Hat Making Tools: Restoration and New Parts for the Maillard Allie Conformateur and Formillon

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My work on this antique Conformateur & Formillon consisted of:

1. Building all new wooden “L” Shaped Ebonized Walnut finger keys
2. Building one new brass Push Pin on the top, and doing a thorough calibration and cleaning.
3. Replacing one broken Formillon Finger, and one Mis-matched Finger.

For other Maillard Conformateurs & Formillons, I’ve built:

1. New Primary and Seconday Springs for the Lid Latch
2. Supplied replacement rim washers.
3. New base platforms (aka “Plot”) for the old Maillard Allie Formillons, click here to see an example

In addition, I can build:

1. The upright Ebony curved gusset parts that hold up the Top Pin Board,
2. Build replacement Push Pin Wood Boards
3. And repair, or replace the main wooden Perimeter Ring.
4. Custom Designed Carrying Case, click here to see an example

If you have an old Conformateur that needs some tender loving care, and you’d like me to do the work for you, send me a note, and we discuss what steps to take. However, I don’t offer free advice on how to restore your own tools, I do this for a business, and as such, I need to protect what I’ve learned.

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Purchasing Formillon (Formillion) Replacement Parts:

1. To purchase a Plot Board for your Maillard Formillon, see this item at Etsy.com
2. To purchase a new Wood Thumbnut Tightening Wrench, see this item at Etsy.com
3. To purchase a new Wood Clamping Ring with new Cork base, see this item at Etsy.com
4. To purchase only a Cork Pad for your own restoration work, see this item at Etsy.com
5. To purchase replacement Sliding Finger Keys for a Formillon, I will need to have the entire Formillon to make the fit of the new fingers possible, and I am unable to give a quote on the repairs until I see the condition of the tool. Replacement fingers are approximately $20.00 ($US) a piece, depending on the quantity required and the condition of the old finger keys.

Formillon Restoration Work?:
If you have an old Formillon that needs some help, I can build whatever new parts it needs, but I need to have the whole Formillon shipped to me. Each of the finger keys are custom fit and shaped for it’s specific spot, and there is no way I can do that without having the whole Formillon here for the fitting.

thanks,
Mark

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For the “Music” to come on, click the little “speaker” button on the slide show.

To pause a photo, hold your Mouse pointer over it.

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One of the niches that I’ve discovered, well to be honest, that discovered me, is taking what I know from woodworking and using that to make Hat Making Tools. There’s not much of a market, but there is enough to keep one solo-woodworker pretty busy these days.

Someday I can see that I’ll write a book on the subject of hat tools, and how to restore them, and how to recreate them, as the tools are quite fascinating, and there is nothing already in print that I can find. That first photo is pretty cool, looks like the cover of a coffee table book some day, huh? Took that photo myself too (please don’t steal it)

One of the most coveted prizes that any serious hat making tool collector seeks is an authentic Maillard (French Company) Conformateur. There are several variations, built over several years, but most seem to be the “Allie” model.

For those not in the hat making field, this is a tool that measures a person’s head, and translates the shape and contours to fit precisely a person’s head, despite the lumps, and bumps, and dents, which we all have in our skull. Course, there is a lot of skillful technique and time consuming details required to make it work, but it really is pretty slick how it works.

The only problems I can see as a mechanical engineer-turned woodworker, evaluating the old antique tool, is that it is much too fussy to handle all of the rigors of shop use, thus the breakages. Also, there is a good bit of adjustment and calibration that it requires, which a good owner’s manual would provide insight into, but they apparently don’t come with the tool when you buy one this many years later. Maybe after I get some more experience setting these up, I’ll write a booklet on the calibration proecss, who knows?

It could be that the fussiness was in their original design, and the easy breakage of the parts, and the ongoing calibration work, was just part of the original design, and to sell parts over the years. Too bad the Maillard company went out of business. I wish I had a warehouse full of their spare parts, manuals, fixtures, jigs, materials, etc. Oh well. I’m trying to find out what happened to the old company, so if anyone knows the story, I’d like to hear, send me an email.

So anyway, a fussy little aparatus like this does give a guy like me that likes mechanical things, and whizz-bangs, history, and antiques, something to work on, since these parts all have to be recreated by hand, and carefully installed and adjusted.

A flashback:
When I was a kid, I took apart everything. Sometimes I got them back together, other times I didn’t. I even tore apart my Mom’s alarm clock one time after school, and got it back together before she got home from work. I learned on that project that you have to put both hands on Midnight before you pull them off. But, I learned that after the fact. Mom learned to adjust the calibration of the alarm about 4 hours and 32 minutes late, to cover for me. Eventually, she did buy a new alarm clock, but never did get mad at me. So, it seems that I was born, and raised, to fiddle with fussy little mechanical devices.

The Conformateur:
The Conformateur that I show in these photos belongs to Mike Moore who owns a Hat Shop called Buckaroo Hatters He’s a nice guy, friendly, passionate about hats, and makes a high quality custom hat in a variety of styles. Check out his website, he’s the one that turned me on to the “slide.com” slide show format.

On the underside of the main frame of the Conformateur is small hand written label placed there many years ago, stating that this Conformateur was displayed in the 1844 Industrial Exposition in (something?) France (I can’t read the Town name). I believe the Patent was give a few years later in 1850.

So, Mike asked me to work on his Conformateur and matching Formillon, replacing whatever parts I needed to replace, and restoring it to working condition.

The trouble with these fussy little 160 year old Gems is that they were originally “fussy”, and then add a bunch of years of hard use and neglect, and you end up with a cool looking antique, but something that is useful only as a shelf novelty item in a hat store.

Don’t be fooled though, even in broken/non-working condition they are very valuable, easily $2K-$5K. I don’t know what one will be worth after my restoration/repair/calibration work, hope to hear back some time about that. I’ve tried very carefully to not destroy the historical, or antique value, but only make the tool useable and accurate. To that end, the brass and silver components were not polished, just cleaned and waxed.

So, I first had to tear it all apart, carefully.

Every one of the wooden “L” Shaped Finger Keys had to be replaced, as they were all either broken, or beyond repair, or so fragile that they broke upon removal. No problem, I’m a woodworker, so I made the new finger keys.

Traditionally, the wooden fingers were made of Ebony wood. Mike didn’t want to spring for the added material cost for the Ebony, so I used black walnut and a proprietary ebonizing process I developed where I was able to so closely match the look of Ebony, that I really can’t tell the difference. This is not a staining process, as is normally sold in the “can” but does not look like ebony, depsite the label on the “can.”

While I was working on Mike’s Conformateur, I received orders for the wooden parts to restore three other Conformateurs for other hat makers (Word travels fast). One of the other hatters wanted to have me make his out of Ebony AA+ grade. So, I did. But, I had to tie a small wire to them, as I could only identify them as Ebony in my pile of Ebonized Walnut by the difference in weight (ebony is much more dense than walnut). The wire tied to each of the ebony fingers allowed me to easily keep them separated though.

Mike’s Conformateur was also missing a Brass Push Pin on the top of the aparatus. No problem, I work in brass, copper, steel, and silver often, so I made a new pin. Once it gathers some patina, nobody will know the difference. In the future, I’ll be using another proprietary brass patina process to duplicate the look of the other older brass components. There’s always something new to learn in this business, and my process wasn’t working well enough to have it use for Mike’s project.

Mike’s Conformateur also needed a gentle, but complete cleaning. I rubbed off the green brass, gray silver, and red steel, corrosion on the metals and wax them. Then, I cleaned the wood with a soft brush and waxed all of those surfaces.

I assembled the Conformateur with the new Ebonized Walnut finger keys, and the new brass Push Pen rod, and adjusted everything to work.

Then, I tried it on my head, and my wife’s head. She wouldn’t take any photos of me with the silly looking thing on my head, and she wouldn’t sit still so that I could photograph her either. So, you’ll just have to go other websites to see one of these on a person’s head. As I continue to work on these tools, I will probably have more photos to add over time also, so check back.

While I was working on this Restoration, another hat maker asked me to make the two steel springs on the top press board clasp. Then, another hat maker asked for one. And then another. So, I’m making the springs now also. Finding the hardware for these projects is pretty hard. Just about every component of normal hardware is of a size that is obsolete in today’s hardware standards. Just have to work with it, and make the parts you need.

The Formillon:
Ok, so really, without a working, matching Formillon, the Conformateur, even if it does work, is pretty useless, other than starting conversations.

The Formillon is the part of the tool that translates the head form reading into something a hat can be shaped with. I’m not going to explain hat making, that’s not my place. And it is pretty well described in the Hatter’s Bible, “Scientific Hat Finishing and Renovating” by Henry L. Ermatinger, published by Roberts, Cushman & Co., New York, 1919.

But, suffice it to say, that a hat maker needs to have a working, calibrated, and complete Formillon to make the Maillard Conformateur system work for fitting a customer’s hat.

