How were felt hats made "back then?"
Robert Hooke, born 1635, was a "scientific inquirer" who was a council member and "curator of experiments" for the Royal Society of London. His handwritten (never-published ) speech notes for a presentation he made to the Royal Society in February of 1666 provide us with the earliest contemporary description of the felting and hatmaking process.
His description is remarkable in its detail and clarity.) Although not impossible to read and understand it did take me several passes through it, rephrasing the steps in my own words and correcting some spelling issues ( i.e "haft" should be "hatt") to feel that I completely comprehended his descriptions. I also had to look up what "leese" might be. For my redaction of the latter half of this process - go Here
Mr Hooke's writings answered so many of my questions, including the ubiquitous "What did they use for hat stiffening?" that I have included his report below in its entirety with minimum edits just to make it readable. I primarily broke it into paragraphs; I did not change or correct any spelling or capitalizations.
he notes in the brackets are by Rosemary Weinstein, assumably from her book The History of the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers 1604- 2004, Chichester, Phillimore 2004. (Which I have ordered just now on Amazon!) Ms Weinstein's descriptions of the revisions that Mr Hooke made in his speech notes were extremely helpful, since I have not seen Mr Hooke's original handwritten notes myself.
Hooke also, most thoughtfully, provided an illustration which was intended to accompany a printed version of his report (which never happened) which further clarifies the process.
His description is remarkable in its detail and clarity.) Although not impossible to read and understand it did take me several passes through it, rephrasing the steps in my own words and correcting some spelling issues ( i.e "haft" should be "hatt") to feel that I completely comprehended his descriptions. I also had to look up what "leese" might be. For my redaction of the latter half of this process - go Here
Mr Hooke's writings answered so many of my questions, including the ubiquitous "What did they use for hat stiffening?" that I have included his report below in its entirety with minimum edits just to make it readable. I primarily broke it into paragraphs; I did not change or correct any spelling or capitalizations.
he notes in the brackets are by Rosemary Weinstein, assumably from her book The History of the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers 1604- 2004, Chichester, Phillimore 2004. (Which I have ordered just now on Amazon!) Ms Weinstein's descriptions of the revisions that Mr Hooke made in his speech notes were extremely helpful, since I have not seen Mr Hooke's original handwritten notes myself.
Hooke also, most thoughtfully, provided an illustration which was intended to accompany a printed version of his report (which never happened) which further clarifies the process.
Illustration of felt-makers at work, drawn to accompany the printed version of a report by Robert Hooke ‘An Account of the Feltmakers Trade’. The report was delivered at the Royal Society on 21 February 1666 but it seems not to have been printed.
NOTE: I have purchased the rights to publish this image on this website.
(See what I do for you? I know. I'm really THAT awesome.) Please don't go and copy this image without also contacting the copyright holder and obtaining the appropriate license for its use:
https://pictures.royalsociety.org/image-rs-9108
(See what I do for you? I know. I'm really THAT awesome.) Please don't go and copy this image without also contacting the copyright holder and obtaining the appropriate license for its use:
https://pictures.royalsociety.org/image-rs-9108
The way of making felts
by Robert Hooke, Lecture to the Royal Society, February 1666
Quoted from The felt hat industry of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, 1530-1909 by Dr Chris Heal , Appendix 12, pg 500
Square brackets contain Hooke's corrections, as [insert], unless otherwise stated, usually as deletions, as (deleted: xxx). Letters and numbers in brackets refer to drawings on Hooke's illustration.
The Felt [deleted: mongers] makers buy [all] their wooll from the glovers, who pull it off from their sheepskins It is a shorter & finer wool than that which is shorne [being only that which [deleted: grows between] is pull oft from the Skins of Sheep kild between sheer time and michaelmas and is a soft & bright wooll] and therefore most fitt for their use because wt is shorne is of a longer groth & so has a greater length and discourser [they make use also of fine lambs wool shorne as also of the best Spanish woole & of red wool and goat hair which is call[ed] camels hair] their sheeps wooll they putt into [boyling] chamber ly & water [half water half ly] and suffer it to soak for '/" howre then they pamp it and beat it well to & fro wth the end of a bord or space till they have scowred out all the dirt and grease then they wash it well wth their hands in a river till the wooll becomes very cleane & white [thus they order also all their spanish wool and camels wool] after which they wring it well & lay it forth in some clean place - to dry [their lambs wool they wash only in hott water and sope till they hang very well & thoroughly sco[wered] ]
after this they give it to the carders who wt small Cards] (such as they make locks [with and repare their wooll] for spinning) all over break it and open and card [it into] light & cleer locks, these locks they dry very well, then they tae about a dozen or more of them & place them confusedly upon their bord (which is shott th many small nimselus [? ] that the dust may fall through [and is therefore called a Hurdle) just under the bow.
