A couple months ago I bought an antique fencing mask, which was in a really bad shape, but still, costed me less than 1/3 of a mid-tier brand new mask. Since it was from when they mostly made of steel and leather, I asked myself "why not? I can totally fix this" and bought it.
The process is detailed in my blog, here: http://darkponymod.tumblr.com/post/137565455399/back-from-my-trip-i-decided-to-finally-go-and