Making An Early Medieval Helmet From Scratch In ONE DAY

[@jarrettstiles3772]

That’s impressive! I would love to get a helmet from you but I just recently ordered a rounded top nasal helmet for my early 13th century reenactment group. Thanks for sharing mate 👍

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Well sounds like you need a pointy top nasal helmet now 😉

[@logancook5261]

Very nice! A spitting image of William the Conqueror with that helmet on.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ayy thanks haha

[@briant9723]

If using mild steel you should cold forge it, it’ll work harden it

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ah but the Normans didn't have large dies to press the metal into shape. I wanted this to be as handmade as I realistically could. Of course, I use machines to grind and polish the helmet but this is just a way to speed up a process which gives the same effect on the metal as doing it by hand. By hammering the shape out myself, I learn the techniques of how to make that shape with a hammer, and it also leaves the hammer marks which the originals also show, giving it a more authentic finish. :)

[@briant9723]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy you used a welder lol, should have just used hot rivets and they did hot forge it but that’s because they didn’t have rolled steel, the drew it out from billets and used chisels to cut it. Your work is amazing, just thought rather than worrying about quenching and all that just cold forging it and heat cycling it after

[@urzmontst.george6314]

Excellent.

[@miguelvasquez8650]

Hello. It is a big mistake to allow the steel to get red hot when you weld. This causes the steel to lose its mechanical properties. The correct way to do it is with tack welding, until the seam is completely finished. Greetings from Chile.

[@gillianr-w8720]

I came across your channel by a very happy accident. You are teaching me things I had not realised I wanted to know. ❤

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ayy I love that! Well I'm glad you found my channel and you're enjoying my content. I have plenty of ancient history and medieval architecture videos to watch ☺️

[@debbralehrman5957]

Nicely done👍🏻

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Appreciated ☺️

[@Duck3Dblender]

What would you say is the difficulty of this piece? I am interested in starting making these sorts of things and medieval weapons and armour are what i want to make.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Well there are two ways of making medieval armour. There's the historical way where you try to reproduce a medieval item from a museum or artwork, or there's the modern way where you just want to make a piece of armour "look medieval". The latter is much easier but still very difficult since Armouring is not a skill you can just learn quickly. For this Norman helmet, the hardest part was probably the planishing and grinding to ensure a smooth surface without getting the metal too thin. Remember of course you need a welder to attach the two parts together, unless you want to raise it from one piece of metal which is a highly skilled process.

[@Duck3Dblender]

thanks! @@AlexTheHistoryGuy

[@קעז-מענטש]

​@@Duck3Dblender Or you could make þe hemet from two pieces riveted togeþer wiþ a strip of þicker steel.

[@Solid_Punch]

Erm, why are you quenching before evening out bumps? Metal would be easier to work if it's cooled down by air. Even mild steel becomes a little bit harder after quenching.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

This was just 2mm mild steel so wasn't particularly tough. I could have allowed it to air-cool but I had to build the entire helmet in one day so I was in a rush!

[@sammerritt730]

How did they power their TIG welders in the early medieval era? :)

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Hehehehe. This is indeed a modern technique to save time but they did forge weld in the medieval period. So the outcome is the same, the item used is just different. Same as using a belt sanding machine instead of sanding by hand.

[@irisallender6796]

hello! i'm interested in starting armoring. i'm coming from a knife/sword making background. unfortunately i can't weld, im wondering if you can join the two halves with flux in a similar way to how you make damascus?

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Hi there - I'm not entirely sure, yes it is possible but it's not something I've ever done. But good luck haha!

[@irisallender6796]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy thank you!

[@knutzzl]

If you can forge weld you can do this, but this is difficult since the weld is long and thin. It is also possible to rivit a long strip along with center

[@irisallender6796]

@@knutzzl my only question about that is how solid would it be as i intend on using the gear i make. also my forge is not going to be able to evenly heat a whole helmet i'm afraid.

[@irisallender6796]

@@knutzzl about the riveting. i have a viking age spectacle helm that's joined like that and it's pretty solid. i struggle to find any helmets like this up into the period i want to work at though