Then the operator taking hold of his bow [deleted: string] wth his left hand and holding his bowstick wth his right he pulls his bowstring and let it strike into the heap of locks which quickly tears, opens, mingles and [as it were] frothes [? ] the woole, after they have thus several) times struck in the bowstring through the middle of it then they [illegible] held their bow [illegible] soe that the string being struck or left goe may [with the end of its vibrating motion] just touch the surface[e] or outsides of the opend wooll, the manner of this motion of the bowstring is this, wth their left hand they hold fast the bow [insert deleted] and suffer the smaller [or farther] end of it to rest Lightly on the top of the wooll then wth the bowstick in the right hand they draw the string downwards till the string of itself slips off from the round end of the bowstick, as it slips off they soe terne the bow wth their left hand that the string may move a little upward & soe strik up the wooll & make it fly like flakes of snow or froth, or like small down feathers, and this motion of their hand is helped by the small string, one end of wch is fastned to the Seeling the other to the bow for such a manner that only leaning hard on the bow [deleted: ... ngstick] will make the [bow] string rise upwards at least the bow if soe conterpay'd thereby, that [the] hand can very easily hold it in any posture or move it in any manner requesite, thus does the artist continue striking this string till he have raisd a sufficient quantity of this downy wooll, to make a heap big enough to make a batt [as they terme it] or flake of wool) which serves afterwards to make the felt for the hatt. A haft therefore is a heap of this frothy or Downy wooll whose edges are shapd after a peculiar manner by the hands as it lyes in froth and then batted or prest downe wth the hands for as to make it ly somewt cloaser together, the hight of the heap [in the middle] before they press it downe wth their hands is usually about 10 or 12 inches [deleted: high] above the board, but after it is batted downe wth the hands it is usually about 2 or 3. Of these for every ordinary haft they usually make 12 which they thus terme, the four first they lay they call the [deleted: wrong] right side or outside batts. two of them are brimbatts [outside or bordering batts, outside] & two crown batts the next four they putt on they call middle batts [these are much thicker then the side batt because two of the lye one upon another but these lye single] that is two middle brimbatts & two middle crown batts, [deleted: last of all] the [laste] foure they putt on they call the wrongside batts that is two wrongside brimbatts & two wrongside crown batts.
the manner of the putting on of all Wch is thus -- They, having plac'd a pan of coles under their bason & soe brought it to a convenient heat Lay on it a peice of canvass about an ell square [which they call a beforming [? ] cloth] and moisten it wth a litte fair water which stands by them in a pott wth a small bough in it [word deleted] with which they take up the water & sprinkle the cloth; having spread the cloth they lay on the first outside brim batt upon that part of the cloth w°h is over the bason & sprinkling it wth a little water they lay on also the 1St outside crown batt, and sOe wth their han[rest of line lost] batt & press them well together, then they place or spread upon the top of these their inlayer or inlaying canvass made of the fashion represented in the figure [in left margin: Fig 2) and batt them a while together over the bacon' then they fold or tame [? ] up all the sides or edges of the batts that ly beyond the edges of the inlaying cloth & then place on the 2d [outside] crown batt, sprinkling it a little & batting or pressing it downe wth their hands, then place on the 2d outside brimbatt and wth both hands they nimbly turne that side undermost then turne up the edges over the former batts & press them all over gently wth their hands, then as it lyes smooth in this posture they lay for fold the "" Of] the cloth smoo[th] all over it & wrap it up, & fold it two or 3 times over & for sprinkling it wth a litle water they press it and rowle it to & fro under their hands upon the bason a pretty while till it be pretty well setled together then they unfold off their ca[n]vas & opening the felt, wth their hands they peep under [& look through it] to see if there be any part extraordinarily more thinn then the rest & this they stop & thicken wth small locks of wooll, bowstri[n]g'd in the same manner as the batts, this they call stopping, and the wooll they call stopping wooll.
