The Armour Archive

I'm looking to make a pair of leather guantlets. I have never truly worked with leather so this will be a real challenge. Any help, pointers, EASY patterns and tip would be greatly smiled upon.


Thanks in advance,
Damon



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potius mori quam foedari = death before dishonor.

(Note: the following is for heavy fighting leather gauntlets, not rapier fighting gauntlets.)

Damon,
First leather project? Good man! I'd suggest, though, that you tackle a slightly easier project first, just to get used to working the leather. For me, I made a set of vambraces. Nothing special or fancy, just 2 pieces of leather in a trapezoid shape with eyelets for lacing onto my arms. They give you a chance to make the simple mistakes w/o getting frustrated to the point of violence

As for the gauntlets, I've made them using the following pattern:
http://www.meridies.org/as/dmir/Arms&Armor/02/0220.html
A few pointers from my experience. First, is this for SCA fighting? If so, read on. The second is, do I block with my hands a lot? If the answer is YES allow me to suggest getting a decent set of steel gauntlets instead of the leather. Leather protects great against the occasional hit and glancing blow, but they are far from the durable, constant protection of steel. Myself, I avidly aviod blocking with my hands (comes from swordfighting with hockey sticks in my youth without gloves ) so leather works fine. If you're in the same boat as me (don't block with hands) I still recommend you harden the leather (Do this after the holes are punched but before assembly). I prefer the hot water method myself, others prefer the beeswax method. Here are some links to both:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/perfect_armor.html
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Articles/Perfect_Armor_Improved.htm

Now, if you're going to use the gauntlets as decoration more than functional (or play with a light hitting group that uses padded weapons)there is no need to make the main plates out of sole leather (12 ounce or thicker) I would suggest making them out of veg-tanned leather though. Light (2-6 oz) oil or alum tanned leather is very flimsy and doesn't hold the shape well, but works great for the rectangle pieces that are really "straps" that hold the thicker protective pieces together. Myself, I used 14 oz leather for the plates, 6oz oil tanned for the attaching straps, and 10-12 oz for the cuff. They've worked fine for my purposes.

OK, Tools. The article suggests an exacto knife: I recommend a trip to wal-mart, home depo, or lowes and drop $10-30 on 2 very important tools: tin snips (for cutting the leather) and a roatary punch (for the holes). Well worth the investment.

For rivets, RJLeahy (link in the armour supplies section here at the archive) is probably the best mail-order price around. Since it's the first project, get the copper belt rivets w/ burrs. You may consider getting a rivet setter from Tandy leather (or other leather store) but a piece of pipe whose interior diameter fits the rivet shaft will work just as well. This is for setting the burr on the rivet.
(if they are decorative gauntlets, consider pop rivets. they are cheaper, easier to set (and look pretty, too)

During construction, the thumb plate needs to go on last, after the finger plates, knuckle plates, hand plate, and cuff plate are done and the gauntlet has been strapped for the hand. Do it sooner and prepare to be frustrated. Also, his design for a thumb guard is a bit odd, I ended up remaking mine to suit my own tastes. YMMV.

Finally, consider sewing or riveting a work glove to the gauntlet in addition to the straps. This helps enormously.

Good luck.

Paul

While we are on the subject, has anyone else heard of using beeswax and stearic(I think) acid to harden leather?

someone had told be about this method but I can't seem to find any references to it.

Bolverksson

would it be a legal pair of gauntlets if you did not harden them and reinforced them with steel plates like i have seen on some vambracec and thigh peices?

i'm going to try to put a pair together without stiffing them up for practice. i'll use them as i would my half gaunts, but if i could legalize them by adding the plate strips i would give it a try. the pattern i was going to try was the one on the harden leather link from above.

any thoughts on this plate idea?


Damon

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potius mori quam foedari = death before dishonor.

[This message has been edited by Damon62 (edited 02-22-2002).]

Damon,
most kingdom's don't require the leather to be hardened to be "equavalent" to mild steel, however from practical experience I wouldn't do gaunts w/o hardening. As for the steel plates, I don't see why they shouldn't pass, but I'd hesitate to do it. Depending on what you did, you may lose a ton of flexability. Another option for you: assemble the gaunt using bolts the same diameter as the rivets to see how it works, then harden the plates and rivet as normal. Another option is to use non-veg-tanned for the "straps", flexible pieces, and harden the leather after assembly:
Wet the leather with a sponge and dry carefully with a heat gun, hair dryer, or bake at low in the oven until hard. It won't damage the soft, flexibility of the oil tanned, but will harden the veg tanned.

Just food for thought.

Bolverksson:
one of the links above explains wax hardening, but I've never heard of using stearic acid with it. In general I don't use wax if I can help it (except as waterproofing) since the wax heats up in the sun while fighting and becomes maliable (not good). In the cold it works fine though. I just tend to put off a LOT of body heat when I fight, so wax hardened is bad. YMMV.
BTW: any idea what the acid is supposed to do?

Paul

Paul,
Thank you for all your help. I'm going to give this a shot. Who knows it may turn out good ( as long as I don't get P.O.ed and toss the leather in the trash. I have a pair of steel guants, just want to attempt something new.
Once again thanks. I'll post when or if I get a finished product I can be proud of.


Damon

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potius mori quam foedari = death before dishonor.

RE: Stearic acid. Stearic acid (usually in the form of stearate flakes) are used in candlemaking to raise the melting point of the wax. Thsi results in a harder candel, which tends to be dripless. Adding it to wax for impregnation hardening will tend to result in a wax that resists melting.

As to wax hardening in general, It can produce good effects if the soak is longenough to denature the leather proteins. If you just soak it in hot wax, rather than cooking it for 10-20 mins, Your armour WILL get "floppy" in the heat.
-+G