Turning a Wooden Hat

By Larry Hancock

I want to start by saying I probably never would have thought of making a wearable wooden hat on my own. Johannes Mi-
chelsen is the first turner, to my knowledge, to turn such a hat and introduced it to the public. I personally have never seen him
demonstrate but I have read articles he wrote and have seen a video of him turning. This along with the help from fellow turners
that have seen him demonstrate in person enabled me to turn my first hat. I would someday like to meet him in person and watch
him demonstrate in person. Please visit his site (woodhat.com) to learn more about his hats, process and video.

The first step in turning a hat is to select your wood. It needs to be a fresh piece with no cracks or checks and preferably a light
colored wood so the light shines through easily while turning. You want to select the blank from a straight and clear area of the
trunk without any limbs or visible defects. You do not want to start your first hat with a piece of wood that will cause undue
problems while turning or shaping. I use sycamore mainly because it is easy to get in large diameters here and makes a good-
looking hat, it will also shape oval easily. I used hackberry for this hat and it worked very well.

This is a crossgrain oriented turning; the grain of the blank is oriented perpendicular to the axis of the lathe. We are taking
advantage of the woods natural tendency to shrink in width to help shape the hat oval so grain alignment and orientation is
important. Make the cut from the log section parallel to the pith, avoiding any cracks radiating from it. The brim side of the hat
is located toward the center of the log and the crown is on the bark side.

There are no special tools or light setups actually needed to complete this project. Johannes uses a light run through the head-
stock spindle of the lathe to turn the top but I have never found this necessary and lathes like the Poolewood have no access
through the headstock for this so I will show you the way I reverse turn the top to finished thickness. The only tool required
for this turning is a bowl gouge. A simple frame for holding and shaping the hat once turned, that you can make yourself, is the
only special piece needed.

