Big Red here with a question from "Chip Diller"...
So, TAKE FIVE!
Chip asks,
"Big Red, Why did M-1 helmets need to be spanked?"
Good question Chip…….
The M-1 helmet’s deep pot design was pressed out of a 16 1/2-inch diameter steel disc.
After the initial draw but before the trimming operation the helmet body retained the excess disc, which formed a brim around the perimeter of the helmet referred to as “hold down”.
The hold down was bent toward the dome of the pot in order to secure or “hold down” for trimming. After the hold down was removed, the helmet starts to look like an M-1 with the exception that the front visor was still bent in the wrong direction.
The spanking operation was used to bend the steel at the front of the helmet back down in the opposite direction of the initial draw in order to form the visor.
The spanking operation shapes the helmet's frontal plate in a way that it flanges forward to form a cap-style visor.
As a side note, it should be mentioned that losses due to production breakage during the spanking operation was second only to breakage that occurred during the initial draw operation.
Ask as many questions as you like Chip,
and remember,
Big Red Says!
FIVE'S OVER - MOVE OUT!
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