The Armour Archive

how do you make the center spangen ridge on a late roman helm? i cant quite figure it all out. the shape moves on me and doesnt work out in patterning.

thanks

Honestly there is nothing in the pattern, its just a straight strip of steel.
Fold it in half down its length, then fold over each side, you end up with an upsidedown "T" shape that is the length of the helmet front to back. You need to curve this long "T" shape to the profile of the helm, as you curve it the "T" wants to curve back on its self making an arrow head shape, you just need to work it back into place over multiple passes. When its curved to the helmet profile you need the "T" to look more like a shallow "Y" to match the ear to ear curve.
The process is simple, the first attempt tricky. Once understood i can do one in about 30 min. In stainless its a pain.

thanks adam. i think my prob is the lack of patience

White Mountain Armoury wrote:...You need to curve this long "T" shape to the profile of the helm, as you curve it the "T" wants to curve back on its self making an arrow head shape, you just need to work it back into place over multiple passes...

Do you perform this step working the ridge over the helm itself, working over some sort of ball or stake, working down into a notched dish, or some other method I haven't thought of yet? What sort of hammer do you use? How do you prevent the hammering from collapsing the ridge?

ya what he said. maybe i need a better hammer fo rhte job as well. what is best here?

Do it on a vice?

If i want the ridge flat i crease the center with a 4 in masonry chisel, then use a vice like a press and complete the fold, The i lock hte folder piece into the vice as the depth i want my ridge height at and use the chisel again to splay fold open. You need to open and close the vice a few times and you move down the crest length.
Once it has started to open I flaten it back against the vice. This is how you get hte "T" shape.
Then i curve the "T" over a large diameter piece of pipe. This gets the curve somewhat close the the helm profile.
I mark my center point on the ridge on both sides, drill my holes, make matching holes in the helmet and using small bolts attatche it. With my hamemr i work my way center out tapping hte crest down to match hte helmet shape. once done i use 2 small clamps at the from and back to hold the crest down and i work both sides of the crest with a hammer getting it to lay flat against the helmet. Once it matches i remove and surface it then mount it.
I use a brass hammer.
When i want the crest to be wide i fold a piece of square stock into the initial fold, and remove if befor the curving.
If you use the search funtion you will likey find some info as I have types this out quite a few times over the years

Ive got to admit, I too am well beyond simple helmets but that feature always had me wondering how the hell it was done. Ive theorized but never tried it.....so I guess Im not beyond it

Please post some 'in progress' construction pictures if you all have em, this is an interesting thread.

Chuck be patient! The plan is to make a set of dies for the treddle hammer and crank them out. 54342 production hours in making the dies, then 5 min to make mine and your ridges.