HAT MANUFACTURE. The hat, a covering for the head worn by both sexes, is distinguished from the cap or bonnet by the possession of a brim. The history of the hat as part of the apparel of both sexes, with the various changes in shape which it has under gone, is treated in the article HEAD-DRESS.
At the present day the hat trade is divided into four sections. The first is concerned with the manufacture of hats made from fur; the second, with those made from wool. The productions from these two sections are known as fur felt hats and wool felt hats respectively. The third section engages itself in the manu facture of hats made from materials plaited or woven from straw or vegetable products of a fibrous nature such as palm leaf, hemp, bamboo, rush, etc. This section is known as the straw hat section of the industry (see STRAW AND STRAW MANUFAC TURES) . The fourth has to do with hats made from silk plush and is termed silk hatting.
After plucking, the remaining fur is treated with a solution of nitrate of mercury, process known as Garrotting, its object being to open out the minute branches or barbs with which each fur fibre is covered. Carrotted skins are fed into a machine which cuts the hide into short shreds, the fur fibre emerges on an end less belt, the hide, now denuded of fur and useless for hat manu facturing purposes being discarded. Fur fibre having been sorted according to its quality value, now undergoes an operation known as blowing by which the fibres are fed into a machine whose mechanism contains numerous revolving cylinders bearing thou sands of steel teeth or pickers. The action of this machine sepa rates from the individual fur fibres the kemp or colouring matter useless for hat manufacturing purposes, and the down of the fibre the portion from which fur felt hats are made.
The accumulation of millions of fur fibres into a hood from which a finished hat is made is known as forming; this, as having reference to the manufacture of fur felt hats, is the process by which fur fibres are knit closely together to form a fabric which shall have the requisite configuration, thickness, homogeneity and stability. For this purpose, a quantity of fur, varying according to the weight and dimensions of hood that is to be made, is fed into a machine and projected into a chamber containing a minutely perforated copper cone. This cone revolves, and to its damp outer side are drawn by suction the myriads of .mist-like fur particles; thus the cone rapidly becomes covered with a film of fur. The cone, with its coating of fur, is wrapped round with flannel and, protected further with a metal cover, is immersed in hot water after which the formed hood is removed from the cone.
Each fur fibre has a number of minute branches or barbs and when a mass of such fibres is subjected to heat, moisture and motion with the addition of pressure, the fibres become firmly interlocked. Repetitions of this treatment result in fur felt the shape of which is relatively much the same as that of the original mass, but decreased in size through the working together of fibres and the consequent shrinkage. It is usual to form the hat body or "hood" (the unit which, after many processes, finally emerges as a completed hat) as a cone about 29 in. in height and about 20 in. in diameter. As the hood is handled, not as a cone but in the flat, the diameter of the cone is not considered in the terminology. Thus, the size of the hood above mentioned would be referred to as 29 X 31, the latter figure being the width of the flat hood across the corners at the base.
After a hood has been formed, the fabric has little cohesion and has to be hardened or shrunk, the object being to interlock or knit together the individual hair fibres so closely that they become inseparable. In the hardening operation, the formed hoods, satu rated with water, are stacked together in lots of six to ten, rolled up in a wet cloth and manipulated by hand. Some shrinkage occurs. During this process, the operator must be careful not to tear the hood or treat the delicate fabric so roughly as to cause a "shove" or other damage.
The universal method is to divide the hardening process into four successive shrinking operations known as (a) hardening, (b) starting, (c) planking, (d) second or final planking.
These operations are not closely defined, and the extent to which each is carried varies with different manufacturers and with special requirements. To indicate the progressive steps, a hood 29 in. X31 in. (height 29 in., width across base 31 in.) after hard ening will be considered as an example and the following table will show the approximate relative dimensions: Briefly the following is a description of operations B., C. and D.
Starting is a shrinking operation employing an open kettle of boiling water and a machine with three deeply corrugated revolv ing rollers. The operator takes four to six hoods, wets them in boiling water, piles them one on the other, rolls them up, wraps a canvas cloth round them and tosses the bundle between the rollers of the machine. After a time, the bundle is taken out, unwrapped, unrolled and the hats immersed in boiling water. Each hood is then subjected to hand manipulation. The same hoods are then stacked up again, this time however, their relative positions are changed. They are rolled up again but the rolling is started from another corner or side, the canvas is wrapped on and the bundle tossed between the rollers. These operations are repeated until the operator finds that the shrinking has been carried far enough.
