Changing my new helmet to work without a chin-cup
2026-05-31
we saw Helga’s helmet, which is designed not to need a chin cup, because it has hinges that lets it close exactly around one’s head. Helga cautions “this is a sports helm; it is not authentic”. but I liked the approach so much, we decided to try re-doing the helmet Keldor made for me to fit.
2026-06-03
we cut off the face part of my helmet
2026-08-22
we tried modifying the original grill to work for a Helga-style helm (sadly, this attempt failed such that we can’t even save the pretty bits for other projects)
2026-08-23 I made cardboard patterns for the new bits we need to make
cardboard patterns
First draft of the grill
The original nose piece, made of pattern welded steel, is reusable:
2026-08-24
I sat down to the computer and drafted the second draft of the grill, tracing the one from yesterday, and then doing a better job of making cat eye, nose, mouth, and whiskers, plus a heart and an infinity symbol (since he had put an interwoven heart-infinity symbol on the first grill, and I liked it, but separating them make it easier to do them smaller):
My new helmet
Keldor made me my new helmet sometime after we moved in together, designing it to fit over my hearing aids, and it is wonderful. Somewhere, there is a blog post documenting it, when I find it, I will copy the info here.
photos of me in the helmet from the tournament at Double Wars 2025:
