Mini Cowboy hat

I’ve seen a few turned cowboy hats since participating on LJs and it never ceases to amaze me how you can turn a hunk of wood into a hat. They look so real. Wow. The grain and colouring on your hat is extremely nice.

-- Peter, Woodbridge, Ontario

Beautiful wood and nice hat.

-- Terri, Rocky Mountain High Colorado!

Wow! What a gorgeous hat!!.

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!!

That is so neat, the way you can gauge your thicknes. I’m sure that took some trial an error. Great job!

-- If you not making sawdust, your probably wasting your time. Kory

Very nice. I think I would end up with funnel trying to make one.

-- Mike, Missouri --- “A positive life can not happen with a negative mind.” ---

Great looking hat.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Nice hat Jeff. I can’t bring myself to turn a full sized hat but a mini might be worth tackling. What part do you turn first and how do you hold it in the lathe? What’s the progression?

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

Very nice hat. Great job !

Rance, I start with the hat mounted on a screw chuck and turn the rough shape of the outside of the hat. A tenon is created in what will be the top of the hat brim and the tenon is then held in a chuck. I refine the outside shape of the hat and sand the outside through all the grits. The brim of the hat is turned from the outside edge to the inside of the crown of the hat in stages. I use a light directly behind where I am turning to determine if the thickness is correct. As each stage of the brim is finished I sand it through all the grits before moving onto the next part of the brim. This continues all the way up through the crown of the hat. Once the entire inside of the hat is turned and sanded I reverse chuck the hat on a wooden jamb chuck that has a light installed in the center. The top of the hat is finished and the tenon is completely turned away.

-- Those that say it can't be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

That should do it Jeff. Thanks for the info.

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

That’s a hat I be proud to hang on my rack.
Absolute fantastic job and so real looking .
Here in Alberta we still wear those felt once and I will put the word out that there are wooden one’s LOL

Thanks
Kiefer

-- Kiefer 松