The Armour Archive

Hal-
Is the spangen pattern you made supposed to be perfectly circular, or is is meant to be oval shaped, like a head? I put the helm together with nails (my poor person's version of a cleco) and set it on my head. Lo and behold! It won't go down. Just kind of sits on top of my head.

The head band must be shaped oval like your head before adding the panels. The panels are then shaped to match the oval band.

The holes can be put in the bands after shaping with a drill or a punch. This way the spacing will be even.
http://www.armourarchive.org/patterns/norman_spangenhelm_halberds/images/insidestraps .jpg
In this pic you can see the oval shape.
BTY this helm and the size given, fits me.
Your mileage may vary.

Hope that is some help. Best of luck on your spangen.

Hal

(edited to add)
I just noticed in that pic the corners of the panels and inside strips were turned up.
How you get them to lay down is like this:
Use the welders vicegrip C clamp. Protect the outside surface with a piece of brass or copper sheet. Adjust the clamps tight and pinch them down. The pesky corners will lay right down.

Hammering them down does not work, they keep bouncing back up. The clamps will bend them down when they click tight.

[This message has been edited by Halberds (edited 09-27-2003).]

It sure does, Hal. I wasn't sure if that pic was stretched or not. It seemed kind of strange that when i put it on it was tight in front and loose on the sides! I was getting kind of worried. Thanks for the help.
Artemis