when they have thus pretty well stopt the holes [and thickened the thinner parts] they gently wth one hand lifting up the upper half of ye felt wth the other take out the middle cloth and turne the felt soe that the edges [or folds] may now lye in the middle & the middle they fold & mak[e] to ly on the edges. then [Raising againe put in their Inlayer to keep it from sticking together] they place upon the top of these the 4 midde batts in the same manner as they did the 4 first, and wrapping them up in their [basoning] canvas as before they sprinkle rowle & press them as before [word cancelled] and thus work them to & fro a pretty while [on their hott bason till the parts [? ] of the wooll] begin to penetrate each other & to stick together, after this they open them & [deleted: taking out the] lifting up the sides & peeping as before they stop all the thin places wth their stopping wool, then they take out their middle cloth as before, & turne it as before, [that is lay the folds of the felt in the middle and fold the last or midde batts just through ye midd... ] & lay on the 4 last batts calld the wrongside batts in the same manner as they did the 4 middle ones, and order them in the same manner wrapting [? ], sprinkling, pressing, rowling, turning, peeping, & stopping, till they have made it stick fast together and work or shrink into one another and thus they continue basoning of the felt till they have wrought it pretty well together and that it have a pretty smooth surface and a pretty close consistence [or texture] which usually holds them about 3 hours
time
when that is done they roule them [or fold them] up & soe tye there [wth strings] in a readiness for boyling. thus they continue making their felts till they have a sufficient number of them to fill their furnace, then they fill their furnace half wth wine or chamber lye & half wth water, and putt in all their felts together & soe keep them boyling in this liquor for the space of 6 or 8 hours for more] till they be sufficiently prepard & together softned [as they say]
Then they take them out and open them & lay them to dry a litle. Then they fill their furnace [illegible deletion] allmost full with water & putt into it about a 10th or 12 part of winelees & Cause it to boyle and cease [? ] then they throw in a felt they are going to work till it be thorough hott & soakd then they take it out & work it on their plank [in margin: Fig. 3d] [word deleted] working and rowling it to and fro under their hands till they have wrought together & shrunk it into about a quarter of the first biggness which operation usually holds them 3,4 or 5 howres according as they would make the haft better or worse the manner of wch laborious operation is thus.
They first putt on upon both hands a pair of cuffes [or soles] which are two flat peices of felt about [deleted: the] 5 inches broad &8 or 9 in leng these lye next to the [palmes of their] hands and each of these are fastned a double sole [? ] of a shoe soe as to make them thick & first these they fasten onto the palmes of their hand tying the uper part onto their arm by a waist band & the fore end Wth a small band about their middle finger (as may be more plainly seen by the figure) [in left margin: Fig. 4th] being thus cuffd they lay the felt on the plank & taking out some of their hott lees they throw it on their felt and folding some part of it under their hand they roule it & press it with their [deleted: hands] [cuffs or soles] continuing to work every part of it thus till they have shrunk it well this they call waksing of a felt. if any part of it does shrink faster than the rest they roule that part about their workepin & soe rowling it under their hands they sretch it out and make it strech as far as it ought this they help also twistd [? ] something wth their hands thus they continue working or waking of it for 3 or 4 res and as their liquor wasts they putt in more lees which does a title promote the shrink [ing] And if they should putt in too much lees at first the haft would when they [too fast] the have thus workt their felt in lees [till they have made it of a convenient bigness]
after this they give it to the carders who wt small Cards] (such as they make locks [with and repare their wooll] for spinning) all over break it and open and card [it into] light & cleer locks, these locks they dry very well, then they tae about a dozen or more of them & place them confusedly upon their bord (which is shott th many small nimselus [? ] that the dust may fall through [and is therefore called a Hurdle) just under the bow.
