Building a Medieval Gauntlet

Building a Medieval Gauntlet!

I've been getting a few comments along the lines of "this isn't real armor" so...

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WARNING THIS IS NOT COMBAT READY ARMOR. THIS IS NOT MEANT FOR PROTECTION. THIS IS A COOL LOOKING COSTUME PIECE/ PROP. WHILE YES IT IS TOUGHER THAN YOUR SKIN OR A T-SHIRT, IT WONT STOP A SWORD/ARROW/BULLET/KNIFE/ WHATEVER. SO BUILD IT, SHOW IT TO YOUR FRIENDS, DON'T BRING IT TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD GANG FIGHT.
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Using Environmentally friendly Stuff!. So that you can save the environment by dressing up like pre-industrial revolution people!!!

Or more realistically, building an awesome costume piece.
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I'm building a medieval Knight's costume for Halloween this year, and I've found instructables for quite a few pieces, but I have not found any for armored gauntlets. A short warning, I tend to be a little long winded in my instructions. While it might cause some people to "too long; didn't read", I'm just writing out all the tips and tricks I've come across while building this project. If you guys have any suggestions, please message me!

Notice, this instructable is NOT DIFFICULT. It requires little or no previous skills, besides reading I guess...although I doubt that you've gotten this far without that skill. I is however TIME CONSUMING. It'll take an entire week-end or about 20 -30 hours depending on how detailed / careful you are.

There are several ways to build a gauntlet, but this way is a really simple way, that doesn't require too much hardware, and is relatively cheap, any decent gauntlet will cost over $400.
*Update***
micromuffin Pointed out that think geek has some decent ones for $60USD.



This Instructables is also environmentally friendly because it doesn't require the use of power tools!!! Although they help with certain parts :).

Step 1 Required Materials

Materials:
consumables:
-Some sort of sheet metal-
I used galvanized steel ducting, for a greener alternative you can use tin cans. Pop cans will work, but they're a little thin, and might tear if you're rough with your gloves. The sheet metal can be salvaged from many places, if you contact a ducting company, you may be able to pickup some scraps. I bought a sheet of ducting for $5 @ homedepot. You can really use any sheet material that can bend. You could use bristol board to practice, but It would be a waste of rivets to attach bristol board. If you want to use bristol board, swap out the rivets with staples, or hot glue.

-Rivets - I used pop-rivets or tube rivets, they're available @ any hardware store for relatively cheap, they're more expensive than nails, but won't cost more than $10 for this projects worth. I used 1/8 sized aluminum rivets, but you can go larger if you prefer that look. I bought 500 rivets for $30, I estimate that this project will use about 100 - 200 rivets depending on your design. Rivets are pretty cool, and once you've got some lying around, you'll probably find some uses for them. They basically a cheap easy and much safer alternative to welding. In this case they look cool, and happen to fit the task very effectively.

FYI The smallest commonly available rivet is 3/32, but the smallest washer that you'll find is 1/8. It's very rare to find a 3/32 washer. Fore this reason I recommend a 1/8 rivet with 1/8 washer unless you know a specialty shop / website that sells smaller rivet / washer combos. Also, aluminum rivets are much cheaper than stainless steel. like 1/3 the price.

-Pair of work gloves - I used basic gardening gloves for my test run, and then did the final run on fire pace gloves because they're longer and I think they looked nicer. If you can get your hands on any pair of old gloves, they should work so long and they're thick and don't stretch. Any material that can stretch will not work. I repeat do not use a glove that can stretch.

Non-Consumables:
-Tin snips for cutting the ducting sheet. If you're using something else, you'll need something that can cut it. Like a laser engraver/cutter for example.

They come in sets of 3 usually for like $15 -$20 , one for cutting straight, one for left, and one for right.
"But I can cut straight, left AND right with regular scissors!?!?!"
Tin snips are designed to produce a safe edge when cutting with them. You'll notice right away that it's easier to make right turns with the right cutters, cut straight with the straight etc. I recommend using them the way they were meant to be used. Cutting straight lines with the left or right snips will produce jagged razor sharp edges where the straight cutter will make a relatively safe edge.


-Hand riveter.
-Pliers
-work gloves ( for safety when handling the metal, even though you're probably fine without them )
- File (to smooth the edges) ( green), Bench grinder / rotary tool ( Non-eco friendly)
- A metal punch matching your rivets (green) / Drill with a drill bit to match your rivets ( non-eco friendly)
-block of wood, to use as a backing for punches/drills
-Imagination, and creativity (This is optional, but recommended when trying to make your gauntlets unique)

Comments

[xXero]

Me and my father are doing a Gauntlet project this weekend. It's going to be sweet! We're basing some of the parts of your design and then we're going to do our own style from there.