Planking is an operation similar to "starting" employing a three-roller machine over an open hot Water bath. The pressure used is somewhat greater, more manipulation is performed and the hoods are put through the machine a greater number of times.
Second planking is another shrinking operation employing simi lar equipment but requiring still greater pressure and increased manipulation.
The operations by which fur fibre is converted into a fur felt hood comprise what is known as the wet side of hat manufac turing; the processes by which the hood is converted into a finished hat being termed the dry side of the industry. In this regard no general methods are adopted, so much depending on the particular shape or style of headwear it is purposed to produce. Usually, before a hood is converted into a hat, a certain amount of stiffening or proofing is applied. In this operation the hood is treated with a solution composed of shellac and methylated spirit. The hood of ter this application is placed in a hot oven or kiln the spirit in the solution tending to slightly open the "pores" of the fabric, the heat, whilst evaporating the spirit, driving the shellac into the opened "pores" and there solidifying. The object of this process is to weld the fur fibres so closely together that they cannot be separated during subsequent operations.
The operation of blocking or shaping is that whereby the hood is converted into its ultimate shape. As a rule, the hood is satu rated with dry steam and whilst in this condition pulled over a wooden block the shape of the hat to be produced. The dry steam softens the shellac or "proofing" in the hood allowing the whole to become malleable. The wooden block with its felt covering is now allowed to dry and in drying the shellac again hardens, thus once more tightening up the fur fibres so that the whole fabric has moulded itself to the configuration of the block on which it has been placed. When quite dry, the hood, now con verted into a definite shape, is removed from the block and can be regarded as a hat, the trimming of which is merely a matter of fashion requirements.
A forme varies in size and in weight according to the type of hat for which it is intended, but before it can be made into a hat it has to be reduced to a hood, as in fur felt hat production.
This process known as hardening is conducted by means of steam and rotary rubbing, the action serving to shrink and consolidate the wool, the final hardening being obtained by means of machine rolling whilst the formes are immersed in boiling water. The forme, having been reduced to a hood, is thoroughly dried.
In the shrinking processes, various surface inequalities become apparent on the hood and in order to remove the same and get a perfectly even face to the fabric and to obtain a degree of lustre the hoods are passed through a machine containing a wheel or bob coated with fine sand paper and revolving at a high speed. This is termed pouncing or buffing.
Wool felt hat production from the hood stage proceeds very closely on the lines adopted in the manufacture of fur felt hats.
The operation of dyeing both fur and wool hats is conducted whilst they are in the hood stage and prior to their being stiffened or proofed.
The continent of Europe supplies approximately 90% of the world's fur and wool hoods for hat manufacturing.
Silk Hats.—The silk hat was invented in Florence about 176o, but it was not until the beginning of the 19th century that it was worn to any extent.
A silk hat consists of a light stiff body covered with a plush of silk, the manufacture of which in a brilliant glossy condition is the most important element in the industry. Originally the bodies were made of felt and various other materials, but now calico is chiefly used. The calico is first stiffened with a varnish of shellac, and then cut into pieces sufficient for crown, side and brim. The side-piece is wound round a wooden hat block, its edges are joined by hot ironing, and the crown-piece is put on and similarly attached to the side. The brim, consisting of three thicknesses of calico cemented together, is now slipped over and brought to its position, and thereafter a second side-piece and another crown are cemented on. The whole of the body, thus prepared, now receives a coat of size; subsequently it is varnished, and thus made ready for the operation of covering. In covering this body, the under brim, generally of merino, is first attached, then the upper brim, and lastly the crown and side sewn together are drawn over. All these by hot ironing and stretching are drawn smooth and tight, and as the varnish of the body softens with the heat, body and cover adhere all over to each other without wrinkle or pucker. Dressing and polishing by means of damping, brushing and ironing come next, after which the hat is "velured" in a revolving machine by the application of haircloth and velvet velures, which cleans the nad and gives it a smooth and glossy surface. The brim has only then to be bound, the linings inserted, and the brim finally curled, when the hat is ready for use.