Unpolishing My Gallic G Helmet

[Matt Lukes]

Avete!<br>
<br>
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with <em>un</em>polishing steel- I made my own lorica segmentata, so it's nice burnished mild steel, but I had to buy a helmet, which is highly polished steel. I'd really like them to match, but I'm not interested in polishing the armor to a mirror finish... so, I figure dulling the polish of the helmet is the best idea. The only thing is that I don't want to simply end up with a scratched-finish helmet- I'd like it to be the overall matte that the armor, and indeed the interior of the helmet are. Some sort of chemical means sounds like the best idea to me, but I'm unaware of anything that would do the trick. Surely there are others out there with mild steel segmentatae and purchased helmets- has anyone done this? If so HOW?<br>
<br>
Thanks in advance<br>
<br>
Valete<br>
<br>
Matt <p></p><i></i>

[Hibernicus]

Hours and hours and hours of experience with dulling!<br>
<br>
We use a home made mix of fine ground pumice and nut oil applied with a felted wool pad or sea sponge.<br>
<br>
You could use one of those sanding sponges or a green pad or a very fine steel wool...0000. ...or a 400 - 600 grit sanding paper .... or a buffing compound<br>
<br>
The trick is swirling motions and hand work<br>
<br>
Hibernicus<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Matthew Amt]

Ave, Magnus!<br>
<br>
What I use on my armor and steel helmets is Scotch-brite pads, the green pot scrubbers you can get from a grocery store. They sell equivalent things (in larger sizes which are handy) in hardware places with the sandpaper, etc. My "secret weapon" is to stick one on the sanding disc for my drill. Makes some nasty black dust but gives a nice satiny finish very quickly. Try it out on a test spot, first, though, to be sure it's the finish you want.<br>
<br>
I do NOT use abrasives like this on my brass or bronze helmets or armor, but have been known to run over lorica lacing loops and other fittings if they needed help and I was in too much of a hurry to be kinder to them.<br>
<br>
I also had good results recently with a wire brush wheel on a buffer/grinder, apparently a fairly fine one (not mine, so not sure). Made a rusty old helmet into a thing of beauty in about 10 minutes, brass fittings included! I was surprised. But again, test it, because some wire wheels will give much coarser results.<br>
<br>
Not to be sounding like I'm disagreeing with Hibernicus, here! His suggestions sound good, mine are just other options.<br>
<br>
Vale,<br>
<br>
Matthew/Quintus <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

MATT!!!!<br>
<br>
That wasn't me that posted. I am not sure who this Matt L. guy is but we do seem to share a first name and at least a last initial! <p>Magnus/Matt<br>
Legio XXX "Ulpia Victrix"<br>
Niagara Falls, Canada</p><i></i>

[Hibernicus]

My <em>only</em> objection to mechanical methods is that they're... mechanical.<br>
<br>
Well, that and there's a tendency for mech to leave mech marks.<br>
<br>
That, said both work to dull the steel. I suppose you coudl use mech, as its faster then follow up with a hand method to "erase" mech marks.<br>
<br>
Another thing to keep handy is a lightly oiled cloth to wipe the steel as you go.. whatever method you employ to dull the steel.<br>
<br>
Hibernicus<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[scythius]

<br>
It is also VERY easy to 'go too far' when using mechanical devices to polish (trust me on this)<br>
<br>
Regarding Scotchbrite - I have found this to be a wonderful tool.<br>
<br>
I recently recieved some 14th century armour that came mirror polished (rather than a satin finish as I had ordered) and I used a Scotchbrite pad by hand to break the finish on the helm (bascinet with interchangaable klappvisors) - this took about 1/2 hour to do so.<br>
<br>
Make sure that you change the direction often so that you achieve a fairly uniform finish.<br>
<br>
Scythius - armour addict. <p>Scythius<br>
LEG IX HSPA - COH III EXPG - CEN I HIB<br>
<br>
- FIDELITAS - - VIRTUS - - MAGNANIMITAS - </p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Hiya.......<br>
<br>
leave it out in the garden for a few weeks... and you´ll be surprised with the effect of plain weather influences!!!<br>
<br>
hehehehehehe....<br>
<br>
M.VIB.M.<br>
<br>
<p>V COH II<br>
LEGIO X GEMINA<br>
EX GER INF</p><i></i>

[Matt Lukes]

Avete!<br>
<br>
Thanks everyone for your suggestions I've used Scotch Brite and similar sanding pads for a while now to fight the light rust that likes to form on my segmentata, and had thought they'd be the proper tools for dulling my helmet, so it was nice to hear from those with experience that this was indeed the way to go. I've just spent about half-an-hour outside in the sun having at it, and she's dulling nicely. I'm going to work a little longer with pads of lower abrasiveness to reduce the obviousness of the tiny scratches that even multidirectional 'sanding' leaves- hopefully it'll match the armor without too much fuss. I suppose that it can hardly be considered a bad thing to look a little different and have some scratching- they just add to the look, yes?<br>
<br>
Thanks again!<br>
<br>
Matt <p></p><i></i>

[scythius]

<br>
Matt -<br>
<br>
You may want to use pumice and oil to finish up the job - it's the only thing I use on my seg any more - sweet almond oil - health food stores are not as expensive as a regular grocery stores, and ethnic markets are even cheaper...<br>
<br>
As for the pumice, you can buy blocks of pumice at any place that sells swimming pool supplies and grind the pumice to powder yourself.<br>
<br>
This works great for taking off big patches of nasty rust (for this, I'll use a piece of leather) as well as keeping a satin finish.<br>
<br>
<p>Scythius<br>
LEG IX HSPA - COH III EXPG - CEN I HIB<br>
<br>
- FIDELITAS - - VIRTUS - - MAGNANIMITAS - </p><i></i>