DIY: Sliding Gloves by capn
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Don't feel like paying $50+ for a pair of pre-engineered sliding gloves? Want to gather up your own parts and personalize your own glove?

Good news!

I have an intructable that will show you how!

if you are unfamiliar with "sliding" as referred to in skateboarding here is a vid to help you out.

here is a link that shows how some real hardcore guys do it (sliding that is).

 
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Step 1: Decide what to get.

Before we acquire all of our materials we have some important decisions to make, some easier than others. First off we need to consider what sliding matrix we want to choose, there are many different options and it all will come down to price and availability and how far you want to slide. One of the design considerations for a puck is how you will use it, if you will make a lot of really crazy long lasting slides then a really slick material is great, but you give up some stopping friction. On the other hand if you just want to do some casual slides and other stuff then an intermediate CoF material will work great giving a nice compromise between stopping power, wear, and how long you can slide.

**if you already know what material you are going to slide on you can skip the following as it contains a lot of material description.**

The Sliding Matrices:
UHMWPE- aka Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene; This slider is one of the cheaper and better materials to use IMO. It has a cost of about $10-$15 per square foot in 3/8" thicknesses(cheaper when its thiner), and it is has one of the best coefficient of friction out there. I won't wax on about the chemistry here but I will say that due to its cross-linked chemical structure it is one of the toughest materials for the job.

Corian- Acrylic with aluminum oxide filler. This material is used as a counter top material with great abraision resistance and great wear life. The great thing about corian is that it can be had for free at some home depots or Lowes. They give out little 1"x1" tiles as samples and whatnot they also have a lot of neat "rocky" colors. The downside is that if you can't find it for free you have to buy it, and because of its nature being a filled material it will be a bit more costly and harder to get in small quantities.

Acrylic- as the name says it is a base polymer for Corian but it withstands abrasions and heat fairly well, acrylic is also what plexiglass is made out of. Acrylic will be cheaper than corian and more readily available at smaller quantities, but its not as durable as its cousin, corian.

Delrin -This a a very commonly used polymer for sliding gloves it has a good CoF and decent abrasion resistance, and is competitively priced. It's downfall is that it does tend to wear much quicker than the materials mentions above. I have not personally used Delrin just because when it is processed (ie Extruded) a full face mask is required, because the material will off-gas producing nauseous gases similar in effect to formaldehyde. Personal hang up I know but decent material.

Polypropylene - You guessed it, another polymer! This plastic material is generally used in applications that require more durability and toughness than a standard polyethylene. its structure is very similar to polyethylene but it has a higher melting temperature and is tougher than STANDARD PE. This material does wear down faster similar to delrin, but its a great price point material, it can be had at your local mart in the form of cutting boards.

Nylon - more polymers I know I know. Nylon's CoF is great and only rivaled by UHMWPE, yet it is harder and tends to wear slightly faster than UHMWPE. Nylon can also be found in the form of a cutting board but it is sometimes rare. Nylon may not be a great choice just because of its chemistry, its a condensation reaction polymer. A condensation reaction polymer is one that when synthesized its waste product is water (where the condensation comes from). So what this means is that given enough heat and moisture the product will degrade and return to its base "mers". For a short lived sliding glove this probably isn't that big of a deal, yet it is wise to take note of.

Polycarbonate - you may recognize the name, its the formulation for bullet proof glass. Some may say Lexan instead, although lexan is a Dupont trade name and has many different formulations. It will probably be the most expensive of the plastics to get a hold of. Its redeeming properties are having a super high melting point (300 C) and really great abrasion and impact resistance. The downside to polycarbonate is that it can sometimes be brittle, and its much harder than other materials and wont be a soft impact compared to PE or PP. Since there are so many applications of PC it is hard to find the one that will work for sliding, some are hard and brittle and will shatter when used; others are softer and will actually chunk a little and stick to the road. Its a tricky polymer to play with but some people really prefer it.

That concludes the materials section, out of the whole list here UHMWPE has the best CoF and price point for me. at $15 square foot I was sold; a square foot of any material will be enough to make a backup set of sliding pucks. Another selling point for the material is that it is very chemical resistant and used as a low friction matrix in hip implants.

The next thing is where to buy these fancy plastics? I purchased mine from Piedmont Plastics located in Charlotte NC. They have a bunch of different branches throughout the US and are very friendly this is their site Here.

SO now that you have decided on sliding matrix you can move to the other parts, gloves, velcro, and way to consolidate the two. For me it was a quick trip to Walmart and Hobby lobby; I picked up a nice set of workmans gloves for $12. I then proceeded to Hobby lobby for the velcro, I purchases two packs of sew on velcro for $.99 each and then some self adhesive velcro $3.19. I wanted to sew my velcro on just because it seemed better and more reliable than using some contact cement. It also helped that I had a spool of Kevlar laying around. You can use whatever thread you want but I just thought kevlar was cooler because it has a tensile strength five times that of steel.

