doner765 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 hey guys, i've been working on this helmet for some time now. It's my first attempt on armour construction. I created the patterns myself with a little help from the internet. Its made from 2mm mild steel ,but the top plate is thinned out due to deep dishing (i guess its about 1.5 mm now).I still have to drill a few(~97) holes, as you can see in one of the photos. If you wish i could upload the patterns for you , it will be work to digitize them since i drew them on a A3 sheet. The helm is both cold and hot worked. the plates are cut out , bend and then very easy to fit together (ha-ha). it was kind a hard to make the top plate that strong domed since i'm very inexperienced , and i think it will dent easily.. greetings from Germany , Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Well since it is riveted on you can always remove the rivets and replace it with a thicker one! Note: when overlapping plates I would do it so that they don't channel sharp points *into* the armour but rather shrugs them off: so the Dome overlaps the outside of the Face and the top section of the face over laps the bottom section. This is based on most strong blows being swung overhand rather than coming up from below. Also front to back as well but it looks like that was done. I once did a spangen helm where I forged all the metal out too. Nothing was made from stock but made by hammering out thicker material into thinner. I feel that mine ended up too heavy as I didn't have access to a powerhammer; but it was practice for doing one all out of pattern welded material---I have some of the billets welded up and a trial plate I did using someone else's powerhammer but it's waiting till I get mine finally online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doner765 Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 the construction is made as brian r. price told me in his book i also liked to put the dome 'into' the helmet rather than 'onto' , just for the look - i thought about the blows coming 'overhand' but even if a strong sword blow dents the dome to the from plates level it shouldnt hit your head , its pretty high i had thoughts of making pattern welded steel helmets but they will alsways stay thoughts sinc ei want to use the armour and im not able to do pattern weld yet... about the weight , i read that medieval smiths ground it to give it an even surface. this would take off alot of material which then would make it abit lighter :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian.pierson Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thomas, I agree with your thinking that the plates are not lapped correctly. I went and looked at the Pembridge Great Helm that this one is modeled after. The original has the same construction as doner has. Doner765 Did your patterns show the holes? Are the holes harder drill now that the plates have been rounded out and fitted together? Brian Pierson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doner765 Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 my patterns didnt show the holes , i taped a sheet of paper(grid) on the side and market the holes . indeed its hard to drill now , i#ve broken 2 drills for those 11 holes... gonna be fun i suck at drilling :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddly Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 That looks sweet! I wonder how you attach the liner dealie though. I've never seen the inside of one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 great helms usually dont have padding or a liner, as they are worn over either a padded bascinet, or over a maille coif with padding underneath.. i have made the same helm, based on the brian price pattern, but i 'raised' the crown, and punched the holes with a whitney punch. i find making spangenhelms by drilling the holes with roofing screws to be the best option though, as they hold everything together, and when you want to rivet, you just unscrew the screw, and pop in the rivet. i find it almost impossible to pre drill the plates before shaping, as they will never line up perfectly. use the short 'rivet' drill bits that have a cutting end on both ends, because they are very hard to break compared to the standard size bit, and you only need to drill through 4mm at the most, so having a short bit makes all the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maillemaker Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I have tried several times to make a greathelm, all with varying degrees of FAIL. I would love to see your plans, or the Brian Price pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddly Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Well that makes sense! Thanks for the piece of enlightenment! ( another one of those why didn't i think of that moments) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 you mean the padding part or the screw part? i worked out the screw idea when i was just starting out, and i didnt have a drill or drill bits, only my dads screw gun and a bucket of roofing screws....... back when i used to cut stuff out with a skill saw with a metal cutting disk... :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doner765 Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 ill digitize my patterns within the next week , im busy atm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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