One-Piece Raised Roman Helmet Project

[Matt Lukes]

Well now that I'm forging everything from swords to armour, I've moved on to the last thing I haven't ever tried: raising a helmet- and I've been keeping track of the progression and figured it might be of interest to folks who've never seen it done

It's not really terribly complicated, it's just a long process. Basically one uses a raising hammer, which is elongated ending in a horizontal rounded face (like the cross peen of a smithing hammer), which pushes the metal forward- as opposed to spreading it in every direction as a round-headed hammer does- and a 'T' stake, a T-shaped piece of steel over which one hammers the piece in concentric circles from the inside to the edge, repeatedly. Imagine folding a piece of aluminum foil over a tennis ball- that's essentially raising although instead of folding, the hot metal is actually compressed and one retains a smooth shape. The way the edges become very undulating illustrates the compression well. The shaping must be done gradually so as to be able to compress and not fold, so the raising is done in many, many rounds of hammering out to the edge- images will help more to illustrate so here they are:


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A bit of sinking (dishing) forms the crown and the starting point for the raising- this is after a couple of rounds actually so you can see how gradual the shaping has to be.

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This is after 4 rounds or so, although not going all the way to the edge of the neckguard which has to remain less compressed to flare out properly

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Further along you can see where the shaping is being done- at the high 'ridge' toward the left, in this intermediate raising round shot. That ridge will be flattened and compressed as the work continues.

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Here you can see how the edges are being compressed further and further in, but of course the back has to be left less-so for the neckguard shape to be proper.

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Looking more like a recognizable Roman helmet now.

[Matt Lukes]

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Here I've refined the edges, smoothed and shaped the crown and neckguard and done a little trimming so it really looks close to its final shape.

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Taping on the two prognathids (cheekguards) I'd made previously, it really looks as it should- this is the Wiesenau Robinson designation Gallic C (one of the most well-made helmets known).

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Here I've superimposed a semi-transparent photo of the original on my recreation to demonstrate that the shapes are very close.

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In this shot I've begun putting in the 'eyebrows'- hammered out from the inside using a blunt chisel and then refined externally using various stakes and other tools. It's tricky working out what shape inside will translate to what shape outside; I didn't get it quite right, but it's very close to the real thing at least

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Next I went on to forming the terraces on the neckguard- simple enough using two punch tools and a wooden form, but it took quite a while to refine the shapes so they're just like the original.

That's where my work on the bowl has ended for the moment- I still have yet to form the three ridges on the occipital section, which is the last major forming step. I'll post pictures when I get there. An interesting thing to note here is that I discovered due to the shaping of the occipital section and having to leave the neckguard at an angle, the metal there became somewhat thinner than most everywhere else- I've wondered if that is the reason for the occipital ridges; they obviously stiffen the form, but it's not an area particularly susceptible to damage given it's curved and has the angled neckguard immediatly adjacent to stiffen it- IF the metal is of the same thickness as everywhere else; but since it's not, additional ridging reinforces it. I really wonder if the area on artifact helmets is measurably thinner than elsewhere...

[Matt Lukes]

I started this project with the prognathids (cheekguards) because I needed to see if I had the necessary techniques down pat or not- I couldn't very well move on to something more significant like the bowl if I didn't LOL But they turned out wonderfully. Using high-resolution images of the original helmet, I printed a pattern, and just like my forged armour, I forged out the sheet steel first to give it the nature of a hand-produced sheet. This left the surfaces hammermarked, with little pits and of course heavily forge-scaled. With just a couple of metal punch/chisel tools and wooden forms, I put in all the ridges and shapes, ending up with this:

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A prognathid that matches the original extremely closely and probably looks just like the real thing did when it was first made. (I did realize the flare on the end of the lower projection was wrong so I removed it )

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After some surface grinding of only the exterior face, because armour is never ground inside, and only to the extent any real armour is ground- that is to remove the major scale, and to smooth the surface overall but not to get all the little dots of deeper scale or lines, etc. around odd shapes (look at any medieval harness and you'll see). So the surface is smooth but not perfectly so (it undulates a little here and there), and there are scratchmarks and little bits of scale here and there, just as there would have been on the real thing 2000 years ago. The edge binding is the exact same width as the real thing (very narrow), and interestingly this helmet had the odd feature of having a thin copper alloy lining to its prognathids- perhaps for corrosion protection since this part was in contact with the wearer's skin? Regardless of why, it's there and thus no recreation is proper without it

I still have a bunch of things to finish- the aforementioned occipital ridges, then a browband, which this helmet had (a tiny fragment of it is left), the prognathid hinges, a crest slot, of cours all the surface grinding and polishing too, so as I get to those things, I'll update this thread.

Matt

[Titvs Statilivs Castvs]

Fantastic job!hock:

[Mark Headlee]

Very nice work Matt. I can vouch for the quality of Matts recreations. I've several of his pieces and they have held up well and most important are based on research and artifacts, not fantasy or "may have been"...

Now only to find an extra $1200.00 around the house !

[jvrjenivs]

wow, that's a lovely helmet! Well done Think I have to replace my Gallic D with a raised one some day.

Thanks for sharing a step by step photo-essay of the process.

[Matthew Amt]

AMAZING, congratulations! Every time I see a succession of photos of an item being raised, I am boggled. Even more so this time since it's your first one! Incredibly inspiring. Thank You!!

Matthew

[Antoninus05]

Absolutely Fantastic Matt....you are a true craftsman! Mike

[Magnus]

Holy shitballs. That is cool. Well done Matt.

[Gaius Colletti]

This is really awesome, please keep the pics coming. Beautiful job!!

[Virilis]

Amazing, the proportions of the helmet are spot on!

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Matt, you are an artist !

I wish i had the money to commission items with you...

M.VIB.M.

[Athena Areias]

Now that is really something!! Amazing!

Could you post some photos of the tools and equipment you used, also? Thanks.

[Peroni]

Absolutely wonderful! thanks for sharing the process Matt. A serious nomination for the Hasta Pura methinks!

[M. Demetrius]

Really great work, Matt. Some photos of the punches and wooden forms would be helpful. I'm about to start a much simpler project, but it has some of the same forming needs. Wanna help a lowlander out?

Hmm. to the nearest ten thousand, how many hammer blows have been used thus far?