Alex-95__ says: Feb 25, 2012. 5:15 PM
just wondering if anyone knows how to stick the spikey half of velcro to the pe pucks that i made out of a cutting board because apparently nothing sticks well to pe?? thanks guys
Tasmanian says: Jan 9, 2013. 2:41 AM
heres what I do, i take some left over pieces of grip tape and place on the puck and then glue the velcro using a contact cement. works a charm.
tdawber-mandeno says: Sep 9, 2011. 12:27 AM
what are these for
gl0rious says: Dec 11, 2012. 3:37 PM
sliding around on a skateboard
pkörffer says: May 6, 2012. 10:34 AM
Ok, this was a nice one.

I decided to change one thing: I glued the velcros to both glove and poly. And I used a cutting board from IK..A instead of the complicated instruction about work pieces.

For german readers, a (slightliy modified) short translation:

Ich habe 2 Sachen geändert, ansonsten ein Tippitoppi Instructable. Die Näherei habe ich mir gespart und stattdessen mit Heißkleber die Klettverschlüsse aufgebracht. Und die fast schon wissenschaftliche Diskussion, was denn nun der beste Werkstoff unter den Polys sein könnte, habe ich mithilfe eines anderen DIY-Forums runterbrechen können... ich habe einfach ein Schneidebrett von I..A genommen. Das Ding kostet 4 Euro ;-) und den Bauhausbesuch konnte ich mir sparen (ist eh Sonntag heute).
Alex-95__ says: Jan 28, 2012. 12:26 AM
just wondering how you sew through a thick glove and velcro without putting your hand inside....could you please tell me??? thanks man, professonal looking!
capn (author) says: Feb 13, 2012. 9:12 AM
To start the needle you would pierce the velcro and the glove simultaneously. You have to make sure you only go through the front layer of the glove. With the needle about a quarter of its length in, turn the needle so it points to where you want it to exit. Push the needle through the front glove layer and velcro, that should do it.

Did that make sense?
Alex-95__ says: Feb 13, 2012. 11:05 AM
haha yea sort of man.....thanks
alex19 says: Jan 17, 2012. 2:47 AM
this is sick, slide gloves are one of the best parts of longboarding
i can't wait to make more videos now


