Hat block making

A hat block is used in the process of shaping and stiffening hat forms. Each block is created to form the style and size of the finished hat. Some hats require a block for the brim and a block for the crown, dependent on the style of hat being formed. Crowns have measured holes in the bottom, these are for hat stands which gives a better working height, makes the hat easier to be shaped when they are blocked and enables the newly formed hat to be pulled of the block with greater ease. The types of wood used to make the hat blocks often depends on the country of their origin. In Luton, seasoned Sycamore and Alder were often used.

In the process of forming a hat block, measurements must be carefully taken, ensuring that all the pieces align. Some blocks are divided into sections, commonly five. This allows the different pieces to be taken apart and assembled back together and allows the block to be removed without deforming the hat. Wooden hat blocks are essential to make hats for small bespoke commissions.

Aluminium is a more modern process developed for factories to produce long production runs where hats are blocked on a machine. The pans are in two parts, male and female. The metal will withstand the pressure, heat and steam of the blocking machines. Examples in museum collections show that metal blocks have also made from iron and spelter.
In hat factories milliners used cheaper plaster blocks to check size and shape. There were also blocks made of ‘composition’ materials.

Although hat blocks probably date to the earliest shaped hats, the first reference to a Hat-Block Turner appears in 1724. Hat Block Making was considered a highly skilled trade, a Master Blockmakers’ Association was formed in 1896. Within the hat industries of Greater Manchester, Luton and Warwickshire, the making of hat blocks was often kept as a specific department within the factory. Hat blocks are closely related to the final design and had to be kept secret from competitors. Blockmakers working outside the company building were expected to keep their work secret and could be identified in Luton as they walked through the town carrying the blocks in sacks.

• Experience with traditional hand woodworking tools
• Ability to work to fine tolerances and finishes
• Joinery
• Wood-carving
• Sculpture
• Wood turning
• Hand tools used include: planes, spokeshaves, gouges, hand saws, rasps.

Also need to have experience using common woodworking machinery including planer/thicknesser, bandsaw, lathe, sanders, routers etc. as well as hand operated power tools.

Specialist techniques are required for making aluminium blocks, such as casting and making a plaster or wood form for the cast.

• Wooden hat block making – these are mostly supplied to milliners for small, bespoke commissions
• Metal hat block making – these are supplied to companies who mass produce hats. This is the most endangered part of the craft with only one remaining manufacturer in Luton.

• Market issues: The making of aluminium hat blocks is now carried out by one company, Boon & Lane, in Luton. The decline of the hat making trade in Luton could threaten the hat block making trade in turn.
• Business issues: The current energy costs are creating a real and serious threat to ongoing viability.
• Business issues: Boon and Lane are the last licenced foundry in the centre of Luton, where there was once a thriving hat trade.
• Market issues: Demand for wooden hat blocks has dropped as people are buying cheaper plastic 3D printed versions. My only source is customers telling me this and seeing hatters and milliners referring people to 3D printers to others online.
• Use of modern materials: Some hat block companies now make their blocks from (XPS) foam board which is much cheaper to ship and their prices are also much cheaper. There are also courses available to teach others how to make blocks from this material. This also threatens the viability of wooden hat blocks for the future.
• Training and recruitment issues: There is a decline in courses teaching carpentry and cabinet making, which is threatening skills and makes it difficult to recruit people with skills.

• Boon & Lane Ltd – based in Luton, Bedfordshire. The only manufacturers to make both wooden and metal hat blocks.
• Guy Morse Brown – based in Chippenham, Wiltshire.
• Hat Blocks Direct – based in West Midlands.

• Stockport Hat Works Museum
• Wardown House Museum and Art Gallery, Luton*
  *Holds a large collection of hat blocks from the early 1800s onwards, blockmaking tools,
  photographs, literature.

Our thanks go to our 2025 informants:

• Steve Lane
• Guy Morse-Brown Hat Blocks Ltd.

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