Restoring Another Felt

[pickelhauben]

Hey Guys,

I got this felt off of a forum member when I was seeking basket case felts.( I still am looking for them )
The dome was sunken in and the rear stitch line was torn along with the spike base.

I was able to put the dome back into shape using an antique hat stretcher, a threaded eyelet , spike base,4 thread screws with wingnuts and a repo chinstrap.

I do not have pics of the contraption ( i will post later)but I was able to pop up the dome without having to wet the felt.
I had it in traction for about 3 months till I was ready to work on the helmet.

I used my super glue repair method by gluing a little at a time holding the edges tight and hitting it with glue accelerator.





I glued the inside of the tear.


Repaired


The back tear on the thread line



The shape was deformed so I put the hat stretcher back in to shape it properly.


After I got the shape right I glued the tear .



Repaired



The original out side thread is still there so I want to try and keep it .
I have an idea on how to do this but it will be tricky because I want to sew the liner back in as I do the thread repair.

Hopefully I will able to sew the liner and do the thread repair this way.

1. Using masking tape I will lay out the holes and drill through the hard glue for the thread holes.
2. Push the original outside thread through the drill holes then slide the back up thread through the loops and thread that through the liner holes then repeat .

I will probably will have to keep the repairing thread loose so that fighting the liner will hopefully be a lot easier.

I will post some more pics as work progresses.

 

[pickelhauben]

Here is the set up that I used to press the dome back into shape..
This can be used on a standard leather haube EM or Off.
To use this on an Off's helmet you need to slide a rod through the side holes and secure the rod to the twist handle of the hat stretcher.
I used a large washer to put on top of the wingnut taped with masking tape so as not to mar the spike support.





I can't find the other e screws and wing nuts but you should get the idea.

It is a little fiddly to set up but once in place it it is a simple way to fix a sunken dome.

 

[badener]

Well done!

 

[Pontiac9999]

Nice work! Does the glue dry clear after?

 

[cptbob]

Very nice. Very clever solution to getting the dome right. :bravo:

 

[pickelhauben]

Nice work! Does the glue dry clear after?

No it does not.
You have to come back and sand on top of the glue with course grit sandpaper.
When doing this the blackish area turns whitish and blends in better with the felt back ground.
That is the next step.

Thanks guys for the positive comments.

 

[Naprawiacz]

Beautiful work, renovation at the highest level, congratulations!