Frame Grabber
hturba says: Sep 26, 2011. 9:10 PM
i did pretty much the same thing here except i used the other side of velcro on the gloves and instead of sticking the velcro to the plastic i just melted the plastic onto the gloves with a blow torch. you get a very solid fit that way. cant take off the pucks once they are on but you just melt new ones onto the old ones when needed.
zcbaker says: Sep 8, 2011. 8:32 PM
I spend a ton of time on my computer or riding my bike and I am confused so I probably missed something somewhere. What are these gloves for???
capn (author) says: Sep 9, 2011. 3:28 AM
These gloves are used to hold a friction media on ones hand while performing "sliding" maneuvers on a longboard, to act as an outrigger to stabilize yourself.
zcbaker says: Sep 14, 2011. 6:16 PM
Oh. OK, thanks. I have never long boarded or skate boarded so your reply helped me a lot.
GlueyMcGee says: Jun 28, 2010. 4:12 PM
is uhmwpe available at walmart, home depot, etc places like that?
capn (author) says: Jun 28, 2010. 6:56 PM
Not specifically. UHMWPE is more of an engineering material, specialty plastic warehouses will carry it. But Walmart carries cutting boards which are regularly made from Nylon, or other crystalline material which are suitable for slide pucks.
masterochicken says: Feb 13, 2011. 2:23 AM
Another material that I have found to work extremely well is acrylic, though it can be a bit fragile.
cowscankill says: Jan 16, 2010. 6:50 PM
Do I see a new sport forming---?
Possibly sliding gloves and shoes... sliding around various places sounds fun.
isaac! says: Dec 12, 2010. 3:34 PM
the gloves arent slippery, they are more as armour for your hands on the road. they only slide when you are longboarding at speed.
cowscankill says: Dec 12, 2010. 3:55 PM
Oh, okay, thanks for clarification. My cutting board is kind of... greasy feeling from the plastic type so I assumed the slickness of the material would allow people to slide around.
masterochicken says: Feb 13, 2011. 2:21 AM
You actually weren't far off at all. Technical longboard sliding has been going on for a while now. However newer puck materials are provding extremely slick and fast slides.
zs says: Feb 3, 2011. 11:23 PM
just a thought on cutting the plastic, i think a hole saw would give a move aesthetically pleasing look. and be more like the pucks you would buy online.
stitches22 says: Aug 5, 2010. 8:50 PM
my gloves made with some cheap $5 gloves i found in home depot, as well as the same velcro you used for $2, and some random cutting board i found in my local foodtown for $5 = $12 gloves! and when i used them i very soon learned the importance of the thumb puck, so i cut out pucks for the thumb, but i need to buy more velcro as i ran out. overall this whole project took about 10 minutes to put together, the velcro sticks perfectly well to the gloves, no need for sewing!
gloves.jpg
stillfatbuthappy says: Jul 29, 2009. 8:36 AM
Does the velcro have to be industrial strength ?
darthdarth4 says: Jul 29, 2010. 5:47 PM
Yeah it kinda does. I tried the wimpy stuff and the pucks just came off when I was sliding. Not fun at all. I bailed and hit the curb pretty hard. So best go with the industrial strength :D
Zaphod Beeblebrox says: Oct 3, 2009. 5:26 PM
could you make pucks out of wood or steel ?????
cdawg14 says: Apr 4, 2010. 10:52 PM
 Yes but wood will wear down extremely fast and have a very uneven slide. Steel will heat up and burn your hands. Also steel will be insanely heavy and loud.
vanpaun says: Jul 1, 2009. 2:36 PM
A few notes you should add: UMWHPE is readily available as Marine Lumber, in the form of plain flat sheets, in black and white, in various sizes and thicknesses. Instead of sewing the velcro, witch is challenging, I would recomend a product called jewlers glue. This stuff is 10X stronger, and actually bonds the materials (my gloves got very hot after I stuck the velcro on). All in all, great instructions.
Zaphod Beeblebrox says: Oct 27, 2009. 11:20 AM
were cn u get that glu?
Clayton H. says: Aug 12, 2009. 6:28 PM
is it like Mighty mend it?
vanpaun says: Jul 1, 2009. 2:41 PM
  • Marine lumber from West Marine
ethdem says: Jun 27, 2008. 1:42 PM
Hey, thanks for the help! Here's what mine looks like:
26-06-08_2036.jpg
Zaphod Beeblebrox says: Oct 3, 2009. 5:28 PM
looks like cheese...
quesoman says: Jun 22, 2009. 9:01 AM
no offense but ur material looks like soap. :-)
capn (author) says: Jun 29, 2008. 6:49 AM
wow, holy thick material! looks good!
nomooremr.niceguy says: Jul 16, 2009. 12:56 PM
I know I'm a complete poser, but would this work on a ripstick? Also, it's been mentioned that some people would like convex sliding pucks. You can buy solid acrylic domes from www.usplastic.com . They are sold under the name clear acrylic cabachone (Half-Balls). I just thought I'd trow that out there for anyone who is interested. I think they are pretty cheap, but look at them and let me know.
Zaphod Beeblebrox says: Sep 4, 2009. 5:57 PM
probably it would work i ripstik
Cann0n says: Aug 23, 2009. 9:32 AM
I made mine out of cutting board, work gloves, and epoxy. It was pretty much free. I had everything I needed. Just rough up the back side f the puck before you epoxy it down.
100_16810.jpg
TYL3RWOLF says: May 16, 2009. 2:42 PM
extremely good job, but I recommend making the finger puck about half that width or maybe make 2 circular pucks and velcrow them on to the index/middle and then another on the ring/pinky...and then also try making the hand puck also a circle and another circular puck on the thumb(it would probably make it easier to pick your board up) but you still did a really nice job......I'm still just gunna buy one though=]
stoopynoonoo says: Jan 2, 2009. 8:28 PM
haha very nice 'ible! following your KISS idealogy, wouldn't it just be much more simpler and practical to just hot glue the pucks? my gloves have a square puck on the palm and individually sanded oblong finger pads(from cutting boards)
capn (author) says: Jan 3, 2009. 11:52 PM
