New Felt Project

[pickelhauben]

Hey Guys,

I got this felt off of ebay a little while back and just started to work on it.
The ebay listing said it had brass fittings on it.
When I got it in I was a little bummed to find out that the posts were brass but the fittings were steel.
I decided to keep it anyway.
The felt was VERY SOFT and the crown was sunken in about 1/14 inch ( about 6 mm) plus it was missing the rear spine .
I spent well over a year to find a steel rear spine on my arty project.
When I disassembled the helmet I found under the static spike there was black paint !
On the top of the spike all paint is gone as well as the plate.
This is a smaller helmet than the arty I just worked on so hopefully a rear spine will not be hard to find , but of course the chance of me finding a spine having black paint on it is nil.
Re-painting the parts black may raise a few eyebrows but this is a restoration project and the parts were originally painted black ( there are also traces of black paint on the brass posts ).
There is a plus with this felt it is darker than the average felt .
This will look good to next my 100% original black painted felt.
That one has a rolled edge and the dome is the standard light green felt.
I also have another darker shaded felt.
It is a gray metal Bavarian.

Here are pics of how I received the felt helmet.









Progress pics to fallow

 

[USN]

Looking forward to seeing the reshaping

 

[Louis]

I hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[pickelhauben]

 

[pickelhauben]

In this picture you can see the black painted furniture felt . Third row second from left and the Dark green Bavarian bottom row 3rd from left.

 

[Lars13]

Wow!

 

[pickelhauben]

This what I used as a base to pop out the sunken dome. A ring child's toy.
It has a rounded bottom so I tape pencils on the bottom so it would not rock.
I saturated the outside and inside with the twister spray held it on the form and dried it out with a hair dryer .
It popped out nice !!

I treated the whole helmet with the twister about 4-6 times.
Pressing in with my finger to find the soft spots and treated those individually.



This was the way I set it up to get the rounded shape



This is the stiffener



These are pics of the end result




Side post and black paint under the static spike and base.

 

[USMC-EOD]

Good Lord, that will be a really nice felt when you are done.

 

[NightWitch588]

Hey Guys,

I got this felt off of ebay a little while back and just started to work on it.
The ebay listing said it had brass fittings on it.
When I got it in I was a little bummed to find out that the posts were brass but the fittings were steel.
I decided to keep it anyway.
The felt was VERY SOFT and the crown was sunken in about 1/14 inch ( about 6 mm) plus it was missing the rear spine .
I spent well over a year to find a steel rear spine on my arty project.
When I disassembled the helmet I found under the static spike there was black paint !
On the top of the spike all paint is gone as well as the plate.
This is a smaller helmet than the arty I just worked on so hopefully a rear spine will not be hard to find , but of course the chance of me finding a spine having black paint on it is nil.
Re-painting the parts black may raise a few eyebrows but this is a restoration project and the parts were originally painted black ( there are also traces of black paint on the brass posts ).
There is a plus with this felt it is darker than the average felt .
This will look good to next my 100% original black painted felt.
That one has a rolled edge and the dome is the standard light green felt.
I also have another darker shaded felt.
It is a gray metal Bavarian.

Here are pics of how I received the felt helmet.









Progress pics to fallow

I have a felt that needs restoring- I was hoping to find someone willing to take it on and Brian recommended reaching out to you. I posted it on here in 2019 but then was unable to access my account again.

 

[pickelhauben]

PM sent to Night Witch.

Things came up and I have not had a chance to finish this project.
Hopefully next weekend.

 

[pickelhauben]

Hey Guys,
I was going to go with black fittings on this project but thought about it.
I already have one !
I have black, light green, silver and brass ( arty ) but no grey .
So grey it is .
I posted the procedure the way I painted it earlier this week.
I had a good quality repo C/S that I used and I will later make one with original hardware and an old horse bridal.
I used 100 grit sandpaper to try and get the rust ring out of the top of the skull left there by the spike base.
I was not able to get all of the rust ring out because it was too deep.
But it looks a lot better.
Now it is ready for the shelf.
A grey felt is not a rarity but I have NEVER seen one with leather on the side posts and it is original to the helmet !

Here are pics of the finished felt
I am happy the way if came out.










Before and after
[url=https://matthewhiggins.smugmug.com/Pickelhaubes/i-LCBK9Tm/A][/URL]

 

[Pontiac9999]

Very nice work!

 

[Kaisersammler]

So that a pimple doesn't lose its shape, I use hard Styrofoam. I cut out the shape a bit. I then adjust it with a file. The hole is only so that I can insert it with my finger. The styrofoam is still so soft that it does not damage the leather

 

[Pontiac9999]

I thought Styrofoam can be corrosive to old leather?

 

[coert65]

I thought Styrofoam can be corrosive to old leather?

It is indeed something one should never use on haubes, or leather.

 

[pickelhauben]

Yes the styro will eventually stick to the leather.
If you wrap it in a thin cloth the cloth will protect the leather.

 

[Kaisersammler]

This is an insulating material. These discs have been in the Pickelhaube for 20 years and nothing has happened

 

[Sandmann]

You could use museum foam, which is free from acid, chlorine and CFC. I use such materials for my stands.

 

[Steve Nick]

Nice transition job!

 

[PembrokeYeo]

Great workmanship, it’s second to none. Thanks for such an interesting and informative post.