Making a Roman Attic Helmet from a Corinthian helm

[AntonivsMarivsCongianocvs]

...in Your step-by-step-description You wrote about the brass that it was 18g or 18 gauge brass - can You tell me in millimeters (mm) how thin this is?

... up to how much millimeters can the brass still be embossed in the way how Antonius did it...

Ave,

I apologize is I wasn’t clear… My visor is 18 gauge brass with 36 gauge embossed brass laminated to it.

I made the visor from 18 gauge brass, which is the same thickness as my helmet and most helmets in recreation are made from. 18 gauge brass is about one millimeter thick.

I embossed 36 gauge brass using the small ball pens. I then spread out a ‘cold wielding’ product called JB Wield to both fill in all the embossing and then to laminate the thinner 36 gauge brass to the 18 gauge brass.

The thinnest brass sheet K&S sells is 42 gauge, the 36 gauge I used is their thickest and is about the thickness of a sheet of paper.

18 gauge brass cannot be embossed using the method I used. With 18 gauge or thicker you would have to use a hammer and chisel and possible heat along with a hammer and chisel.

I’m not sure if 34 or 32 or 30 gauge etc could be used but I also have not seen it available either.

Below you can see the difference between the thicker 18 gauge brass and the thinner 36 gauge brass.

[Uwe Bahr]

Thank You very much,

that will help me a lot, I was somewhat confused because I didn't understand the measuring used in USA correctly. Especially that the higher the gauge is the thicker the material.

Again thanks - Uwe

[Tarbicus]

the higher the gauge is the thicker the material.

It's the other way around, isn't it? The higher the gauge the thinner the metal?

[Et tu brute]

I thought that too :?

[Uwe Bahr]

Yes - my mistake, You are right.

[Doug Strong]

May I ask where you found 36 gauge brass?

Nope, I have to keep it a top secret! :twisted:

Just kidding... it's made by K&S

What I'm using is K&S .005 36 gauge brass, part number 6010.

I picked mine up at Maximum Velocity, Inc.
Phone: United States 623-587-9261
[url:8krsqqlf]http://www.maximum-velocity.com[/url]

It costs around $15 US.

Thanks for the tip. Laudes to you. I bought the K&S brass at my local hardware store. A single sheet cost me less than $4.00 and it will make all the lace poits I will need for a long time. Thanks again.

[Marcus Mummius]

@Tony: Can you tell me what this cold wield stuff is exactly? Is it some kind of glue or a artificial metal paste?

Does anyone know a source for this stuff in Europe?

Thanks in advance!

Vale,

[Franklin]

I assume he's talking about products like JB Weld. It's just a two-part epoxy. Comes in two tubes. When you mix them together it sets up hard as rock! They call it JB Weld because it's ideal for joining metal, and can stand up to a lot of abuse.

Check 'em out at www.jbweld.com .

[AntonivsMarivsCongianocvs]

Can you tell me what this cold wield stuff is exactly? Is it some kind of glue or a artificial metal paste?

Ave,

It's a steel powder mixed with an epoxy in one tube and then in another tube is a hardener, you can see them in the photo below. Just squeeze them out and mix together.

Because of the steel powder, it blends in extremely well when dry with a steel helmet.



They have come out with a new product called JB-KWIK or something like that (as in JB Quick) that hardens much faster. It works very well, gets hard rather fast though, within 5 minutes but, you do have a chance to use a knife or razor blade and remove excess before it completely bonds... about a good 10 minutes... I used it on the last of the appliqués.

[Marcus Mummius]

Seems good stuff. I have to fix a brass chape on a scabbard, the soldering joints came loose in two places. But I don't want to remove the chape from the scabbard to solder it PLUS the chape is tinned so soldering it might very well destroy the tinning. So this epoxy stuff seems like the solution I need. I don't think they sell this JB Weld here in Belgium so I'll have to look for a similar product...

Thanks for the info guys!

Vale,
Jef

[Franklin]

From the JB Weld website:

INTERNATIONALLY AVAILABLE IN:

* Canada
* England
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Italy
* Mexico
* Russia
* US Territories (Puerto Rico)

[Marcus Mummius]

I noticed that but they don't mention stores. I found some on ebay in Germany but I don't know how much it should cost. 4 tubes cost about 30-35USD.

[Franklin]

Ha, do they mean four tubes, or four SETS of tubes (which would be 8 tubes total)? Remember, each set comes with two tubes, the epoxy and the hardener.

If it's the latter then $7.50 a piece is about right. And even if it's $30 for just two sets that's not horrible. The stuff lasts forever. I've had the same two tubes since I can remember.

Anyway, if it's available in France and Germany there's gotta be some online source that'll ship it to you.

[Marcus Mummius]

Ha, do they mean four tubes, or four SETS of tubes (which would be 8 tubes total)? Remember, each set comes with two tubes, the epoxy and the hardener.

If it's the latter then $7.50 a piece is about right. And even if it's $30 for just two sets that's not horrible. The stuff lasts forever. I've had the same two tubes since I can remember.

Anyway, if it's available in France and Germany there's gotta be some online source that'll ship it to you.

Jup, 30USD for two sets, one of the classic and one of the quick variety.

Vale,

[Aetius Helvius Merula]

The usual sort of JB Weld is more user friendly. If you make a mistake, or put too much on, you can take a few minutes to wipe it off and clean the residue before it sets. It's good stuff. I rebuilt a Dodge radiator with it, when I was poor and young(er).