The Armour Archive

i have a gauntlet that is just a little bit to small for me
they fit perfectly once on, but getting them on scrapes my fat little hands. i am not sure if squashing the bell just a little bit so its more oblong is the solution
or cutting the bell and strapping it so it can separate a bit
its the rivet on opposite sides by the cuff that scrape and only on the right hand. I love the gauntlets and they fit well, the fingers ground. i just need to fix this one little thing


thanks for the assistance in advance

Consider this. Measure the circumference of the wrist area (outside) with a fabric tape measure and then subract 6 times the thickness of metal and 6 times the thickness of the leather (6 ~= pi*2). Grab a large hose-clamp from the hardware store or anything else you an ame a sized oval from and measure out that distance on the inside. If you can make the hose clamp into an oval and get your hand through comfortable then it is worth flexing the gauntlets. If not then you have to go to plan B. It does look like there is a rivet so depending on how much overlap is ther and how much space you need you can drill out some rivets and slot the side you can't see or perhaps butt the 2 halves and put in a small plate behind them using only the existing 4 rivet holes.

Luck!

Sean

Those are pretty narrow cuffs. I have opened a couple a gaunts for people. There are a couple ways you can do it depending on tools available and desired effort.

Replace entire cuff.

Add tab to the union of the cuff ends. Either riveted between them or welded on either the overlapping or underlapping end and reriveted back to the original holes of the other. I can't tell from the pic if there is an inner roll but you can add that to the tab as well and have a smooth transition. Sean covered this.

Flare the inner edge of the upper side of the cuff at the inside of the wrist where it is not connected to the metacarple. Sometimes that is enough to get a tight gaunt to not scrape. It can also help the gloves from getting chewed up right there.

thank you all for the suggestions. are there other ways. i also thought about just opening the cuff and strapping it so i can close it after its on?

If you just cut it and leave the cuff open, you just leave it open. There are hourglass gauntlets that don't have a closed cuff.

I don't think the strap would really do anything.

Start with the oval-thing. Most modern hourglass gauntlets have a round wrist. The only real ones I have seen from the right angle don't.

Wade

Instead of doing the math that Sean suggests, get the hose clamp and adjust it so that it fits snugly in the opening, then bend into an oval to see if it will fit your hand while you are wearing a glove. If this doesn't work, then the cuffs look fairly simple and they are riveted together - drill out two of the rivets and open it up until your hand fits nicely, then put in a piece of cardboard to pattern the "spacer" for the cuff - trim the cardboard to match the outer and inner lines of the cuff, and mark the hles where the rivets used to go.

Punch the holes for the rivets in the cardboard, and then cut the cardboard so that there is 1/4" of additional material outside the holes. Bolt the cardboard into the cuff - if this plate looks good, then cut a metal one to match and rivet it in as a "spacer" plate.

Having a contigious "round" of cuff will be *much* more resistant to damage than just opening the cuff, and given the size of plate it's something that you can do with tin snips or a jewelers saw if needed (or if you aren't metal inclined, take the cardboard pattern to a fab shop / sheet metal shop along with the gauntlet and see if they can cut it for you for $20 or so on someone's coffee break)

Scott Martin

sounds like good idea's all the way around. currently my wife is using my armor as a table for a garage sale(the tote it is in) so i will see about the hose clamp when she is done

thank you all again