Mike’s old Formillon, sold with the Allie Conformateur was in really good shape. I’ve already got orders to build copies of the Base Platform “Plot” board, and replacement finger keys, and hand cranking tools to tighten the thumbnuts, and other niche tidbits for this set of tools. Pretty cool, huh?

I’ve had to buy several new shop tools, the kind I’d have no use for otherwise, and spent several days building those new tools into specialized fixtures to replicate these old Maillard parts. I have 15 new jigs/fixtures to build the “L” shaped wooden finger keys alone. There is a lot of detailed and precise steps to go from a rough board to finished finger key.

So, I’ve got a lot invested in this journey already, and so please don’t just expect me to freely give out the detailed intellectual property that I’m making my business with. I hope you understand. I’m not worth much, but what I am worth is based soley on what I know, which does seem to increase in value every year, and I know that will end some day. To that end, I purposely did not post the type of photos that shows how I make these parts, too many woodworkers are here to do that. This internet stuff is a blessing and a curse, all in one. Thanks for your understanding.

Want a Modern-Updated Version of the Conformateur & Formillon?
As you might have figured, I’ve been working on the prototype design for an updated system for hat makers that don’t want to use the old antique tools, or can’t afford them. I’m still working on the project, but if you are interested in pre-ordering my new version, read more about it here and send me an email indicating your interest, and I’ll keep you informed on my progress. It is quite an undertaking, and I want to make sure I’ve got things right before I start shipping out copies.

thanks,
Mark A. DeCou
Mark DeCou Studio
www.decoustudio.com
email: mark@decoustudio.com

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Artisan Hat Tools by Mark DeCou Studio
(Do you want to see More? Just follow these links):

NOTE:
ALL HAT MAKING ITEMS THAT I HAVE IN STOCK
ARE LISTED IN MY ETSY.COM ONLINE SHOP, click here to check inventory

Collector Edition Model Rounding Jacks:

1. Ebonized Walnut with Laser Engraving
2. Collector Model w/ a Brass Blade Holder

Deluxe Model Rounding Jacks:

1. Maple Deluxe Model, Counter Clockwise Cutter
2. Maple Deluxe Model, Clockwise Cutter

Hobbyist-Hatter Model Rounding Jacks:

1. Walnut Hobbyist-Hatter Model, Counter Clockwise Cutter
2. Walnut Hobbyist-Hatter Model, Clockwise Cutter

Customized Rounding Jacks, Personalized for Specific Hatters:

1. Spradley Hats in Apline, TX
2. Rachel Pollock of La Bricoleuse
3. Brainpan Hat Shop in Sumner, WA
4. Steve Delk's Adventurebilt Hat Co.
5. Marc Kitter's Adventurebilt Hat Co.
6. Pyrate Trading Co.
7. Hatman Jack at Wichita Hat Works
8. Inaaya Hat Co.
9. Penman Hat Co.

Formillons & Conformateurs:

1. Complete Restoration of a Maillard Conformateur and Formillon
2. New DeCou Formillion & Conformer, Prototypes #1 & #2
3. Custom Designed Conformateur Carrying & Storage Case
4. New Plot Base Board for the Maillard Allie Formillon
5. Maple Wrench for Tightening Formillon Thumbnuts

Foot Tollikers:

1. Left-Handed & Right-Handed Foot Tolliker
2. Foot Tolliker: Elk Antler & Birch Wood, on a Display Stand
3. Foot Tolliker: Walnut Wood, on a Display Stand
4. Foot Tollikers: Three in White Birch Wood
5. Foot Tollikers: Walnut Wood Set of Four
6. Foot Tollikers, Birch Wood Double Set, on Display Stand

Brim Edge Curling Tools:

1. Hinge-Shackle Curling Tool for the Homburg Hat
2. Full Circle Shackle Curling Tool
3. Half Circle Shackle Curling Tool
4. Groove Tolliker Curing Tool

Hat Block Spinners:

1. Hard Rock Maple and Walnut Ornamentally Turned Hat Block Spinners

Puller Downers:

1. Puller Downers, made in Birch & Maple

Pusher Downers:

1. Pusher Downers, made in Walnut, Hard Rock Maple, & Poplar

Stainless Steel Slip Stick:

1. “Coming Soon”, please check back.

My Website with other woodworking, including furniture, walking canes, scrimshaw artwork, custom knives, and other misc. items

Mark DeCou Studio Website

(All Photos and Text are protected by Copyright 2008-2009 by the Author, M.A. DeCou, all rights reserved, no unauthorized use is allowed.)

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com