Linkswarm Viking Helmet Tutorial (Part 1: Intro and Metalwork)

So, you wanna be a Viking Swarmer huh?

You'll have to prove your mettle by MAKING YOUR OWN HELMET.



What?

You know jack meep about iron?

Pfft. It's easy.

Here, I'll show you how.

Let's start with;

THE MEASURMENTS

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Measure your head as if for a hat. Add 3" to that, then divide by 2.

That's your width.

Now measure from earhole to earhole over the top of your head. Add 2" then divide by 2 again.

That's your height.

Now make a pattern by drawing a rectangle with the measurements you just took.

Mark a line one inch from the bottom all the way across.

Now from the top of that line make as close to a perfect half-circle as you can stretching to each side and touching the top at the center.

Repeat at the bottom.

Your pattern should look like this:



MATERIAL

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Now What kind/thickness of metal to use?

Totally up to you of course, but since I don't like crushing weight on my neck for long periods, let's say 14-16 guage.

You can also make it out of tempered "sign" aluminum.

There are pro's and con's to both of them, so again, just pick what's right for you.

I made Hobo's out of aluminum.

This one is 16 guage steel.

CUTTING IT OUT

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Funny enough, I was doing this sort of cutting with my edge grinder using cut-off wheels and tin snips and prayed for the day I could afford a plasma cutter or a metal-cutting bandsaw.

Then just this week I thought to myself:"Hey, doesn't my jigsaw have a metal-cutting blade?"

-Which goes to show, there's always an easier way if you just look:



DISHING

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There is an art to dishing metal. A sweaty, achy, meeping tiresome art.

Start by cleaning up the edges of the metal. grind off any burrs and take down the sharp edges on your bench grinder or with your edge grinder. -Or just use a file. Whichever.

Just do it. Trust me on this.

At this point, you'll need what's called a dishing stump.

Get a log at least a foot in diameter and up to three feet in length.

Stand it up and drill a 1" hole about an inch deep into the top.

now take out a large ball peen hammer and lovingly whale on it until you achieve a rough dish shape(upper right on mine):



Now draw a spiral onto the metal starting at the edge and circling around toward the center to give yourself something to follow.

PUT ON SOME GLOVES

Take your ball peen hammer, lay the metal on the stump so that where you strike the material, it bows into the dish in the wood, and hit it hard enough to make a fair dent in it:



Now it's going to be tricky, but you have to move the metal round to keep the spot you're about to hit over the dish as you strike, so that the metal has a place to go:



I can't stress this enough: TAKE IT SLOW!

Don't rush through this, because you'll get sloppy and start missing. Worse yet, if you try and tough your way through, you might get so fatigued that you hit yourself in the head with the hammer on the upswing. (I've seen a guy do this and nearly done it myself.)

Seriously, Take a break every time you make a complete circle.

About halfway through the first pass, you should see a fair amount of stretch:



First pass complete:



Now you go around in between the lines to stretch the metal evenly:



-And one more time around on the line again.



Now we've got a fairly round shape:



Tired?

Too bad, 'cause you have to do it again:



There you go;

Two unidentifiable, lumpy-meep pieces of metal:



PLANISHING

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Planishing is a skill all it's own.

You continue to stretch the metal, but in such a way as to smooth it evenly.

You'll need a dolly.

For this, I use a little 3lb dumbbell that's been cut in half and ground round:



Just mount it in your vise at a comfortable level:



-And you're ready to go:



Note: If you get into metalwork, you need a good assortment of hammers. The one in this pic (Planishing hammer) I bought from a farrier supply place on the outskirts of town for, I meep you not, $85.

Keep your eyes peeled for these when you hit the swap meet if you don't want to spend that kind of money.

Now the trick to planishing(aside from hitting it flat) is that you can't knock down the bumps in the metal.

You have to raise the low spots.

What I mean is that you strike the metal in the low spots between the high areas and this flattens and stretches the steel so that it rises as well:



This can be carried a step further by marking flat areas for additional forming.

Translation: Hitting it more makes it rounder.



The pieces are going to need some straightening.

The way to do that is to just bend the edges over the dolly,



then continue planishing until it's looking pretty close:



Side note:

If you don't have the patience or stamina for hours of tap-tapping, I highly recommend investing in one of these:



It's a Harbor Freight Planishing hammer that runs off your compressor. ($120 US) It takes a meep of a lot less time.

TRIMMING

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To get a nice even shape, you need to start with one flat edge.

I usually just hold down a side that has a good curve and mark it like this:



Then trim;



...Then mark again;



Then do the other side.

...and check your work:



Now tape the pieces together:



And if the fit is good, you're ready to move on to riveting.

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END OF PART 1



rawr.

_{On 2010-12-11 at 21:34:33, spankerchief asked to smell your meep}