That jack tar sheen for hats

[Mr. Pipes]

Hello folks,

Working on a hat and trying to get the look of a tarred hat without actually having to resort to using roofing tar. I've had marginal success with some different beeswax mixtures. The hats are water repellant, but just don't have that sheen of a true tar hat. The finish looks a little...well, not fuzzy, but you can see that's still felt instead of looking more like black leather the way a tarred hat does. I sprayed the hat with acrylic a few good coats before hand, but suspect that wasn't enough to keep the hat from absorbing all the wax I put on it. I bought some brush on acrylic to see if that might work better. Any help you can offer is much appreciated.

Thanks,

-Pipes-

[Matty Bottles]

Why not apply black acrylic paint with a sponge? Add some artists acrylic medium (not modeling stuff or spray application) to thin it a little bit.

[Slopmaker Cripps]

I've seen a felt hat tarred with the legit kiln burnt pine tar....there is no sheen....if you're trying to do the painted canvas hats from the 1812 era, then you'd use black paint and coatings of linseed oil to shine that up a bit....but a tarred felt shouldn't be shiney and smooth like leather...

Cheers,

Adam C.

[Mr. Pipes]

Thanks for the info folks! Wasn't aware the true jack tar hats weren't shiny. Do they kinda look like tar paper? I was going for the look of the "Jack Tar" hats seen on hatcrafters.com or the waxed/oiled hats that Capt. Jack MacKay sells. I guess more like the two methodes described above would get me closer to what I was trying to achieve.

Thanks again,

-Pipes-

[capn'rob]

My Black "Jack Tar" model Tarpaulin Hat from Hatcrafters is shiney! They have taken the shaped felt hat and first coated it with varnish then black paint. This company supplies hats to the U.S. Navy Sailors aboard the U.S.S. Frigate Constitution.

[Mr. Pipes]

Hi again folks,

Thanks for all the advice. I did however give it one last try with the wax treatment and it turned out great! I used a brush-on acrylic, two coats and let it dry over night. I then put my best mixture on it and it looks much like one of capt. Jack's oil/wax treated hats, which is what I was going for. It's also super weather resistant. Only problem is, it's a bit tricky to keep the hat from losing shape in the arcylic phase of the process. Easy enough to reform when dried thoroughly though. All in all, I'd call it success.

-Pipes-

Edited September 29, 2010 by Mr. Pipes