Abstract: Disclosed are methods for manufacturing at least portions of hats and caps, as well as at least portions of hats and caps manufactured by the disclosed methods. In examples, provided are methods for fabricating a biretta, which can include (1) forming, using a hat block, a plastic biretta hat foundation from a heat-activated low-melt polyester fiber, (2) forming, using a horn block, at least one plastic biretta horn from the same type of heat-activated low-melt polyester fiber, and (3) fastening a plastic biretta horn along an exterior ridge of the plastic biretta hat foundation. An orifice can be formed in a peak of the plastic biretta hat foundation. At least a part of the plastic biretta hat foundation can be covered with a fabric cover. A twist rope or a pom fastener can be passed through the orifice to secure the twist rope or a pom to the plastic biretta hat foundation.

Abstract: A casting design system (101) is provided which comprises (a) a database (115) which contains casting design data and rules, (b) a user interface (109), in communication with the database, which accepts as input a product design (103) that is to be cast by a casting process, and (c) an inference engine (111) which is adapted to generate casting designs (114) from the input product design by searching the database and retrieving data therefrom.