The Armour Archive

Hey, ive just seen your gauntlets, an theyre pretty good!

i need you r help!!!!

4 my GCSE in CDT, i chose to make guess what:

a GAUNTLET!!! and i havent the faintest idea about HOW to make one...
PLEEEEEEEEEAAAASSSEEEE help???? oh, and i cant do forging, since all we have @ school in the metal department is a brazier, (no jokes!) an anvil, numerous hammers/chisels etc. and metal. ALOT of metal... an drills an stuff. Oh, and i can make maille if it helps?

ok, im waffling now... please help me?

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HEY! Did I say you could have my cheese?

Before people start in: be kind. This sounds like a high school student. They almost always start off this way.


Wooferoonie: Hi! Welcome to the Armour Archive. I think you are going to find a lot of people who are willing to help you with your projects if you are sincere about making armour. Over the years, I have seen people come here and blossom into full-blown armourers (I wish I was one of them ).

To get the best results, I recommend a slightly more formal writing style than is the norm in many of the message boards around today. In particular, you may find some people here are a bit touchy about "leet" writing.

Best of luck in your armouring endeavors.

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The defining characteristic of fanaticism is the inability to understand why everyone else is not a fanatic.

Hi, well, uh, thanks for your advice, i dont type in a "leet" way, but i do tend to miss out apostrophies etc... and occasionally use "u" instead of "you etc...

But my English is generally good...

oh, and YES I'm serious about armoury, (Ive just learned how to do butted maille!!)

Yeah, Noe...seemed like pretty normal writing to me. I think the miss-typed "your" (hit spacebar to fast and got you r) might have set you off on the leet-speak .

Woof:

In my opinion guantlets are one of the toughest pieces of armour to do well. They require precision articulations, and a lot of them.

If you are new to making armour, I highly recommend the following article:

http://www.arador.com/articles/armourstart.html

Welcome to the board.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Thanks once again for your support guys... Arador's great! lol, its where i learned to make maille. oh, and thanx for telling me about the "you r" thing...

The reference to leet was just an example. I was just trying to head off the roasting that sometimes happens with these new posts.

As for gauntlets, if you haven't checked the pattern archive, you should do so. There is a pretty spiffy pattern for SCA-legal finger gaunts (if you are interested in the SCA).

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The defining characteristic of fanaticism is the inability to understand why everyone else is not a fanatic.

Oh my, now I'm really blushing

Gauntlets are indeed some of the most difficult pieces to make (at least, of the pieces I've tired thus far). That pair took me... about a month to make, I'd say. Maybe a tad longer. You may want to consider doing a pair of knees or elbows (I made two knees in just three days. They aren't perfect by any means, but far far easier to make than a gauntlet).

I would actually recommend making a pair of FINGER gauntlets, instead of mitten. I am working on a pair (ok, just one, it's a prototype) right now, and thus far it's FAR easier than the mitten gauntlets. The articulation is much easier, and they should be faster to construct.

I'd also recommend making them out of 18 gauge mild steel. My first gauntlet was made out of 16 gauge, and lordy is it heavy.

The pattern archive is full of great ideas. Thor's fingered gauntlets should be a good choice (the one I'm making is Thor pattern, although not the one in the archive, and it is *superb*).

Feel free to email me (addy is in my profile), if you've got any questions. I'm a newbie to armouring, but I'd be happy to pass along anything I've learned...

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Larien
Larien's Plate Armour
Larien's Web Of Chain

Larien, I see a lot of sanding belts on your workshop pics.... what're you running them on?

Sears Craftsmen 2"x42" Belt Sander (oh yea, it also has a 6" sanding disk.. I've NEVER used it). Great sander, I haven't had a single problem with it. I think it was about $120.

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Larien
Larien's Plate Armour
Larien's Web Of Chain

Ok, thanx Larien.

Just out of interest... would it be easier to do the fingers in maille?

Maille *Fingered* Gauntlets are probably *more* difficult than plate fingered gauntlets. In my opinion at least. Maille wouldn't be hard to make into a mitten-style gauntlet, however.

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Larien
Larien's Plate Armour
Larien's Web Of Chain

Ok, so maille's a no-no then? But i'm gonna have to use maille for the "glove" element, because every time i use leather it well... it uses me as a means to vent its frustration about being um... 'leather'...

Or could i put a "bar" element over the fingers, (so i can avoid maille, AND leather...)

Or any other suggestions?



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HEY! Did I say you could have my cheese?

So using pre-made leather gloves doesn't work for you, uh? What doesn't seem to work?

Well... Maille would be tough on the hands.. But so would raw steel Hrm. I don't know, *I* would use some type of leather padding to attach all the finger lames to, and then you could use leather loops to put your fingers through... But that all involves leather. And if you are going through THAT much trouble, you might as well just use a pre-made leather glove.

If you aren't striving for authenticity, you could use vinyl or canvas... I can't really think of any other padding/securing material to use. Sorry

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Larien
Larien's Plate Armour
Larien's Web Of Chain

Um... you can get pre-made ones? WOW! lol, i honestly din't know thet... well, i'll try and find some... Oh, and what about the tools side of things?

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HEY! Did I say you could have my cheese?

heh,yea, you can get leather gloves at any hardware store. "Driving" gloves are usually better for gauntlets.. Thinner leather, and softer on the skin. Harbor Freight sells a pretty decent pair of driving gloves.

Regarding Tools... Well, what do you have? You'll need something to cut the metal (jigsaw, throatless shear, or if you use metal thin enough, tin snips), something to deburr the metal (files, sandpaper), somethings to shape it (hammers of various types (at the very least, a ball pein and a deadblow...), and some solid metal objects to form the metal around... I used gas pipes clamped in a vice, and a bridge bolt turned mushroom stake). You'll need some rivets to put the pieces together... And if you want to go this far, some buffing wheels and compounds to polish the gauntlets.

There's no limit to the number of tools you can get, but it's also quite amazing what you can do with just a short length of black gas pipe, and a ball pein.

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Larien
Larien's Plate Armour
Larien's Web Of Chain

YAY!! We got all of those...

So, it needs no forging etc? good good.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Wooferoonie:
<B>YAY!! We got all of those...

So, it needs no forging etc? good good.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nah. You can make *most* armour without a forge... I guess technically you could make it all without a forge..

It does help if you can weld however (that being said, I can't Yet..)

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Larien
Larien's Plate Armour
Larien's Web Of Chain

Hmm... no forging... hmm... well then... i think i shall um... ok, maybe i WONT take over the world with un-frged armour, but never mind...

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HEY! Did I say you could have my cheese?

Ok then. Thats good. lol, I wouldn't know how to forge anyway...

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HEY! Did I say you could have my cheese?

although a forge is not really needed for most stuff, some type of heat source is often very usefull for anealing parts that have become work hardened. all you really need is something to get the metal red hot, like a propane or MAP torch.

I've found that TIG welding gloves work well for fitting finger gauntlets to. the ones we get from the local welding supply store are very soft leather. sandwiching a layer of light strapping leather between the glove's fingers and metal plates will help keep the rivets from ripping out and provide a little more shock obsortion

Thanks Dweezle, um... whats a Dweezle again? I'm sure Ive heard the name before...

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HEY! Did I say you could have my cheese?