I'd like the option to form my own
I've been forming and reforming hats for decades. Done dozens of them over the years. Did one yesterday and one last night for a buddy.
It is easy. First time all it takes is a little courage on your part, a tea pot and some water. Some times lots of water. The better quality of hat. (the X factor) the easier they are to work on IMO.
A medium height Montana Pinch crown; flat brim with a rolled edge; & small silk trim around the circumference; and a lanyard thru it to hang at the back of my head.
You can buy pretty near any quality of hat you want with an open crown (think a dome like Hoss use to wear) and a flat "bound edge" which is what you are call a "silk trim" edge. The "rolled edge" can either be a smaller pencil roll or a bigger kettle curl. Either is easy enough to do by hand and some patience. The lanyard is called a "wind string" an can be set in the sweat/head band by flattened cotter pins or via small holes in the brim (mo better IMO) and again easy enough to do with a leather lace and a slide.
6" crown is a Medium high crown, 4 /12 to 5" a good size brim. I have 3 100% beaver hats from 3 makers. And a few 5X to 10 X I use almost every day. Many of them duplicates of a similar shape. Good 10X and 20X hats really are
generally better than good 5X hats. Sad part about it no way to tell until you have the hat in hand. Good 10X or 20X can be a damn nice hat and every bit the equal for the most part as a 100% beaver hat. And you can buy at least two and may be three good 20X hats for the price of one 100% beaver today.
One of my favorite Brands that I think is an exceptional value is Rodeo King hats @ 5X and better.
Akubra is another.
Here is one that makes a good donor for a project like yours...but there are other colors as well. Hat bands are easy to change...not so the bound edge.
https://www.discountwesternwear.com/Men's/Cowboy-Hats/rodeo-king-7x-open-crown-rust-hat-1869.aspxAs mentioned previous, River Junction is hat heaven for me for a do it yourself hat in any style. Lots of bound edge hats there to make up your project.
http://www.riverjunction.com/Mens-Hats.htmlor a good source of Rodeo King hats :
http://www.wildwestmercantile.com/cgi-bin/Category.cgi?category=6100&type=storeI have hats that are getting on 40+ years old that have been professionally cleaned and rebuilt (reblocked, new head band and liners) a couple of times. All of them still see some use. IMO it pays to buy the very "best" hat you can afford. Few will ever really wear one out if you take even reasonable care of them. Might loose it or get it stolen...but wearing one out aint all that likely if you know where to send them once they get pretty ratty.
All three hats shown have open crowns of various sizes, (Rodeo Kind is 4", Bailey is a tall 7" and Beaver is a 6"), flat brims for the most part with a bound edge, open in front and a pencil curl on the back 1/3rd. Only the beaver lacks a wind string.
1 year old 5X Rodeo King
25 year old pisture of a 5x Bailey that I've changed some for shape. Looks more like the Rodeo King in the picture above now. But still a favorite I wore often. Did yesterday on a 30 mile ride. Hat still looks almost new!
3 year old Beaver from Montana Mad Hatter
My current hat maker/renovator/fixer is:
http://www.northvalleyhatco.com/oldwest.htmlhttp://www.northvalleyhatco.com/buckaroohats.htmlNorth Valley is a good place to look around at the many styles and quality of felt he offers......music is fun as well
Besides Resistol, Bailey and Stetson other quality customers makers I have used and can recommend:
http://www.mackeycustomhats.com/http://www.dbarjhat.com/