[rpotter1]

hey guys, im new to the costume making world, and im in the process of making a really unique rogue outfit, i did a test gauntlet with some fabric, a zipper. a glove and paper claws lol, but the thing is im like extremely broke. and ill be working on my cloak in the morning (aka my dragon cloak). also i tryed taking ideas from dragon age 2 but that isnt working out so great since there isnt much detail to be seen because of the game having a low brightness effect, but other then that ive been searching around on the web and cant find any gauntlet claws for the fingers and im not talented enough to sit and try my hand at bending and all that to make claws even though they look amazing when done. but if anyone has some ideas i could really use the inspiration, because i still have to do the chest portion and the legs.

[Deathcapt]

Well, the claws were really easy, I didn't really shape them, just the pieces I showed in the instructable that was curved and wrapped around the fingers.

In terms of inspiration, for a rogue costume. I think something like a single dark colored shirt would work under your cloak. If you do a fancy belt (like Assasin's Creed), and maybe some kind of sash you could get away with a simple shirt. In DnD Rogues used a lot of Leather armor, so just a brown shirt would be fine. If you have a sewing machine, you could sew the padding lines into it.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&biw=1600&bih=1010&q=brown+padded+leather+armor&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=466l3856l0l4100l26l18l0l7l7l0l215l1570l1.8.2l11l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Chain mail is a huge investment of time and effort. Same with Full Plate armor. It's easier when you're not on a tight budget because you can just buy what-ever looks right. Instead of having to scrape things together.

Second hand stores like Salvation Army / Value village etc are great to find a base layer to work with.

[rpotter1]

thanks man, and your completely right, on a tight budget is a understatement these days hahahaha, but yea ill make sure to check out those places, i might even look in goodwill, but i looked into other games and whatnot that have rogues and some of them are wearing the white long shirts with the flared out cuffs on the wrists, how would that work if i were to put on gloves with vambraces or the gauntlets lol, cuz i dont wanna look like an idiot with a white dangly piece of fabric hanging out lol

[Deathcapt]

I'm going to be honest. These are not exactly "rogue" style gauntlets. Realistically these are pure fantasy. They're built to looks scary. They are awkward, and clumsy to say the least. I can barely close my hand with them, let alone pick anything up. If we're thinking DnD rogues, like stealth / agility characters, they'd probably skip gloves all together. If they did, they would have half gloves, as to maintain finger dexterity, for picking locks, climbing and such rogue things. It's funny cause rogues are always depicted as have hoods and stuff, but I mean besides monks who else goes into public in robes?
reminds me of this guy..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20QBe43tyVM

[Dumchicken]

i made one out of paper once

[tinker234]

hey could i redo this in carbon fiber if i wanted to

[That Inventor Dude]

These look awesome if you sprayed them matte black and added dark red symbols and trim it would look exactly like the Daedric Armor from Morrowind the third elder scrolls game.

[Sharaz Destler]

Or Dr. Claw...

[ilpug]

slightly. Daedric gauntlets have a more solid look, and the upper wrist guards are just essentially a metal sleeve. Very good observation though. kudos to you from a huge Morrowind nerd.

[BlessedWrath]

It should be noted that this piece will be costume grade ONLY. Please, please, PLEASE do not use pop cans thinking that they will protect you from a 1/2" thick rattan strike. SCA grade combat armour must be a minimum of 16g galvanized/mild steel for vitals, and 14g galvanized/mild steel for any part of the head. If you apply this to any form or sport fighting, you may be seriously injured or even killed. That said, nicely done. With a bit more exploration, you could be on your way to a full harness. There are many sites you can check out for an introductory into the art of armour production, if you aren't already there.

[Nicholai]

i agree with you there, these would have to be modified a lot to keep my hands safe while i use my greatsword, however, if you use weapon and shield and have metal basket hilts on both, you might be able to use those gauntlets safely

[Deathcapt]

Updated intro w/ a warning about the ineffectiveness of this as actual protection. It'd still totally give you an edge in a fist fight though.

[ilpug]

"Give you an edge" <---- un-noticed pun alert :D

[Crakur]

damnitt, I had this exact same idea a few weeks ago! meh, whatev, you did this really well though, hmm, maybe I should try to make some samus armor? yea, yeah! that's what I'll do! so, anyone think I should do this? if so comment back!

[Deathcapt]

ok samus is a chick, so that's cool. Samus is very complicated by the way. If you make these let me know.

