refurbishing helm--advice sought

[John S.]

Hi all,

Depending on how much time I can get off work around Christmas, I'm considering taking my Dad's or little brother's armour out to the garage for the "pimp my ride" treatment.

Near the top of the list is Dad's helm--sca bascinet w/ fixed grill, an accidental "russet" finish, and a falling-apart-camaille directly attached to the bottom.

Here's where I need some advice--how many hours should I budget for each of the following steps:

-Applying a tannic acid based rust converter (I'm way nervous about removing to much metal if I hit it w/ abrasives.)
-Applying a baked linseed oil finish (to even out the color and give it a little gloss)
-Properly mounting pre-made vervelles and a pre-made (trim to fit)aventaille (dyed aventaille strap, the works...)
-Creating a padded linen helm liner and stitching it to the existing camaille holes
-Sewing and mounting an aventaille liner

Just trying to figure out whether I'm biting off more than I can chew here.

-John

[Oswyn_de_Wulferton]

Couple of things to get a better idea of your skill set. Have you ever riveted anything, or peened rivets? How about sewing? From what I have heard, making a liner should only take a couple of hours, and maybe another hour to install.

[John S.]

Oswyn,

I've done upkeep on my own gear--rivets, straps, buckles, refinishing, etc. as well as making a few simple pieces for my own use (coat of plates, leather gorget and half guantlet, etc.) and mounting an aventail on my helm.

Sewing wise--simple SCA garb on a sewing machine, nothing fancy.

Never blackened any armour, but I've seasoned cast iron pans--same general idea.

I think I have a pretty good idea *how* to do this, just no clue how long it'll take back-to-back.

-John

[Ceddie]

-Applying a tannic acid based rust converter (I'm way nervous about removing to much metal if I hit it w/ abrasives.)

never done it, so I don't know

-Applying a baked linseed oil finish (to even out the color and give it a little gloss)

done it once, took ablut 1.5 hours looked like ass and about 2 hours to 'fix'

-Properly mounting pre-made vervelles and a pre-made (trim to fit)aventaille (dyed aventaille strap, the works...)

mounting the vervells is about 1.5-2 hours
cutting the strap and mounting the aventail is about 3-4 hours while watching tv.

-Creating a padded linen helm liner and stitching it to the existing camaille holes

done one it took me about 14 hours start to finish I love it.

-Sewing and mounting an aventaille liner

do it with the helm liner it shouldn't add any real time as you are already working on it.

more later.

[John S.]

Ceddie,

Thanks, man--I would've sought advice in person, if it weren't for my flippin work schedule.

And here's a *bump* for any other comments.

-JOhn

[John S.]

*bump* Any random advice or comments from folks?

[Konstantin the Red]

Am I supposing rightly that the old camail is being completely replaced -- what's the plan there? A Knuut welded special? -- a Steve Forbes riveted jobbie? -- or just a prettier job of butted mail?

[Agnarr]

You can do the rust convertor, but if you are going to blacken it with oil, don't worry about it. i would use fine fine sand paper or steel wool and buff it up, then blacken it. the convertor would just be a waste of time and money.

[John S.]

Konstantin--yup, the old camaille would be replaced--rivetted, welded, or butted depends on the budget, in either case it'd be premade

Agnarr--The idea w/ the rust converter was to *avoid thinning the metal*. Dad's helmet is pretty old and I've always been told that you have to polish the metal to mirror before oil blackening or it looks like ass. Never actually used a rust converter, but googling indicated it is most useful as a base for further surface treatment options--at least for industrial purposes. Kinda figured I could tailor-blend the two methods to this application--maybe I'm way off base here--what's everyone think?

Everyone--What I'm mainly looking for is your opinion of whether I could finish this in *at most* 3-4 hours a day for 3-4 days. If not, it'd take away too much from holiday time with my family and I need to reassess my plan.

-John

[Jeff W]

Hey John
Are you the same one that lived locally (melb)? If so, If you need my shop contact me. I would recommend buffing the rust off, instead of chemically. As for baked linseed, please dont do it near me, it stinks.
If this is the same dad that I'm thinking of, work on his "soft" armour would also be good.
Contact me if I can help.
Jeff

[John S.]

Hey Jeff, it's been a long time, but yep, it's me.

You've seen the rest of his stuff (and Jim's, too)--what do you think I could get done in the time frame I've described?

Thanks for the offer of shop time--don't want to interfere with your family's holiday schedule, but if you're OK with it, I'll definitely hit you up. If you want to correspond off list, I'm still using my university e-mail: jhs02d@fsu.edu

Thanks,
John

[John S.]

Guess I should mention that so far this is more of a "feasability study" than anything. Everything's still contigent on Mom shelling out for materials and Dad being OK w/ the final plan.

-John

[John S.]

Here's a *bump* to put this back on the first page.

-John