Hat-making. [Origin doubtful; taken by some as a specific use of BASIN (of which bason was a common spelling), but evidence of this is wanting.] A bench with a plate of iron or stone flag fitted in it, and a little fire underneath, on which (before the introduction of machinery) the first part of the felting process was performed.
1727–51. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., The hatters have also basons for the brims of hats, usually of lead, having an aperture in the middle.
1837. Whittock, Bk. Trades (1842), 294. ‘Basoning’ follows next in making the coarser kind of hat; the bason being a piece of cast-iron, or mixed metal, on which the felt is drawn.
