Hat Eagle/Pin

[Pious Jeems]

Thanks John for posting that picture, now I have something to go by in my placement. Never had a fancy hat pin before.

[thad gallagher]

I found that if I have my pin aligned like Mr. Wickett's the top of the pin is almost at the top of the crown of my hat. I had to lower it down a touch, but it is close. Now if I could just be better at soldering.

[LibertyHallVols]

Thad,

Have a look at some of the originals on the ha.com site...
One or two show the eagle pretty close to the top of the crown. The crown of the hat in the pic I posted is every bit of 6" tall. However, if you've seen the old "Company Wag" article, you've seen the dimensions on a sampling of original hats, a significant portion of which had crowns less than 6" tall.

[Johnny Lloyd]

The one supplied to me for the event Bully Buy from Mr. Filthy William was one that has the two vertical prongs. I'd like to get the one with the 2 loops/hook combination. Anyone got one I can borrow? I don't have a solder gun, unfortunately.

[PetePaolillo]

Don't worry Johnny, nobody is going to inspect the inside of your hat. Most of us have the same one.

[Pious Jeems]

I have the two prongs minus the hook. Now if I can figure out how to do that part.

[Johnny Lloyd]

Don't worry Johnny, nobody is going to inspect the inside of your hat. Most of us have the same one.

Yeah, you know I know that. But if we can find it, use it... gotta start looking.

[PetePaolillo]

You know, that I know, you know that Pal Seriously it' s a great added touch and if you are able to , go for it.

[LibertyHallVols]

Soldering iron, solder, and flux. Get some brass wire. If you can't find wire, just go to Lowe's and get one of those thingies your wife uses to hang a plate on the wall. Spend a little time with some wire cutters and some pliers to form your loops and hooks, then you're ready to solder.

Make the back look like this:
http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...1&d=1317750617

That's two loops that pierce through the crown and a hook. In case you can't tell from the pic, the ends of the hook splay out from each other like a 'Y' with the top prongs at a 180-degree angle... which is more like a line than an angle, but I digress.

If someone else wants to take a crack at soldering instructions, go for it. But, here's the warning...
I'm not a professional, soldering irons get hot and can BURN you, and solder is made from heavy metals that are POISONOUS. Take responsibility for your own safety and the safety of those around you.

...besides, you don't want to follow any example I set for soldering. The backside of my eagle is not pretty like the one in the pic posted earlier in this thread (linked in this post).

Good Luck, Fellers!

[ohpkirk]

Hallo!

Here is an image of the 1855 cavalry hat, showing the embroidered eagel holding up teh brim and the cords:



I think some of the "problems" with the dress hat comes form some suters marketing/offering a M1858 AND a M1861 Hardee hat.

I have hypothesis that the Army took the eagle device from the 1854 shako which was worn on the front, and simply replaced the lower loop with a hook for the 1858 dress hat. And that vendors looked to artifact 1854 eagles and copied them moreso than the 1858 hooked version.


Uh oh. Tornado sirens.

Curt

It's actually the m1851 eagle plate that is used on both the m1851 and 54 shakos, though they are a whole different animal. These are soldered directly to a brass wire that is connected to the pom with nothing attaching it directly to the shako itself. This is so that when the shakos are being worn for fatigue detail, the pom and plate are removed at the same time. It wasn't until the m1855 cav hat came into play that these plates had any type of hook attached to them.