lacquer finish

0

08/15

New member
Can anyone set me straight on the lacquer finish on Pickelhauben? In particular, I was wondering about the following:

1. I have some helmets that have a hard, smooth, glossy lacquer finish. Also have others that just seem to be plain leather, with somewhat rough surface. Yet some reference books imply that all Pickelhauben had lacquer finishes. Is there a rule about this? Or is it simply that some soldiers lacquered their helmets, and others didn't?

2. Regarding the lacquer finish, did the various kingdoms, etc. differ? For example, did Prussia do it, while Bavaria didn't?

2. When restoring a helmet, does one simply brush on a lacquer coating over the leather? Will the lacquer fill in any "crazing" and make them disappear?

Many thanks for any observations/conclusions you can pass along.
 
Hi 08;
All of the leather helmets no matter what State, had a shellac finish applied as a water proofing measure. This crazes over time due to changes in humidity which cracks the original shellac. There are 2 ways of getting rid of crazing and marks in the original finish. The first is simple, use some steel wool to rough up the surface and then use black shoe polish in multiple applications to fill in the cracks, buff to a nice shine.
The other is to use sand paper to rough up the surface of the helmet and then apply shellac thinner with a cotton ball to smooth out the cracks. The sanding causes shellac powder to build up on the surface of the shell. You then use the cotton ball and shellac thinner to melt this powder and smooth this out over the surface of the shell. Allow the shell to dry. Next you apply layers of black shoe polish to bring back the orignial shine to the surface of the shell.
In my experience, some of the shellac finish seems to be softer and more of a tar like substance. Other helmets have a harder finish on them. I believe that as with all pickelhauben, the shellac finish formula varried with the different manufacturers. Brian
 
Hi there!

Brian, I have one suggestion to add to your excellent advice: Rather than cotton balls, which can leave little bits of lint or cotton fibres in the finish, I would be inclined to use a scrap of well-laundered old t-shirt material or old cotton bedsheet, which won't leave any crud in the finish.

There are several links embedded in this Wikipedia article that might help if someone really wants to get into it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish

Brian, your recommendation, to seal the polish with several well-buffed coats of boot polish is spot-on. You need the wax from the boot polish to protect the shellac finish, which can react to moisture and heat.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
I would love to see some before and after pictures of taking sandpaper to a haube and the final shiny finished helm!

If possible?

Stuart
 
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