US Doughboy Helmet

[Guest]

I’m having trouble with two problems. First I’m trying to remove the center peg to replace the liner in my US doughboy helmet. How do I get the peg out safely? I was using a grinder and accidentally ground my helmet and took the paint off. 

 

Second, how can I fix that little spot that I ground the paint off as you can see bare metal and it’s driving me crazy? I wasn’t planning on repainting the whole helmet. But how can I make that spot blend in?

 

thank you!

[Boomstick]

Well it's to late for.my advice. When I first started collecting I was told don't ever change anything keep it original. With that said I would think u are going to have to play with different things to age that spot it took over 100 years to get that way so I wish you all the luck I wish I knew how to really help...man that sucks those are such nice pieces

Boomstick

[kmad]

Hi

I my experience power tools and antiques are not the best bed fellows if you are not v v. Careful

slowly slowly is the way to go.

 

your eye will always be drawn to the mark and you will never be able to look at the helmet objectively so all repairs will be v difficult. but you will be the worst person to look at the job as you will know exactly where the repair occurred.

 

however moving forward

 

using an angle grinder is not the best tool for this job

 

two ways I would approach the issue.

 

i would drill out the rivet, not an easy job but it will only affect the rivet. Make sure you get a good punch to mark the hole properly before drilling otherwise the bit will slide.  Try starting from the inside as well

 

or

 

I would use an electric file on the inside and remove the peening of the rivet and tap it out.  You will get marks from the power file on the inside but the new cover will hide this.

 

as for the mark, barrel browning solution I find v good for removing scratches  but it will be a tricky one,  paint matching would be tough but maybe replacing some of the sand might help.

 

best of luck

 

ken