JR 119 & 126

b.loree said:
Photos of the completed JR 126. Work done...restitch both visors, provide one original trim brad. resolder split brad on spine, clean all fittings, refinish areas of missing lacquer, apply polish to entire helmet to blend in new finish.
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This helmet was dried out/shrunk over 100+ years and as a result the brass visor trim was too long when I tried to put it back on. Consequently, approx .25 inches had to be cut off one end of the trim and a new hole drilled for the trim brad. I do not believe in putting extra holes in helmets and I always strive for the restoration to be hidden as much as possible. Thus, cut the trim, drill a new hole and the brad covers the cut end. The side view showing the gap between spine and shell illustrates how much this helmet shrank over the years.
Click to expand...
just excellent work. No words, great.
 
Brian, may I ask you some questions about shellac?
1. What tool do you use to fill the Areas of missing shellac? Do you use a ball of cotton, like used for a shellac polish for furnitures or do you use a brush?
2. Is it possible to repair a craqueler surface by melting it with thinner, as you did it describe a few posts before?
3. Would you tell us the ingredients and mixture of your Shellac-Polishing or is it a company secret (I could also understand it well :) )? What consistency should the shellac have?
Regardless of your answer to my questions I‘d like to thank you very much for your informative and inspiring restauration posts :bravo:
 
Hi Sandy, no problems answering your questions....
#1 I use an angled 1/2" brush (1.2 cm) to apply the shellac.

#2 No, that will not work. You can sand the original lacquer and then use a cotton ball wet with thinner to blend in the "dust". This may fill in some fine crazing, but this will not fill in the deep cracks which most old helmets have. To fill them, you have to apply coats of shellac, sand between coats, then smoothing out with cotton ball and thinner. Then apply another coat after drying. By sanding between coats, you are removing the excess shellac on the surface while gradually filling in the cracks.

#3 No "company secret", :D . I use shellac flakes melted with shellac thinner. There are formulas used by furniture makers available on the internet but they really can't be used for what I do. I am dealing in small amounts, I just pour some thinner in a small jar and keep adding flakes until I think I have the right "consistency". You have to stir the flakes and try to break them up. I will also crush/break them as much as I can before adding to the thinner. A mortar and pestle would be handy for this but I don't have one yet. You let the thinner and flakes melt for a couple of days in a cupboard. Flakes do not like "light" so keep them and your "melt jar" in a cupboard. The next step is to pour off a portion of the melted shellac into a smaller jar and add black dye. The shellac dye is hard to find in small quantities but there is a US company called Stewart Macdonald which sells tools and supplies for luthiers. You want: Concentrated Liquid Stain Color Tone #5040 Black. Be careful with the stain, as it is very easy to get it all over your fingers and work area. I hope this helps. :thumb up:
 
A picture is worth a thousand words:
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My brushes, the small jar is for the shellac mixture and the pill bottle has thinner in it to clean the brushes.
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The bottle of stain and like I said, very easy to get covered in this stuff. :eek:
 
Thank you very much Brian, that helps a lot :D But I guess I still need a lot of time before I will have the courage to ruin a Helmet :oops: :wink:
But one more question... Do you blend your final coat just with thinner or do you also sand it before blending with sandpaper 600, 800 or an even finer grit?
 
I use ooo steel wool over the entire helmet then apply several coats of black shoe polish. This gives me a uniform look/colour over the whole helmet. If you look at period photos, these helmets were extremely shiny when new. Area’s of replaced shellac have this shine which contrasts with the rest of the helmet’s 100 year old finish. Consequently, the use of steel wool and black polish. If you want to try refinishing, I would strongly recommend you practice on an old shell. Last, you must know how to sand and use natural light during this lengthy process.
 
hmm, for sure with my current skill, I will "kill" the helmet. So far I am good with stitching job. So let me graduate from my baby class before moving to your expert levels.
 
I think I‘ll never repair a Helmet but there are a lot of Helmets for sale which needs some repairs and the knowledge helps to assess whether a repair is worthwhile and maybe what it would cost and thereby my maximum bid.
 
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