Pickelhaube straightening

Looks great Woytek!

I am looking forward the the pictures when the helmet is ready. :)
I like your humour about using very expensive materials by the way! Priceless!

Regards, Coert.
 
Looks great Woytek!

I am looking forward the the pictures when the helmet is ready. :)
I like your humour about using very expensive materials by the way! Priceless!

Regards, Coert.
Coert, thank you very much for the kind words. During 22 years of living in a socialist country where everything was missing, I had to learn to do something out of nothing. This habit has remained with me to this day. Best regards.
 
Coert, thank you very much for the kind words. During 22 years of living in a socialist country where everything was missing, I had to learn to do something out of nothing. This habit has remained with me to this day. Best regards.
Woytek,

I know exactly what you mean. I grew up here in the 70'ties, but when I started riding bikes, we also were in a crisis here. Work was very hard to find, you just had to work with what you had, and be inventive. So, I started with 2 scrapped motorcycles, and built one good one from there.
Now, things are better, but the inventionness never left me. You can say it made me better, just like you are stronger getting out of that all.
Learning to be inventive, and getting the same results anyway, is a gift not many people know nowaday's my friend.
That is why I admire, and enjoy your post. It gave me a big smile, and a feeling that we are just all the same. Because really, it all comes to the same thing, getting there where you want to be, being helmets, or bikes.

Have a nice evening!

Regards, Coert.
 
Wojtek,
I understand the water and mannequin head but the stone? Is it to straighten out a problem?
Thank You
John
The rear canopy was turned inwards and the rear spine did not adhere well.After gently soaking the canopy I gave a load of stone.After two days the item was ready.Thank you for your feedback.
 

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Great job Wojtek! Leather helmets tend to shrink inward as they age and dry out. Consequently, the soldered prongs holding the spine to the shell often pop off and have to be resoldered. At the same time many spines flatten at the sides due to “shrinking pressure “ or a gap forms between the spine and the shell. The solution is to wet the shell in that area and push it back into place so the spine fits tight to the shell once again.
 
Great job Wojtek! Leather helmets tend to shrink inward as they age and dry out. Consequently, the soldered prongs holding the spine to the shell often pop off and have to be resoldered. At the same time many spines flatten at the sides due to “shrinking pressure “ or a gap forms between the spine and the shell. The solution is to wet the shell in that area and push it back into place so the spine fits tight to the shell once again.
You are 100% right,not everyone understands this process of aging the material.Good that you explained it!Warm regards.
 
We helmet restorers have to stick together Wojtek! 😊 Collectors should be aware, that for the most part, every bend, wrinkle or split in your visor trim has also been caused by leather shrinkage. Dry conditions are not our friend and neither is excessive humidity.
 
Gents
Thank You Both again for sharing your knowledge of the aging and restoration of these unique pieces of the past!
Best Regards
John
 
I know a thing or two about helmet restoration
Your head form and rock appears to work well
An extra would help in this method
You know those soft plastic child toy rings ?
The ones that hat stack on the post making a little plastic type Christmas tree ?
Place helmet on head form
Use the LARGEST ring and place your rock ( weight ) on top of the ring
This will surround the the spike back up plate and set on the surrounding sunken area
 
I know a thing or two about helmet restoration
Your head form and rock appears to work well
An extra would help in this method
You know those soft plastic child toy rings ?
The ones that hat stack on the post making a little plastic type Christmas tree ?
Place helmet on head form
Use the LARGEST ring and place your rock ( weight ) on top of the ring
This will surround the the spike back up plate and set on the surrounding sunken area
Thank you for your valuable comment.Any method is good if it leads to success.Regards
Wojtek
 
I am going to steal your idea Mathew.....Fisher-Price Rock - a stack available on Amazon, Walmart etc. 👍
 
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