[Crakur]

well i was stewing it over last night and i decided that i am not going to make it to fit me (mostly because to make it acurate i would need it to model it off of a chicks body, and i dont know any girls well enough to say "hey, you figure you could come over to my house so i could take some measurements") instead im considering making a small version, like a foot or two tall

[Deathcapt]

If you want to make a table top or full scale samus, try looking for pepakura. It's a program that takes a 3d model and turns it into a paper folding template. Cover it with resin and your good to go. That's how I made my master fief costume

[Crakur]

first of all, Master fief? lol, jk jk, but yea, I downloaded the program, and I found a site with all manner of downloads, unfortunately they charge for the download, and I don't know if I have the mad skills required to make it...

[ilpug]

pepakura is pretty simple, it just takes some concentration and a crapload of resins and spray adhesive.

[Instructoguy12125]

cool this will help for this ultimate evil sith lord costume im working on.

[Deathcapt]

Sweet, link me some pics once it's done! Make sure you get the same sized washers / rivets / drill bit. Otherwise disaster will follow.

[Instructoguy12125]

k thanks for the tips but it may take a while cause ive gotta save up money first.

[Deathcapt]

Well, you can start with making your cardboard templates. Bristol board is cheap. If you're on a shoe string budget, skip the rivets and instead, use string to tie the plates on. Just make a loop that goes through both holes in the plates and through the glove. You could also use pop cans as suggested, but don't expect th to last too long if you build em like that. Good luck

[ilpug]

an alternative to rivets is tough wire. its hard to bend, but it works pretty good. also very cool effects if you use copper wire.

[Hunter4000695]

Hey I'm building a bionic arm. But the hardest part is the hand. It needs to be solid all the way around .Does anyone have a suggestion?

[ilpug]

go get a hockey goalie glove and put metal on it

[TheGeekFather]

I like the way it looks with the red leather still showing here in the second picture. You can also buy thicker gauge ducting. It usually is sold as wood stove pipeing or ducting. I would suggest using this as it will keep the form better and not bend as easily. That is if your wanting these to last. Those fireplace gloves are a nice find too. Strong and sturdy.

[ilpug]

stove pipe is a great idea. its heavier than ducting, cheap, and already slightly curved. plus, you can get it pre-coated with a very tough matte black coating for more contrast.

[acels45kille]

I'd like to make gauntlets that actually wrap around the entire hand. Top and bottom. would i simply have to add length to the ones you've made or is there another way that I'd have to go about doing it?

[Deathcapt]

Sweet.  If you want to make the plates go all around, it'll be more challenging, because you'll have to find a way to get the plates to hinge properly.  Most real gauntlets would have A full guard around the wrist but then the fingers would be only protected on the back.  Look at some actually gauntlets, you'll find very few have armour on the palm of the hand, and the inside of the fingers.  To add full wrist guards, just make the wrist pieces reach all around, to make a full cuff.   Just make sure it's big enough to stick your hand through.

[ilpug]

most legit gauntlets dont have metal on the inside because if they got bent or crushed people couldnt get their hand free, something bad in a fight.

[ilpug]

Im in the middle of doing this, i used heavy welding gloves. i was cheap, however, and used tin cans. terrible idea. They bend, break, come in weird colors, are sharp, dont cut right, and smell slightly like old food, even when newly washed.

[jadedjas]

I used you pattern for a prop I needed to make for a play. I used foam sheets that I spray painted silver then glued washers to make it look like rivets (plus I added the extra washers under the pieces that are exposed when you curve your fingers. Thank you for this instructable...it was one of the main props I was stressing about and you made it so much easier! :D

[Deathcapt]

Wicked! I'm glad it worked out for you. Post pictures if you get the chance.

[Armicron]

Thank you so much for introducing me to the wonderful world of rivets! This is way better than epoxy (which usually doesn't hold strong enough) and cheaper than welding.

[Deathcapt]

You're very welcome!

they're like a grown up version of staples!

[Mike.of.all.trades]

I agree with Raolin. Although your finished gauntlets look really splendid (nice job, by the way!), I really like the look of the exposed fireplace glove in the second picture. The contrast of the red and silver is elegant. You could have even gone to a thrift store and found an old studded leather belt to salvage the studs from and used them on the glove. Then your glove would have had silver studs. Pretty cool idea right? I might try it. But either way, you made something really great!

If you ever make a second set of gauntlets, consider using thicker gauge ducting (again, like Raolin said) so that they will be more durable. Also try folding each knuckle down the middle and then unfolding it before wrapping it around your knuckle so that it looks like a sharp crease instead of being round. Do you know what I mean? Sort of like this ---> / | \ Also sort of like the picture I attached. Notice how the knuckles are almost triangular all along the length of each finger?

I'm going to use your instructable to make a pair of gauntlets resembling those of the Witch King from The Lord of the Rings. Thanks for sharing! :)

[countspicy]

when i made mine i left extra material on the sides and folded the metal over itself to get rid of the sharp edges.

[Deathcapt]

You got pictures of them?

Post em up.

I'm curious to see what people are coming up with for this.