Helmet bolts, source and modification..

[JollyRajR]

Hi all, I wanted to share some bolt stuffs.. I have an MLC fiberglass helmet, and the design is such that I'm not able to use the correct 3M plastic bolts for the lid.. I did, however, get approved for basic with elevator bolts (1/4-20) from Lowe's. However, it's one of the things holding me back from achieving lancer status. Here's how I gave my bolts a dished appearance--

I chuck the elevator bolt in my cordless drill.. I hold it in my left hand, point it straight up and use my thumb to hit the trigger and spin it up..

Meanwhile, in my right hand I have my dremel tool (I use the flexible wand extension on it, works great for applications like this..) with a reinforced cut-off wheel.. While it's spinning, I apply the cut-off wheel to the face of the bolt and start relieving material.. A few minutes later, I'm left with a dished bolt.. My best guess is that my 1" bolt heads are oversized, so I also took down the overall size.. This is achieved in a similar way, by grinding down the edge of the bolt.. Periodically, I hit the face of the bolt to remove any sort of lip that builds up.. In the end, I think what I've got are some pretty decent facsimiles of the plastic bolts that don't fit my bucket.. I clean them up by spinning them up and apply several grades of sandpaper.. The primer really covers any tooling marks either way.. 

The paint I used for the medium grey is just an automotive primer in a can.. A high-build 2-in-1.. My bolt on the right has had a year of trooping, so it's picked up some Endor dirt.. My other dished bolt is drying, otherwise I'd have thrown in a pic of it completed.. Hope this helps some folks ..

 

[Stroker]

Thanks for this Raj! The actual bolts are getting harder and harder to get your hands on. Solid info here folks! 

[spike]

great information.

I make my own using a metal dome bolt I trim down using the same way as this

cheers

[Diadem]

I just got the real deal bolts on eBay for $7 shipped.

[Stroker]

3 hours ago, Diadem said:

I just got the real deal bolts on eBay for $7 shipped.

A casting or the real deal? 

[Diadem]

1 hour ago, Stroker said:

A casting or the real deal? 

Real.

 

[JollyRajR]

These bolts are unfortunately too short for my bucket.. My 1" bolts are borderline being too short as is.. Hehe..