Tutorial by Larry Hancock • Photos and Text by Larry Hancock

Distributed by Craft Supplies USA
April 2006

1
 I use a 5/8” bowl gouge as the main
tool for turning a hat. It is side ground
using the Oneway wolverine-grinding
jig.
After seeing Stuart Batty turn, I now
grind my small 1/4” through 1/2” bowl
gouges with a grind similar to a spindle
gouge profile with a secondary bevel.
The bevel angle is less than 90 degrees
so it will reach into tighter areas than
the gouge above. I use this gouge to
turn the tenon to fit the chuck and to
make the inside cuts up to the brim.
Being fresh cut, they are very heavy.
I start between centers so I can adjust
the blank for grain orientation and to
eliminate any defects I find before I
turn a tenon to fit in the chuck. Since I
do not want the blank ending up com-
ing off the lathe at this early stage, I
drive the four-prong spur center into
the blank for a more secure seat.
While I am chain sawing the blank to a
rough round shape I go ahead and cut
away some of the bark parallel to the
sawn side. This is where the tailstock
will seat. I remove bark where my tail-
stock center will be to get down to a
harder area of the blank for a better
grip.
If the bark were loose, I would go ahead
and remove it before starting the lathe
to avoid it flying off.
I start the turning of all hats (actually
everything like bowls, hollow forms,
etc.) between centers on the lathe. This
allows me freedom to manipulate the
blank by changing the spur or tailstock
center location to achieve the desired
grain orientation, which is very impor-
tant in this project.
Make sure the blank has a clear path
to rotate before starting the lathe. Ad-
just the tool rest and rotate the blank
by hand first.
This picture shows a line drawn to indi-
cate the centerline of the heart through
the blank with the spur center seated on
the line. I can now make adjustments
on the tailstock side if needed for better
grain orientation.
2
Its time to start roughing out the blank.
I am using a 3/4” bowl gouge with the
flute facing my body and cutting in a
pulling motion toward me. I start the
roughing at about 300 to 400 rpm. As
the roughing proceeds, the speed is in-
creased. Variable speed drives are very
nice for their ability to fine tune speed
to minimize vibration. This lathe has a
three-step pulley system and I have it
on the slowest pulley to maximize torque.
The blank roughly coned shaped now
with the crown of the hat at the tailstock
end of the lathe. I have aligned the grain
as I want it and checked for any defects
in the wood I can see at this stage.
You can see a crack in the edge of this
blank and a small knot that I will need
to remove so it will not be in the finished
piece. This can wait until after reversing
the blank in the chuck.
Now that I am satisfied with the blank
orientation, I can turn a tenon to mount
the blank in the chuck and start shaping
the exterior of the hat.
I do not try to turn the finished profile
of the hat until the blank is in the chuck.
Some run out usually occurs when re-
versed, so I save the finish turning until
then. Uniform thickness throughout this
turning is important so true up the blank
after reversing.
This blank is not close to the finished shape but I wanted to men-
tion it at this point because many turners expect the blank to run
perfectly when reversed. I expect some truing of the blank will be
needed after reversing so I save finish cuts and sanding until then.
The blank reversed and the tenon se-
cured in the chuck. A faceplate with
screws will work in place of the chuck.
Just remember the depth the screws go in
so they do not end up through the top of
the finished hat.
The blank mounted in the chuck and the
tailstock is supporting the outboard end.
The wood grain could break in line with
the chuck jaws since this is cross grain
oriented. It is always best to keep the
tailstock in contact until it is necessary
to move it out of the way for hollowing
just as a precaution.
If you want your hat to actually fit the dimensions of your head
so you can wear it you need to have those dimensions ready now,
actually when the blank was selected.
You measure the diameter of your head from front to back with
some type of caliper and from side to side in line where a hat
would sit on your head. For example, my head measures 8” front
to back in diameter and 6” side to side. Take these two dimensions,
add them together and get the average, for me it is 7”. Now you
need to add 3/4” to this to get the outside diameter the hat should
measure at the hatband. The extra 3/4” is for 1/2” wood shrinkage
and a 1/4” for the thickness at the band area, 1/8” doubled. The
thickness of the hat throughout is 5/64” to 3/32”. I turn one for
myself that is 7 3/4” diameter measured at the outside of the band.
Different woods will have different shrinkage so you will have to
experiment some with what you use to get it exactly right. You can
also turn the hat slightly oversize and add a sweatband with pad-
ding to make a better fit.
A flexible curve ruler can also be used to measure around your
head. This will give you a template of the exact shape of your
head to go by while shaping the hat in the frame later. You can find
flexible rulers in the drafting section of most art and office supply
stores.
Shaping the profile. The side ground
gouge held nearly horizontal can remove
wood quickly. If the lathe has enough
torque the gouge will remove shavings
as wide as the sharpened side is long.
This does not give the best finish cut on
the wood but is a fast way to get down
to where we want to start the finishing
cuts.
The gouge held with the flute facing the