Then the operator taking hold of his bow [deleted: string] wth his left hand and holding his bowstick wth his right he pulls his bowstring and let it strike into the heap of locks which quickly tears, opens, mingles and [as it were] frothes [? ] the woole, after they have thus several) times struck in the bowstring through the middle of it then they [illegible] held their bow [illegible] soe that the string being struck or left goe may [with the end of its vibrating motion] just touch the surface[e] or outsides of the opend wooll, the manner of this motion of the bowstring is this, wth their left hand they hold fast the bow [insert deleted] and suffer the smaller [or farther] end of it to rest Lightly on the top of the wooll then wth the bowstick in the right hand they draw the string downwards till the string of itself slips off from the round end of the bowstick, as it slips off they soe terne the bow wth their left hand that the string may move a little upward & soe strik up the wooll & make it fly like flakes of snow or froth, or like small down feathers, and this motion of their hand is helped by the small string, one end of wch is fastned to the Seeling the other to the bow for such a manner that only leaning hard on the bow [deleted: ... ngstick] will make the [bow] string rise upwards at least the bow if soe conterpay'd thereby, that [the] hand can very easily hold it in any posture or move it in any manner requesite, thus does the artist continue striking this string till he have raisd a sufficient quantity of this downy wooll, to make a heap big enough to make a batt [as they terme it] or flake of wool) which serves afterwards to make the felt for the hatt. A haft therefore is a heap of this frothy or Downy wooll whose edges are shapd after a peculiar manner by the hands as it lyes in froth and then batted or prest downe wth the hands for as to make it ly somewt cloaser together, the hight of the heap [in the middle] before they press it downe wth their hands is usually about 10 or 12 inches [deleted: high] above the board, but after it is batted downe wth the hands it is usually about 2 or 3. Of these for every ordinary haft they usually make 12 which they thus terme, the four first they lay they call the [deleted: wrong] right side or outside batts. two of them are brimbatts [outside or bordering batts, outside] & two crown batts the next four they putt on they call middle batts [these are much thicker then the side batt because two of the lye one upon another but these lye single] that is two middle brimbatts & two middle crown batts, [deleted: last of all] the [laste] foure they putt on they call the wrongside batts that is two wrongside brimbatts & two wrongside crown batts.
the manner of the putting on of all Wch is thus -- They, having plac'd a pan of coles under their bason & soe brought it to a convenient heat Lay on it a peice of canvass about an ell square [which they call a beforming [? ] cloth] and moisten it wth a litte fair water which stands by them in a pott wth a small bough in it [word deleted] with which they take up the water & sprinkle the cloth; having spread the cloth they lay on the first outside brim batt upon that part of the cloth w°h is over the bason & sprinkling it wth a little water they lay on also the 1St outside crown batt, and sOe wth their han[rest of line lost] batt & press them well together, then they place or spread upon the top of these their inlayer or inlaying canvass made of the fashion represented in the figure [in left margin: Fig 2) and batt them a while together over the bacon' then they fold or tame [? ] up all the sides or edges of the batts that ly beyond the edges of the inlaying cloth & then place on the 2d [outside] crown batt, sprinkling it a little & batting or pressing it downe wth their hands, then place on the 2d outside brimbatt and wth both hands they nimbly turne that side undermost then turne up the edges over the former batts & press them all over gently wth their hands, then as it lyes smooth in this posture they lay for fold the "" Of] the cloth smoo[th] all over it & wrap it up, & fold it two or 3 times over & for sprinkling it wth a litle water they press it and rowle it to & fro under their hands upon the bason a pretty while till it be pretty well setled together then they unfold off their ca[n]vas & opening the felt, wth their hands they peep under [& look through it] to see if there be any part extraordinarily more thinn then the rest & this they stop & thicken wth small locks of wooll, bowstri[n]g'd in the same manner as the batts, this they call stopping, and the wooll they call stopping wooll.
