The Armour Archive

ok so i will soon be re inventing my helm and will be attaching several brass decorative pieces.
since i have never done this before does anyone with exxperiance have any advice?
i plan on just riveting them in place, is there something else i should do or just go for it?


here are the pics of my helm.
i guess these would now be the before pics.
the after ones will be a while im afraid.
i want to get this done but finding time to work on it right now is difficult.
i will get it done though.

just go for it.

Small rivets are good, small copper or brass rivets are best.

Yep, just position it and mark the holes.
Drill the holes and deburr the back sides.

Use some 4-40 screws and nuts to hold everything in place.
Remove one screw at a time and rivet it in place.
Some times you have to snip the longer rivets with some end nippers.

McMaster-Carr has 1/8" brass and copper rivets, flat, countersink and domed.
I just ordered $60.00 worth tonight.
I need to rivet all the copper to my new helm I am working on.

Be sure to show us some before and after pics.
We like pics.

Hal

take you time and shape the brass to fit the helm tight.
Depending on the size you can use larger escution pins to supplament the rivets.
countersink with a good counter sink bit or use a Ball end grinder in your dremel/drill the only reason to do this is to keep the inside of your helm flush.

if you want to be TOTALLY correct, I like to spray the back of my copper and brass with a clear coat of paint before I attach them to act as a barrier to resis the "different metals" effect that can make discoloration over time. I use rivets of the same material I'm attaching. be careful attaching cast bronze pieces, you can only bend'form them so much over curves before they may start showing stress cracks..happened with my last 2 cast pieces.

Fraychef,

Historically, decorative brass strips were applied with flush rivets. this is true from the late 14th c. to the end of the 15thc. It was not until the the heavily pierced work of the late Gothic, that dome headed rivets were used.

The visual impact of flush riveted brass is very different than that of the later brass work. Its smooth uninterrupted line goes well with the clean lines of pre-gothic armor. It also provides an uninterrupted surface for the engraved decoration. The engraver can cut his lines right across the rivet heads as if they weren't there. The #13 armor at Churburg is a good example of this.

I use soft brass wire for my rivets. McMaster sells a five pound spool of .0907" wire. I bought one many years ago; it's practically a lifetime supply. (Perhaps you can find the same thing in smaller quantities.) In a pinch, you can use 3/32" brazing rod, but it is really too hard, and a poor color match.

Proceed thus:
-get your brass to fit over your finished plate.
-hold it in place temporarily with small c-clamps or tape.
-mark your rivet locations (one at each end, and every 1 1/2 to 2 inches)
-punch the first hole with 3/32"
-countersink the brass and the steel (use a countersink tool and not a drill bit)
-straighten out a couple of inches of brass wire and square the ends
-cut a length of wire which is long enough to fill the hole and the countersinks.
-put the wire/rivet through the hole with the squared end on the outside (against the brass)
-put the work down on a clean anvil surface (brass side down)
-peen up the inside of the rivet with a ball hammer, the outside will swell to fit the countersink n the brass.
-place the plate over an appropriate stake ( brass side out) and finish the rivet with a flat hammer. Don't hit it any more than necessary or the surrounding brass will become too hard to "set down" later.
-repeat with subsequent rivets, trying always to "pull the slack" out of the brass.

Once the brass is riveted in place, you must get rid of any lumps or gaps in the fit. Do this by hammering the brass down with a rawhide hammer. (this is practically the ONLY thing I ever do with a rawhide hammer) Do not hammer it too much, or it will stretch, and spring away from the steel!

I usually finish the brass with 80gr., followed by 180gr., followed by black emery on a sisal buff, and finally the same on a cotton buff.

When all that is done, it is time to engrave!

When the engraving is done I sometimes go over the entire piece with my "sacred wire wheel". This is a wheel with very fine wires (.006") which has been very well "broken in", and has ALWAYS run in the same direction, and NEVER been reversed. I run this wire wheel in a little WD40. This yields a "softer" looking finish.

Mac

(I think I've written something like this before.... you could search, and see if I said anything more useful the last time...)

wow thanks for all thr grat advice.
i will post some pics of my helm as soon as i get home.

here are he before pics.

Me no see no pics.

sorry the pics are attached at the top.

ok, so how do i figure out how to cut the brass so that tit lines up right?
should i just trace the parts of the helm i intend to cover onto paper or what?

If your surface is curved you might try kitchen tin foil patterns.

Shape it to the area then use a magic marker to draw the outline.
Cut it with scissors then flatten it out and trace to poster board.

Best of luck on your quest.

thanks ill try that.
im going around the edges and re shaping the eye slots.
something like this

I did some coronets on helms. I'll PM you the instructions I wrote up for a how to.

1st one has counter sunk rivits. 2nd one exposed.