Shrinkage

[b.loree]

We all should be aware of how just how much our helmets have shrunk over the last 100+ years. Here is a reminder using a Grenadier officer helmet I have recently finished'

Our helmets shrink/dry out over time largely due to environmental conditions. The leather shrinks, but the metal fittings obviously do not.

At one time, these wings were tight to the shell. Both visors and the silk liner were re stitched on this piece.

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

Brain this should help with the shrinkage.

 

[Pontiac9999]

I like the braille on the box....lol

 

[b.loree]

Well even those without sight have need of that product! And Tony...... yet again you go beyond providing me with restoration techniques with another...ah useful suggestion. My thanks T, as always, your expertise in these matters here, is most welcome! I made a post on this helmet( Grenadier) when I received it from Alan. It has received a lot of abuse but most of this was to the front of the helmet. I had no difficulty with putting the rear spine back on after stitching the rear visor, but the front visor and trim posed a more difficult decision. I will get back to that post with some additional pics.
Leather shrinkage lady and gentlemen, here on the forum is probably our greatest enemy. Like our own skin, leather reacts to dry conditions and higher humidity. Tony pointed this out years ago when he set up his web site The Kaisers Bunker. However, if you have a large collection of valuable leather helmets, you need to protect your investment by keeping track of humidity. Trust me, 99.9% of the restorations that I have to deal with are the result of 100+ years of largely dry environmental conditions. Frankly, wherever you find a helmet with any kind of metal fittings problem, then you are looking at leather shrinkage. One caveat, I have no experience with dug leather items unlike our members from Eastern Europe and they do great work!.

 

[Naprawiacz]

Brain you have described it beautifully! As for the objects dug out of the ground, there is only one advice: use a brush to brush several times on the skin a solution of lanolin mixed with turpentine or petroleum spirit. Lanolin is obtained from the fat of sheep, which is deposited thickly on their wool. It has a heavy consistency (like wax) and comes in shades of yellow and brown. I am sending photos of the item I made, which had been lying in water for more than 70 years.First I dried it in a cellar for a fortnight at a temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius.Then at a temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius.After drying the leather was as brittle as a wafer, but after lubricating it with the solution, I could start working.Regards.
Wojtek

 

[JohnS3rd]

Wojtek
Based on the before and after pictures, it is amazing how the leather responds to this technique.
Thank you for sharing this technique with the forum.
John

 

[b.loree]

Museum quality leather restorations Wojtek, well done!!

 

[Naprawiacz]

Thank you very much for your kind words Brain and John.Greetings.
Wojtek