when they have thus pretty well stopt the holes [and thickened the thinner parts] they gently wth one hand lifting up the upper half of ye felt wth the other take out the middle cloth and turne the felt soe that the edges [or folds] may now lye in the middle & the middle they fold & mak[e] to ly on the edges. then [Raising againe put in their Inlayer to keep it from sticking together] they place upon the top of these the 4 midde batts in the same manner as they did the 4 first, and wrapping them up in their [basoning] canvas as before they sprinkle rowle & press them as before [word cancelled] and thus work them to & fro a pretty while [on their hott bason till the parts [? ] of the wooll] begin to penetrate each other & to stick together, after this they open them & [deleted: taking out the] lifting up the sides & peeping as before they stop all the thin places wth their stopping wool, then they take out their middle cloth as before, & turne it as before, [that is lay the folds of the felt in the middle and fold the last or midde batts just through ye midd... ] & lay on the 4 last batts calld the wrongside batts in the same manner as they did the 4 middle ones, and order them in the same manner wrapting [? ], sprinkling, pressing, rowling, turning, peeping, & stopping, till they have made it stick fast together and work or shrink into one another and thus they continue basoning of the felt till they have wrought it pretty well together and that it have a pretty smooth surface and a pretty close consistence [or texture] which usually holds them about 3 hours
time
when that is done they roule them [or fold them] up & soe tye there [wth strings] in a readiness for boyling. thus they continue making their felts till they have a sufficient number of them to fill their furnace, then they fill their furnace half wth wine or chamber lye & half wth water, and putt in all their felts together & soe keep them boyling in this liquor for the space of 6 or 8 hours for more] till they be sufficiently prepard & together softned [as they say]
Then they take them out and open them & lay them to dry a litle. Then they fill their furnace [illegible deletion] allmost full with water & putt into it about a 10th or 12 part of winelees & Cause it to boyle and cease [? ] then they throw in a felt they are going to work till it be thorough hott & soakd then they take it out & work it on their plank [in margin: Fig. 3d] [word deleted] working and rowling it to and fro under their hands till they have wrought together & shrunk it into about a quarter of the first biggness which operation usually holds them 3,4 or 5 howres according as they would make the haft better or worse the manner of wch laborious operation is thus.
They first putt on upon both hands a pair of cuffes [or soles] which are two flat peices of felt about [deleted: the] 5 inches broad &8 or 9 in leng these lye next to the [palmes of their] hands and each of these are fastned a double sole [? ] of a shoe soe as to make them thick & first these they fasten onto the palmes of their hand tying the uper part onto their arm by a waist band & the fore end Wth a small band about their middle finger (as may be more plainly seen by the figure) [in left margin: Fig. 4th] being thus cuffd they lay the felt on the plank & taking out some of their hott lees they throw it on their felt and folding some part of it under their hand they roule it & press it with their [deleted: hands] [cuffs or soles] continuing to work every part of it thus till they have shrunk it well this they call waksing of a felt. if any part of it does shrink faster than the rest they roule that part about their workepin & soe rowling it under their hands they sretch it out and make it strech as far as it ought this they help also twistd [? ] something wth their hands thus they continue working or waking of it for 3 or 4 res and as their liquor wasts they putt in more lees which does a title promote the shrink [ing] And if they should putt in too much lees at first the haft would when they [too fast] the have thus workt their felt in lees [till they have made it of a convenient bigness]
they take their place of wt fashion they please and a little braking in the crowne for that the felt will stand like a dish. they take a Pott of hot leese out of ye furnace & fill it letting it strand till it be well soakd & sotfned then they throw out all the lees & sett their block on the plank. Wth their hands they straine on the felt upon the block, [word deleted) and wth their [word deleted] stamping iron they scrape or shove out the lees out of that part of the felt which is about the block, then wth a pumice stone & cold water they take [or rubb] off all the rough part or Grapp from the crowne and then wash oft all the shavings wth their hott lees and wth their stamping iron rubb or squeez it clean out againe
then they take a mixture of wheating [word deleted] flower & water [which is for the stifning of the crowne] & with it they wash over all the crowne [if they intend their hat to be black they, instead of this flower, make use of past [? ] or beaze [? ]
lees and rubb it in the same manner] & then slip it oft from the block, turne it and draw it on upon the block wth the inside outwards, and wth their stamping iron they indeavour to make it fit close to the block,
[after] which they take a string [a a] & fasten it about their felt [deleted: in the manner repast in the figure] this [strink] is
their stamping iron [x x] they drive downewards as far as they can and if the string be too straight, & soe cannot be drawne downe to the bottom they loosen the strink & tye it somewt slacker and then beat it quite home that is as low as they can then filling all the brimmes wth their hot lees [above the line: (which will turne & stand up like a dish)] they
wth their hands indeavour by degrees to stretch the edges of the brimmes soe as to make them ly smooth upon the plank [they use also a Dish which they turne upside downwards and wth the brims of it they indeavour to rub ye brims flat] and as the liquor cools they press it out With the eidge of their stamping iron [then they putt on hot appesh [? ] & work before
& rub it clean out wth their strings [? ] ], they then continue to doe till they have recuced the brims to lye flatt upon the plank, after this they rubb them smooth wth a peice of pumice stone, if they intend smooth hatts, or card the nap or shag if they intend rough, and soe suffer them to stand and dry.
