Visor'd helm

A fairly standard 10-G-a helm. Called by that designation because it used to be on page ten of the old catalogue and it was the visored version of the seventh one on the list. This is one of the nicer looking helms I make in the "not very expensive" style of helms that I make. The top is made from an 11 gauge steel spinning, and it is all nicely blued in the oven. The rest of the helm is fourteen gauge that is pretty much the way it looks when it comes from the factory...they call this "hot rolled" steel. Personally I like h.r. steel. Some people don't. To ME, it looks like iron "should" look. And it is hard to mistake it for those stainless steel lids they are calling helmets nowadays.

I was asked once if I found the black iron to be really hot in the sun. Interestingly enough, I think it radiates the heat as quickly as it picks it up...there is really not all that much difference in internal temperature between a matt finished "shiny" helm, and a black finished "brain bucket".

I made this helm to fit a little lower on the face than usual. I think that face plate could be raised up some three quarters of an inch and still function. And I will do that if the customer feels that there is just too many layers of padding on the top of his head for comfort. Two layers of half inch foam should be enough. If we go to four layers, well, I'll move the face plate up a bit.

The hinge points are 3/8 in rivets, and the face plate is kept from being driven back into his chin by a pair of solid shoulder rivets, clearly shown in the above picture, although perhaps better shown in the middle picture. The strap is considered to be sacrificial, and extra holes are drilled to enable the customer to tie the visor down with a spare shoe lace if the strap breaks.

And I notice that the buckle is on the wrong side...it is "supposed" to be on the right hand side, out of harms way. oops. Well, I just noticed that now, and I'll just go and reverse that. (tsk tsk, what WAS I thinking!)