Helmet Qs

[tDub248]

Hey Everyone! I'm a sculptor at a museum and recently did some armor for a Nativity production. I made everything with Polyester resin and Polyurethane Resin, but now I'm dying to work with metal! There's just to much maintenance with plastic stuff (break to easy, paint rubs off...).

Q's:
With what's been found, are there more iron helmets or Bronze/Brass?

What size of forge would you need for working on a helmet? How big of areas would you heat up to work with? Is it easiest to hammer it into a bowl or form?

What would be some good books or links on this?

That's all I can think of for now... Thanks!

[tDub248]

Heres one

[M. Demetrius]

Nice work! And considering how it was used, it is probably very much better than most productions of similar sort. Way to go.

Crossing over from "theatre" to "reenactor" grade is a pretty big step, though. There are armorers on this forum that can probably lead you in the right direction. Good to have you on board, Travis. Welcome here!

[Doc]

The easier method for helmets would be to use a spun bowl which is present for most bronze/brass helmets of the period. The iron helmets were raised from one sheet of iron either by a drop-forge method or simply by hammering the helmet out.

As Demetrius has pointed out, the armorers on this page can be of greater help. Go to the marketplace section. There are custom armorers and vendors of "off the shelf" equipment that has come a long way.

[tDub248]

Thanks! where would I learn more about the spun bowl? how does that work?

[Coenwulf]

Take a look at the helmet section in Matthew Amt's Legion Handbook on the Legio XX website. It has a lot of info and some really good links. Then here are a few others: The Artists Blacksmith Assn at www.abana.org , its' British equivalent at www.baba.org and the Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland at www.bgcmonline.org links page. If you want to get into blacksmithing the Roman world, joining a local blacksmith guild is a good way to learn the basics, particularly in regard to safety.
Regards,
Henry Irving
Legio XX

[Magnus]

Welcome to RAT Travis...some very cool casting there. Nice work!

[Tarbicus]

its' British equivalent at www.baba.org

Henry, you need to take a look at that link you just gave :wink:

[caiusbeerquitius]

:lol: ROFLMAO

[Virilis]

BAA-BA, BAA-BA, BAA-BA hock: ...

[Coenwulf]

Sorry. It's www.baba.org.uk , not baba.org. The British Artist Blacksmiths
Association.
an embarrased Henry Irving

[Coenwulf]

One more link. Jake Powning, a Canadian bladesmith, has some tutorials on
swordmaking on his site at www.powning.com/jake/home/j_homepg.shtml
Henry

[Matthew Amt]

Ave, Travis!

GREAT work! Geez, that's vastly better than anything Hollywood has ever come up with... Some more links:

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/helmets.html

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/spunhlm.html

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/armrhnts.html

http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/armor ... _index.htm

http://www.armourarchive.org/

As far as I know, brass and bronze Roman helmets are more common than iron, but that's at least partly because iron simply rusts away more easily. And because for several centuries almost all helmets were bronze. So you kind of have to narrow down the time-frame for your question--Late first century BC would be mostly brass but some iron; Late first century AD probably more iron; 4th century AD probably almost all iron.

Iron helmets (and many copper alloy ones) would have been made with a combination of dishing and raising. The size of the forge needed may simply come down to "the size that works!" You can heat large or small areas and work hot, or heat the whole thing to anneal and work cold, or anneal smaller parts and work cold, etc. Copper alloys are generally worked cold with frequent annealing. Iron is annealed by heating and slow cooling, whereas copper alloys are annealed by heating and quenching.

Not to be discouraging you from making stuff, but most people find that a helmet is NOT a beginner armorer's project! A few shield bosses first, maybe? I'd also recommend practicing on scrap steel first (old shelves and such), before starting to pound on expensive brass. But then, looking at your work, you just might be one of those disgusting multi-talented guys who conquers every new project brilliantly and makes it look easy! (Kinda like me, bwa-ha-ha!) If nothing else, armor-making is certainly *noisier* than resin casting!

Go to! Looking forward to your results! Vale,

Matthew

[tDub248]

Thanks so much! Thats all very helpful stuff!

[M. Demetrius]

Noisier, yes. Foam ear plugs are a must! And liniment for the sore forearms and wrists until you get arms like Popeye, at least.