After this they putt them into an oven out of wch bread has been drawne, and there they shutt them up & suffer them to stand for 10 or 12 hours till quite dry & stiff But if they make black or any other extraordinary colourd hatts they [first
Dutt the brims round as they ought to be otherwise the brims will cut white at the middle and be some then) putt them as they are [taken from the place tyed fast on the block] into the furnace block & all, & soe suffer them to boyle & sok - for 8 or ten howres till they are sufficiently dyed, after which they suffer them to dry and then bake them as the other.
After this [for the stifning of ye brims] they take common glue & wth water boyle it to a kind of siz - making it somewt thicker then common siz - but much thinner then joiners glue, then taking a peice of soft felt or spung they dip it in this size & therewth they rubb all the under sides of the brims of the haft till they have made it very wett but they doe not lay on soe much as will wett the brims quite through because that would make it look it favourd & greasy. when they have thus weft or sized all the under sides they hold the brims on the top of a block [which they call a fryer] with the sized sides
upwards & wth a [wooden] mallett they mall or beat in all the size till it quite disappears ['(see fig. Z. ' at this place] [if the under side be napped wth goates hair they wth a cloth rub it very clean & dry before they stiffen & smooth ye brims on the bason ['(I believe it should be ye fryer')] otherwise their nap will stick together & when they are to Open it it will tare]
then they put it on againe upon the block ['or fryer &c'] & tye on the string very hard and stamp it down close wt their stamping iron, and if any of the glue appears through on the upside they rubb it quite drye wt a cloth just as they always doe the Nap under neath the brims and as they doe also a rough hatt if they [would] leave a shagg. Then they carry it to their bason (wth is heated by a pan of coales underneath till it be about the heat of a smoothing iron soe as it may not burne the paper or haft) and spreading a broad sheet of brown paper on the bason they sett the haft upon it. then they sett severall blocks upon the brims soe as to keep them flatt down to the bason and they continue turning them round till the haft be quite dry & stift [which will keep [? ] about '/. pt of an houre or less -] at first they sett on 6 blocks after a while take off one, a little after anoth[er] and by degrees a 3d. continuing still to turne round the blocks upon the brims that the steam may gett [? ] away and the surface of the haft may be the better smooths this they continue to doe moving the blocks always one way till they have finisht. then wth a stiff brush -- (A) [in left margin, an A' with horns] w=h a stift brush they take off all the dust of the pumice or dyewood, beating and brashing it very cleare,
And to sett a glosse upon their black hafts they take Indico, galls, copperas & shomac, and dissolve them in water, & wth a coarse peice of felt dipt in this liquor in also there is putt a litle gum they Rub over all the surface of the haft laying the haire or nap as it ought to be and soe suffer it to dry. this will make it look very fine & smooth & glossy [and black], but if they intend their haft smooth [deleted" befor] after the haft be dry tey kindle a handful or two of straw & hold the haft over the flame of it & thereby burne or singe off all the loose or flaring haires after they rubb it well wth their blacking or glossing wth a peice of felt & soe sett it up for sale.
after this they string [or band] it, line it, & edge it &c of wch afterwards.
