repair

Dick,

Welcome to the forum! The guys with the most experience on repair are either Brian, Tony or R1. They will have a lot better things to say that I. If perhaps you could post pictures of the visors it would help.
 
Hi All,

I have a few helmets with loose trim (usually M15's) and attribute it to leather shrinkage over time. I try to keep an eye on the temp and humidity of my display area to keep the good helmets from going bad.
My solution for the sagging trim is to display them on a stand so that the visor is just touching the shelf. This way, the trim is pushed up against the visor and the problem isn't noticable.
I'm not much of a repair person, so that's my solution. Dunno if that's any help though.

Ron
 
Hi Dick:
The loose visor trim problem is common and as was stated, is due to leather shrinkage over time because of the lack of humidity. The only solution if it is really bad is to remove it then snug it up to fit. Mark where the new split brad hole should be, cut off the excess trim and drill a new hole with a dremmel tool. You only get one shot at this so be very, very careful when you cut off the excess trim. While you have the split brads off heat the prongs red hot with a blow torch. I do this with M15 brads as well but I only heat the prongs not the domed part which is painted. This will anneal the metal and make it soft and pliable once more. This is especially good for any brass fittings. but only ones WITHOUT soldered pieces on them. For example, if I wanted to straighten a badly twisted brass visor trim, I would heat it to make it soft again. You can not do this with M15 pieces as you will burn the paint off. The annealing really discolours the brass but you can clean it good as new and a little extra cleaning is MUCH BETTER than a broken prong or piece of trim. Welcome to the forum, Brian
 
Or if you are faint of heart when it comes to working on a precious Haube, you can try and get on Brian's waiting list and have him repair it for you.

He does great work for a very fair price!

I do not have the steady hand like him, and have him do all my repairs.

James
 
James, thanks for the unsolicited plug...I owe you a beer at the next show and this time let me pay for at least one! Yea, cutting the trim can certainly bring on a sweat but you "gotta do what has to be done" sometimes! Regarding brass rear spines, you will often see them flattened out a little due to the leather shells' reaction to the humidity thing. Again, the temptation is to always straighten them out but remember, they have taken this shape due to helmet shrinkage. You can make some minor corrections. However, if you straighten them out entirely to the original shape, they will often NOT fit the shrunken helmet shell. One last word of caution, I always think about these restorations over and over ie. what I am going to do and how to do it. Please take your time, never rush the process. Brian
 
Hi Guys; Thanks for the tips on how to repair/fix visor trim, it really is not too bad about 1/4 inch sag,no gaps. I'm mostly into artillery helmets have about 7 and want to keep them in GOOD condition. Dick
 
Hi again; I'm new so bare with me on my questions. I have one more on helmets. How do you stop the hairs [horse ?] from falling out of the parade bush,?? also how do you post pictures on the forum?? I'm sure it has been posted somewhere but I have not been able to find it. Thanks
 
Hey Dick,
To post photos, you need to first have them hsted, this can be done with photo bucket or image shack, http://imageshack.us/ I use image shack, so I will run you through on it. open another application of you web browser to the above address, in the upper right hand portion of the screen there will be a grey button that has Browse... in it, click that button and it will open a window to your computer, go to the file where the photo is that you wish to post and double click on the photo, this will close the window anf enter the address of the photo in the field to the left of the Browse... button. down a few lines is a button that says "host it!" and the image will be uploaded to the image shack web site (if it is a large photo it may take a bit of time, and if you have slow service like I do, you may need to down size the photo before you upload it) The next screen you will get will have a number of lines with addresses to the photo, I usually use the last line, labled "direct link to photo", copy that address by highlighting it and Ctrl C, then when you are posting on the Pickelhaubes forum you can past it. be sure to hit enter after your text, then click on the "Img" button once, then paste the address to your photo, then clicl on the "/Img" button (it is the same one, but this means that it is the end of the image). After all this, submit your post and you should have a photo on the site. By the way, copy the address to a file and lable it in case you wish to use it again, you can use the image shack site with out registering, but you will not have an index to your images, but their index is not as good as your own if you save the address with a lable.
Best wishes
Gus
 
Way to go George, I spent 30 minutes typing and you give the answer with a click, some times I am a bit slow. Dick, I waisted so much time typing the instructions, I forgot about you second question, is the hair falling out, or is ti breaking off at the Trichter? If it is falling out, I believe that the top of the Trichter can be tightened, but if it is breaking off, it could be because the hair has gotten dry. I believe there have been some suggestions to rejuvinating the hair, but I do not remember for sure, the best thing is to handle the plume with care and maintain the correct humidity, you can get tips from Tony's great site Kaiser's Bunker, he has a very easy site map to follow, and even if yu get lost in the information, it is still worth the time.
Gus
 
Hi Dick:
Other than handle with care and keep humidity levels between 45 and 55% I know of no other way to prevent hair loss from trichters. Rogane will not work ! I have consulted with "Hair Club for Men" and drawn a blank also! Brian
 
Hi; I've been told to use some "elmers white glue" diluted alittle and put it on the top of the trichter where the hair attaches to the trichter. Sound advise or not?? Dick
 
I have never heard of that solution to trichter hair loss before. There is no doubt that it would work but I wonder about applying todays chemical solutions to 100 yr old horse hair. I think that I would consult with a professional museum restorer before acting though. If you apply something and it begins to dissolve the hair...there is no going back. I would really recommend seeking professional advice on this. No doubt if you contacted some of the large auction houses or a local city museum, they could provide names. My 2 cents worth...Brian
 
Elmers is going to do nothing to help the hair, it will just act as an adhesive, but the real down side I see is that it will cause stiffness and possibly make the hair brittle where it comes out of the trichter, causing more hire loss in the future. I think the Elmers fix is kinda like putting sawdust in a transmission of an old car, something that one does to unload an item with issues. No facts here, just my thoughts.
Gus
 
Hi Dick:

I would follow the advice of Brian and Gus. However, Elmer's also manufacture "Craft Bond Fabric & Paper Glue," which is permanent, acid free, dries clear, and remains flexible. I have used it several times (but only as a last resort) on leather and cloth with great results. Hair is remarkably resilient, and horse hair is used in anything from artist's paint brushes to quality attachments for vacuum cleaners. It can take a lot of abuse, but get as much information as you possibly can first.

Contact an archivist at your State's Historical Society. They will know how best to proceed. Sometimes, it's best to do nothing and just accept the ravages of time.

Chas.
 
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