This helme had a number of problems: Both visors need restitched, plus the calf skin sweat band, which is unusual. Last, the kugel screw post had to be re soldered to the actual ball top. My man, T Schnurr took care of that when I visited him (thanks again T). Regarding finish, there is a section on the top of the helmet that needs filling in as well. As I write this the helmet shell and rear visor are being hydrated so that they can be blocked back into proper shape. There is no sense sewing warped visors back on to a warped shell.
The restitch of a sweat band has unique problems associated with it as will be seen in the following pictures. The officer sweat band unlike the OR liner is tack stitched to the rim of the shell about every 2 inches (+ or -) and there is a continuous thread that runs along the crease of the sweat band from stitch to stitch right around the shell rim. The only way for a restorer to replace this is by using a curved needle, some paper clips and a great deal of patience.
I always take pics of the helme and visors before cutting them off as it is good to have a reference to look back on if needed.
This helme was made by AWES, this company always stamps their name on the underside of their officer bases.
The helme has a unique rear spine, I have never seen one with 5 fastening points on it before...a screw post, 3 prongs and the split brad size button (58.5 cm)! A bit of a nightmare for me who has to carefully bend these all back up to a vertical position so the spine can be taken off!!
A section of finish has to be filled in, one application has been put on.
So now we have to deal with the sweat band issue!! Why do I do this?? Why would any sane person be bothered to try to fix this??
The tack stitch holes for the sweat band appear just below the visor stitch line.
The curved needle in action.
The restitch of a sweat band has unique problems associated with it as will be seen in the following pictures. The officer sweat band unlike the OR liner is tack stitched to the rim of the shell about every 2 inches (+ or -) and there is a continuous thread that runs along the crease of the sweat band from stitch to stitch right around the shell rim. The only way for a restorer to replace this is by using a curved needle, some paper clips and a great deal of patience.
I always take pics of the helme and visors before cutting them off as it is good to have a reference to look back on if needed.
This helme was made by AWES, this company always stamps their name on the underside of their officer bases.
The helme has a unique rear spine, I have never seen one with 5 fastening points on it before...a screw post, 3 prongs and the split brad size button (58.5 cm)! A bit of a nightmare for me who has to carefully bend these all back up to a vertical position so the spine can be taken off!!
A section of finish has to be filled in, one application has been put on.
So now we have to deal with the sweat band issue!! Why do I do this?? Why would any sane person be bothered to try to fix this??
The tack stitch holes for the sweat band appear just below the visor stitch line.
The curved needle in action.