then they take a mixture of wheating [word deleted] flower & water [which is for the stifning of the crowne] & with it they wash over all the crowne [if they intend their hat to be black they, instead of this flower, make use of past [? ] or beaze [? ]
lees and rubb it in the same manner] & then slip it oft from the block, turne it and draw it on upon the block wth the inside outwards, and wth their stamping iron they indeavour to make it fit close to the block,
[after] which they take a string [a a] & fasten it about their felt [deleted: in the manner repast in the figure] this [strink] is
their stamping iron [x x] they drive downewards as far as they can and if the string be too straight, & soe cannot be drawne downe to the bottom they loosen the strink & tye it somewt slacker and then beat it quite home that is as low as they can then filling all the brimmes wth their hot lees [above the line: (which will turne & stand up like a dish)] they
wth their hands indeavour by degrees to stretch the edges of the brimmes soe as to make them ly smooth upon the plank [they use also a Dish which they turne upside downwards and wth the brims of it they indeavour to rub ye brims flat] and as the liquor cools they press it out With the eidge of their stamping iron [then they putt on hot appesh [? ] & work before
& rub it clean out wth their strings [? ] ], they then continue to doe till they have recuced the brims to lye flatt upon the plank, after this they rubb them smooth wth a peice of pumice stone, if they intend smooth hatts, or card the nap or shag if they intend rough, and soe suffer them to stand and dry.
After this they putt them into an oven out of wch bread has been drawne, and there they shutt them up & suffer them to stand for 10 or 12 hours till quite dry & stiff But if they make black or any other extraordinary colourd hatts they [first
Dutt the brims round as they ought to be otherwise the brims will cut white at the middle and be some then) putt them as they are [taken from the place tyed fast on the block] into the furnace block & all, & soe suffer them to boyle & sok - for 8 or ten howres till they are sufficiently dyed, after which they suffer them to dry and then bake them as the other.
After this [for the stifning of ye brims] they take common glue & wth water boyle it to a kind of siz - making it somewt thicker then common siz - but much thinner then joiners glue, then taking a peice of soft felt or spung they dip it in this size & therewth they rubb all the under sides of the brims of the haft till they have made it very wett but they doe not lay on soe much as will wett the brims quite through because that would make it look it favourd & greasy. when they have thus weft or sized all the under sides they hold the brims on the top of a block [which they call a fryer] with the sized sides
upwards & wth a [wooden] mallett they mall or beat in all the size till it quite disappears ['(see fig. Z. ' at this place] [if the under side be napped wth goates hair they wth a cloth rub it very clean & dry before they stiffen & smooth ye brims on the bason ['(I believe it should be ye fryer')] otherwise their nap will stick together & when they are to Open it it will tare]
then they put it on againe upon the block ['or fryer &c'] & tye on the string very hard and stamp it down close wt their stamping iron, and if any of the glue appears through on the upside they rubb it quite drye wt a cloth just as they always doe the Nap under neath the brims and as they doe also a rough hatt if they [would] leave a shagg. Then they carry it to their bason (wth is heated by a pan of coales underneath till it be about the heat of a smoothing iron soe as it may not burne the paper or haft) and spreading a broad sheet of brown paper on the bason they sett the haft upon it. then they sett severall blocks upon the brims soe as to keep them flatt down to the bason and they continue turning them round till the haft be quite dry & stift [which will keep [? ] about '/. pt of an houre or less -] at first they sett on 6 blocks after a while take off one, a little after anoth[er] and by degrees a 3d. continuing still to turne round the blocks upon the brims that the steam may gett [? ] away and the surface of the haft may be the better smooths this they continue to doe moving the blocks always one way till they have finisht. then wth a stiff brush -- (A) [in left margin, an A' with horns] w=h a stift brush they take off all the dust of the pumice or dyewood, beating and brashing it very cleare,
And to sett a glosse upon their black hafts they take Indico, galls, copperas & shomac, and dissolve them in water, & wth a coarse peice of felt dipt in this liquor in also there is putt a litle gum they Rub over all the surface of the haft laying the haire or nap as it ought to be and soe suffer it to dry. this will make it look very fine & smooth & glossy [and black], but if they intend their haft smooth [deleted" befor] after the haft be dry tey kindle a handful or two of straw & hold the haft over the flame of it & thereby burne or singe off all the loose or flaring haires after they rubb it well wth their blacking or glossing wth a peice of felt & soe sett it up for sale.
after this they string [or band] it, line it, & edge it &c of wch afterwards.
Dr Heal's positively enlightening 700+ page thesis can be downloaded at no charge from this website: http://ethos.bl.uk/Home.do