direction of cut. Rotate the gouge flute
back enough to allow the bottom cutting
edge to lead the cut.
When taking heavy cuts the gouge needs
to be controlled with a firm grip. An
overhand grip pressing the tool down on
the tool rest and the other hand holding
the tool firmly against the side makes it
manageable.
One of the gouge techniques I use
for finishing cuts is to have the
length of the gouge nearly vertical
and the bevel rubbing. It is like tak-
ing a skew cut along the blank. The
shavings come off the gouge straight
down because of the alignment of the
flute. The cutting edge here is ground
very acute so there is very little resis-
tance, and the wood cuts cleanly. The
edge profile of the gouge is slightly
convex and like using a radius edged skew.
3
A view from the back of the gouge. The
shavings come off the cutting edge as
long tight spirals or long and straight de-
pending on the area of the cutting edge
used and exact angle of the edge to the
lathe axis.
View of the difference between the sur-
faces to the left using a vertical gouge
oriented cut and one to right using a more
horizontal roughing bowl gouge cut.
A close-up of the woods surface. There
is no room for sanding out any kind of
defect later when the hat is thin so make
sure that the surface is without any
chipped, uneven or torn areas now be-
fore proceeding to turn to the final thick-
ness.
The outside profile of the hat sized to the
right diameter and the surface clean cut.
The hat has a brim 3 1/2” wide and is
almost 14 1/2” in diameter. You can see
I taper from small at the crown to larger
diameter at the band. If the sides are
straight, the sides above the band will
bulge out wider than the band when it
dries. The brim is sloped down from the
band and reverse turned back up slightly
on the outer edge to give a good shape to the brim.
Sand the topside of the brim now while it is thick and running true.
The grain will raise some later and need hand sanding but this cuts
down on the amount of sanding needed later.
Start at the outer edge to thin the brim to
final thickness. I am using a pulling cut
from the center to the edge. The gouge is
roughly at a 45-degree angle to the lathe
axis. The flute facing in the direction of
the cut.
Control the cut by placing the heel of the
hand on the tool rest and flexing the fin-
gers to pull the gouge into the cut. A slip
made now could shatter the thin area of
the brim.
The first inch of the brim is 3/32” thick.
The light shining through the wood acts
as a visual thickness gauge while turn-
ing.
 Continue turning the brim to final thick-
ness in small steps until the brim is all
a uniform thickness. Make sure that the
wood has no tear out or uneven thickness
before moving to another step. There is
no coming back to correct defective ar-
eas so fix them as you go. With the wood
this thin, it will loose moisture fast and
begin to warp. Even if soaked with water
again it will loose the moisture quickly
as it spins.
Turn a couple of steps and sand that area. Check the wood surface
and then continue turning. When the wood is dry, it may reveal
some defects that are not visible while wet.
Expect to sharpen the gouge often when making this cut. The sharp
edge is presented at 90-degrees to the wood’s spinning surface.
This wears away the edge faster than a cut where the bevel rubs
the wood.
The brim turned to final thickness. You
can see the differences in the light shin-
ing through the lighter wood and the
dark spalted wood. This can make it
harder to get a true sense of thickness us-
ing the light as a gauge alone. Measure
with calipers to make sure the thickness
is consistent.
I start hollowing on the inside with the
lathe rotation reversed. I can cut down
the side without having to lean over the
lathe bed this way and keep the gouge
handle close to my body for control. I
can put the light behind the hat now to
see the hollowing progress. I use a One-
way chuck and it has set screws that lock
down on the spindle to prevent unscrew-
ing it. I am using a side ground gouge to
remove the bulk of the wood.
The hat turned to final thickness past the
hatband area; we can now burnish the
band. You can use an air compressor to
blow moisture out now. Make sure the
band has a finished surface before the
burnishing starts.
The light will shine through the hat dif-
ferently from the brim to the crown. The
brim is flat grain and the light does not
shine through it as easy. In addition, at
this stage it will be drier and not allow the light to penetrate as
well. The crown of the hat is endgrain (like looking into the end of
a straw) and lets the light pass through easily. This means that you
have to keep turning until the glow of the light is much brighter
than it was on the brim. Measure the crown thickness until it is
right and then use the glow through that area as a guide to pro-
ceed.
Sand the exterior of the hat around the
band now. This also helps to dry the sur-
face in preparation for burnishing.
4
Use a thin strip of rosewood or ebony
held with the narrow edge vertical rub-
bing against the wood to shade the band.
A lathe speed between 1200 RPM and
1800 RPM will work to burnish. The
brim will be pretty dry and warped now
so a real high speed with it unsupported
might break it. Small surface checks
may appear in the endgrain areas be-
cause of the heat generate. Do not worry
too much about this; the checks close back up as the wood has a
chance to dry.
The band burnished and the inside hol-
lowed to thickness where you can see
the glow of light. Now hollowing can be
finished.
Now we can proceed with removing the
rest of the interior. I have my lathe rota-
