Its a grey wintery day here in Canuck land, so I got to thinking (yes Gus I do think too much) why not take a look at the good old spike support disc? After 20+ years of collecting somehow, I have acquired a bunch of these things. It turns out that as usual, there are different sizes and variations. The disc as we all know, was intended to support the weight of the spike and prevent the top of the leather shell from collapsing. Sometimes, we find it on the outside of the shell and we have discussed this anomaly but to be honest, this was obviously, not regulation, this was something that occurred after the war, it makes no sense really. These M95 helmets gleamed like patent leather when they were new as can be seen in the fotos and that is why the uberzug was invented....so disc on the outside....NOT!! To my knowledge, there is no period picture of a helmet with the disc on the outside of the shell. So, I took the following fotos and lets see what this thread has to offer.
Three discs of different sizes and at least in one example, a different metal was used. On the left we have the standard disc most often found on the OR's pickelhaube. Typically, it measures 9.3 cm in diameter and can be made of tin or steel. The steel ones are heavier and less flexible. In the middle we have an aluminium disc from a private purchase officer helme. It is the smallest of the 3 at 7.8 cm and as well, you can see the difference in shape. The last disc on the right is an OR disc but again smaller than the standard one on the left. It measures 8.2 cm and is made of steel.
Here is a pic of 2 Hessen style discs and one other rusted one that is even bigger (11.9 cm) than the standard M95. The aluminium disc measures 12.5 cm in diameter
And next, we see some additional examples of different discs:
On the left we have a disc manufacturer stamped 1914 Carl Goldschmidt H Luckenwalde and in the middle painted numbers which may indicate a date?? Last a tin un painted disc of the smaller diameter discussed above.
In my restoration travels, I have seen cruciform officer/OR helmets with both aluminium and black painted tin cruciform support devices. I invite members to post pics of these as I do not have examples. Typically, the cruciform spikes, especially on officer helmes cause problems with the helmet top because of the weight. This problem was known to manufacturers at the time because we find the metal supports as mentioned. However, many cruciform officer helmes did not have supports, just the usual small tin discs under the star screws. This is the case with my Oldenberg Dragoner officer helme shown in the forum logo.
The most unusual officer cruciform spike base device I have ever encountered during a restoration, was made of aluminum and had elongated arms that were pined at the back by the rear spine slit brad, at the side by the chin scale bosses and at the front by a split brad soldered to the back of the wappen. I took pics at the time but unfortunately, they were lost when my computer had to be replaced years ago. If anyone has an example of this configuration, please post some fotos on this thread.
Last a foto the Hessen style disc in place on my JR 115 helme:
]
Three discs of different sizes and at least in one example, a different metal was used. On the left we have the standard disc most often found on the OR's pickelhaube. Typically, it measures 9.3 cm in diameter and can be made of tin or steel. The steel ones are heavier and less flexible. In the middle we have an aluminium disc from a private purchase officer helme. It is the smallest of the 3 at 7.8 cm and as well, you can see the difference in shape. The last disc on the right is an OR disc but again smaller than the standard one on the left. It measures 8.2 cm and is made of steel.
Here is a pic of 2 Hessen style discs and one other rusted one that is even bigger (11.9 cm) than the standard M95. The aluminium disc measures 12.5 cm in diameter
And next, we see some additional examples of different discs:
On the left we have a disc manufacturer stamped 1914 Carl Goldschmidt H Luckenwalde and in the middle painted numbers which may indicate a date?? Last a tin un painted disc of the smaller diameter discussed above.
In my restoration travels, I have seen cruciform officer/OR helmets with both aluminium and black painted tin cruciform support devices. I invite members to post pics of these as I do not have examples. Typically, the cruciform spikes, especially on officer helmes cause problems with the helmet top because of the weight. This problem was known to manufacturers at the time because we find the metal supports as mentioned. However, many cruciform officer helmes did not have supports, just the usual small tin discs under the star screws. This is the case with my Oldenberg Dragoner officer helme shown in the forum logo.
The most unusual officer cruciform spike base device I have ever encountered during a restoration, was made of aluminum and had elongated arms that were pined at the back by the rear spine slit brad, at the side by the chin scale bosses and at the front by a split brad soldered to the back of the wappen. I took pics at the time but unfortunately, they were lost when my computer had to be replaced years ago. If anyone has an example of this configuration, please post some fotos on this thread.
Last a foto the Hessen style disc in place on my JR 115 helme:
]
