they are getting. I think there is a niche for me. If I make a little bit of money in the process, good, I will buy more gear with the profit. I enjoy creating Indy fedoras and that is the only reason I am going into an online company. regards, Steve(Fedora from Cow)
 
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Rick5150

New member
Welcome Steve,

It took you long enough to get here ;)

You will be an asset to this board when discussing just about anything from what I have read in the past. Your hat blocks have always been exquisite. It never ceases to amaze me how you could turn the "junk" you had into a great looking Indy hat. I am chomping on the bit waiting for you to get the production line rolling.

The problem is that once the quality, pricing and word of mouth gets out about your Indy hats, you will begin to receive orders for help with non-Indy hats. First a new block, then a ribbon change. Next thing you know you will be a fullblown hat shop. I better hyurry and get my hats while the pricing is low...

Seriously though, it is good to have you aboard. It is nice to see a familiar face...
 

Steve

New member
wow this thread is like an advertisment...is anyone getting paid?



I dunno. I never heard an advertisement that failed to mention the name of the company. I think that is the prime factor in advertising. I was just trying to answer the price differential question. Steve
 

blur

Member
007 said:
I really like the Akubra Federation, but I am not going to bash it myself. I have neither the patience nor the skill that is required to do so. I would probably end up making the hat look terrible and then It would just sit in a box....

So my question is.. what are some other good fedora makers out there for around $100?

I bought a Federation and, sure, it's a bit daunting doing your own bash... but it's not rocket science, either. I ended up making the hat look quite good. And doing it yourself gives you a sense of achievement that you can never have when you just buy something or pay someone to do it.
 

INDYfatigable

New member
Holy flamboly! i went to the site and the hat was selling for 80 bucks! I don't have that much money. Any body know where I can get one? I have a fedora, but it's tweed, and it looks more like a Sherlock Holmes hat than an Indy hat.
 

Rick5150

New member
Holy flamboly! i went to the site and the hat was selling for 80 bucks! I don't have that much money. Any body know where I can get one? I have a fedora, but it's tweed, and it looks more like a Sherlock Holmes hat than an Indy hat.
It is unfortunate, but $80.00 is considered a very low price for an Indy hat, never mind one as good as this. Generally, anything less will buy you an "officially licensed hat, which may be good for a start for those who do not want to spend too much. Usually, you will find short crowns and narrow brims in that price range.

The exception? Ebay offers some decent bargains, if you know where to look and what to look for. Other Indy forums have "classified"sections that you may find deals on as well. A word of caution - most who begin buying this style of hat, continue down the path to more and more expensive high quality hats. I was in the same boat a number of years ago thinking $80 was a huge amount of money for a hat. It isn't, and I have the high dollar hats to prove it. Worth every penny, too ;)
 

007

New member
Renderking Fisk said:
... go to Chicago, Texas, California or Australia and see how the masters do it...

Hey Renderking..... (or anyone else)

Do you know the names of these stores in Chicago? I would like to go and check them out!
 

007

New member
oh man... that is down by 105th street...... hmmmm.... don't think I'll be going way down there anytime soon, but thanks for the address!
 

Johan

Active member
sorry to say but that hat is awful...or were you being sarcastic.
I must also confess I am also envious of the room Elodie's hat is displayed in.
 
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