# Mad Hatter



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

A while back I saw this thing on the history channel about how cowboy hats are made. It got me to thinking,,,, and thinking,,,, and drawing from past experience with leather I came up with this method for making 1:8 scale hats.









This is my second attempt at forming a hat with leather. My first turned out okay, but the hat size and style were all wrong. The first one took me 2 days also.
This second one took about an hour + or - 10 or 20 minutes. On the first one I used some old pieces of flex tube and soaked the leather over night then formed it around the tube and let it dry over night.
The second one I turned the form out of brass. I boiled the leather in the micro wave, and then I slipped it on to the form and clamped it up. I took a hair dryer on super hot and heated for about 15 minutes and then pulled it out of the form.
It's a little thicker than I like, so I'm going down to the hard ware store and buy a shamy. Even though its thick, it should look sweet once I put a band and bow on it. Man I really like working in 1:8 scale. I can't wait to start on the glasses and suspenders.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Next you'll be soaking beaver fur in mercury


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"Next you'll be soaking beaver fur in mercury."

Yipes! Richard does NOT want to do that. He really could become a Mad Hatter. Although I suspect it could take a little longer than in the past, as he would be working in 1:8 scale. The mercury poisened the hatters' brains, which was what eventually made them "mad hatters."

The expression "mad as a March hare" is equally interesting. In England, the mating season for hares starts in March. The grass in the meadows is so long that the buck hares cannot see their objective - the doe hares. So the buck hares leap high above the grass to try to see the does. The random popping up of hares from the tall grass caused people to coin the expression "mad as a March hare."

Your trivia lesson for the day - Brought to you by: David Meashey


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

I knew about the mercury, but not about the hare. That's a cool tidbit.


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