tion reversed so I can turn without lean-
ing over the bed and I have the light out
of the way on the backside of the lathe.
This is not necessary- just more com-
fortable. You could always stand on the
backside of the lathe and do your cutting
if your lathe does not reverse, accom-
plishing the same thing I am doing. I am
using my bowl gouge with the spindle gouge grind on the inside
here.
The interior is finished but I have a dark
ring at the top and it is not the wood. I
usually cut a relief of about 1/4” wide
and 1/2” deep between the chuck jaws
and the top of the hat once I have hol-
lowed a ways in so I can see the light
and know when I have reached the top. I
neglected to cut that relief this time and
almost turned through the top of the hat.
Here you can see that thin ring I was talk-
ing about. It happens to all of us at one time or another, if you take
chances and do not do everything perfect you will turn through the
bottom of a bowl or the top of a hat. If it were easy, though it would
take the challenge out of it and not be near as great a feeling on
those rare occasions when everything does work out just right.
I work with a lot of green wood and
this is my standard method for revers-
ing to turn away the wood that was in
the chuck. It works just as well for re-
versing the hat. You do not have to make
a light that goes through the headstock
spindle; many lathes do not have through
bored spindles anyway. Using the meth-
od above with a spindle turned round to
about 1 1/4” diameter and a piece of non
slip padding I can turn any hollow form, natural edge bowl or other
warped or uneven surfaced turning without any trouble. Clamping
force from the tailstock holds the hat in place. I still have the center
mark from my original between center setting before I mounted
the blank in the chuck so it is easy to recenter when reversed.
 The hat crown compressed between the
wood on one side and the cup of the tail-
stock center on the other side. With this
method, the wood I am actually cutting
is supported and not the band area where
no work is going on. With a thicker proj-
ect like the foot of a bowl, this would not
be much of a concern.
You can see the ring of light near the
edge of the tenon where I nearly turned
through. The lathe speed needs to be
slow to finish the turning because of a lot
of unsupported wood spinning around.
If I had used a waste block to press the
hat on at the brim side, the wood at the
crown would not be supported and the
pressure of cutting could break the top
out.
There is plenty of room around the small
spindle for a light to shine inside the
hat.
I could also jam chuck the hat on a waste
block and finish the turning by listen-
ing to the sound of the wood as it thins.
The hat can be removed from the waste
block, checked for thickness and then
pressed back on to turn away more if
needed. One of the problems of pressing
a thin wet wood onto a dry wood waste
block is trying to remove it. Turn the
waste block small enough in diameter to
put some masking tape on. Now you do
not have the transfer of moisture and it will be easier to remove. If
you use this method, still be careful removing the hat.
I am using a pulling cut to slowly turn
the wood to final thickness. Since the
top is crown shaped the cut is with the
grain.
All that is left now is to turn the last of
the waste off the crown. Turning the re-
mainder away and parting through or
cutting through with a handsaw are two
options for this. Both options will get
the same result. You just need to decide
what you are most comfortable doing.
I have turned the last of the waste wood
down and parted through leaving a small
area to sand. Since the hat is held by
compression, it will stop turning once
the pressure is relieved. I also have a re-
mote stop button that I can position close
to my hip. That leaves my hands free to
hold the hat with one hand, the tool in
the other and stop the lathe with my hip
just before parting completely through,
the lathe will coast to a stop as I finish the cut. Since the grain of
the wood and the cut are in the same direction, it is easy to part
through.
The shaping frame. I made this frame for
shaping hats after seeing a video segment
of Johannes Michelsen at an American
Association of Woodturners symposium.
It is best to let the hat set for about 12
hours after turning so the wood can loose
most all it’s moisture before trying to
bend the brim. After I heard about this,
I have not had any brims crack as I did when taking the hat right
from the lathe to the frame. You can also use a light set over the hat
to dry it quicker and the heat seems to help it bend easier also. Do
not hurry the shaping. This is where I have broken hat brims trying
to force the shape too quick. As the hat dries it, will shrink and you
can slowly tighten the clamp and adjust the rubber bands. Leave
the hat in the frame for 2 to 4 days to let the hat develop a memory
and stay bent when removed from the frame.
There is a square of wood at the bottom
and four upright pieces with two concave
shaped clamp faces at the top. Two piec-
es on the sides with holes drilled through
for the thread and wing nuts to apply
clamping pressure. Wrap rubber bands
over the brim and down to the frame to
control shape.
Side view of the hat and the arrangement
of the rubber bands. You can see the hat
is already turning down at the front and
the back. I have sheepskin seatbelt cov-
ers on the sidepieces to prevent scratch-
ing or marring the wood surface when
clamping.
Top view of the hat with rubber bands
stretched over it.
It never hurts to have a model for your
hats that lives under the same roof.