I wanted the pucks removable; and I didn't have a hot glue gun, my KISS ideology meant using what I had. Only thing I really bought was the UHMWPE and the Velcro, the other things I had lying around. That and UHMWPE doesn't stick too well to hot glue unless the glue is a special high strength one. And on top of that it would have required some sanding and prep work on the UHMWPE. So no, it wouldn't have been simpler for me.
stoopynoonoo says: Mar 2, 2009. 7:29 AM
do you know if tape velcro will stick on to the gloves well? I tried the velcro(glue) and the pucks fell off; I really wanted to avoid sewing :)
capn (author) says: Mar 9, 2009. 8:50 PM
It will stick to the pucks just fine, but the gloves it was just so-so. There is just too much movement and too much temperature/moisture differences that will affect the adhesion. That is why I chose sewing, because abrasion was the only enemy, and it placed properly I could avoid that.
The Red Button says: Dec 28, 2008. 7:29 AM
dude, like i saw this guy go down like the steepest hill ever at like 30 mph and like he like got to ground level with his body and turn completely around and started heading back up.... it was crazy
The Red Button says: Dec 28, 2008. 7:33 AM
like compared to the video link given hard core has a new meaning
gbosbiker says: Feb 17, 2008. 11:57 AM
could you make the pucks into a circle instead of square?
capn (author) says: Feb 17, 2008. 12:44 PM
yes, you could make the pucks into a circle but this violates my KISS ideology, cutting a circle is much harder than cutting a square.
gbosbiker says: Feb 20, 2008. 1:04 PM
true. but the circle makes the glove look cooler. you could even make it harder by making the circles into a convex shape so they dont catch on a imperfection in the road. but thats all up to how much work the person making it wants to put in.
corkey123 says: Dec 5, 2008. 8:39 PM
HAY, the convex idea is great, and i decided to use it the last time i dislocated my shoulder! my glove caught a huge crack in the road and yanked my arm right out :) with a rounded edge on my puck it might not have done that, shucks.
capn (author) says: Feb 20, 2008. 3:30 PM
Cooler yes, harder no. To make the UHMWPE sag you need a lot of heat and be able to control that heat very well. That in itself would be more trouble than its worth. I do not know how you would get it "harder" without more cross linking in a specialized process. Also a Convex shape gives you a point contact rather than a surface contact which is what you want. With point contacts you also will wear down the center rather than have a uniform wear pattern.
bad ass pope says: Mar 8, 2010. 5:39 PM
I think he just meant that the process would be harder, not the UHMWPE.
PetervG says: Jul 11, 2008. 11:18 AM
Tip from experience. Invest in a good glove. I used a dollar store glove, and it's really uncomfortable.
capn (author) says: Jul 11, 2008. 4:16 PM
yeah I went with the higher end cheap glove, still works well and is comfortable enough.
ego waffle says: Jun 1, 2008. 4:43 PM
when you slide doesnt it ruin your wheels? by the way sick instructable.
capn (author) says: Jun 2, 2008. 2:21 AM
if your wheels are durable enough you dont see that much wear.
ego waffle says: Jun 8, 2008. 12:12 PM
okay cool
thoraxe says: May 14, 2008. 4:49 PM
My Dad works at a hurricane shutter company, and they have vast quantities(haha, tities) of lexan, so i'll be using dat. Thanks 4 the idea!
thecheatscalc says: May 13, 2008. 5:32 AM
honestly, great info, and good instructable. BUT, if you want the glove to look better, cut pieces in the shapes of the leather pads.... this'll make it a bit more flexible, and make it look cooler!
chilly9781 says: Apr 9, 2008. 5:27 PM
Dude, that's really professionall looking. Plus, sweet pic of you (I presume) and your board (again, I presume). Im mashing your finger pads with the other instructable on longboard gloves. Thanks for the ideas.
capn (author) says: Apr 9, 2008. 11:27 PM
thanks, and yes that is my board and I.
chilly9781 says: Apr 10, 2008. 5:02 PM
My last comment sounded creepy and I realized that after I clicked post. lol. sorry. But yes, that's a sick board. stats?
capn (author) says: Apr 12, 2008. 12:33 AM
48" Never summer Longboard with 180mmm Seismic trucks, and yellow medium springs. 72 mm Never summer 78a duro wheels and pig bearings, took a nasty spill last night. every thing still works like a charm!
zh1199 says: Mar 25, 2008. 1:57 PM
where did you get the uhmwpe for 15 dollars? and how much? i was wondering if i could just board down to the ace hardware or home depot and pick up a sheet
capn (author) says: Mar 25, 2008. 3:57 PM
I got it at a specialty plastics warehouse called "piedmont plastics", you don't have to use UHMWPE, you can substitute it with nylon cutting boards or anything thats convenient. Ace and Home Depot wouldn't have UHMWPE sheets, but they do carry Corian, and acrylic sheets that might do the job for you.
zh1199 says: Mar 26, 2008. 12:47 PM
is there any real bummer to using cheaper things like acrylic or some random cutting board other than just having to make new ones? like how fast do you burn through them?
capn (author) says: Mar 26, 2008. 2:17 PM
look at the "materials" section it spells it out pretty clearly
cdh says: Feb 17, 2008. 2:35 PM
what exactly is do you slide on?
capn (author) says: Feb 17, 2008. 6:06 PM
what?
cdh says: Feb 17, 2008. 8:01 PM
the name sliding gloves implies that you're sliding on something. What are you sliding on?
capn (author) says: Feb 17, 2008. 9:12 PM
"what exactly is do you slide on?" sounded very cryptic. But I am riding a skateboard and using my arms as an "outrigger" to stabilize myself when turning or "drifting" tight corners. see the video link on the first page it gives an example.
cdh says: Feb 18, 2008. 4:37 AM
sorry i was tired
suggsugg says: Feb 17, 2008. 10:50 AM
nice, my friend has the newest loaded gloves, and I have homemade ones, and I actually like mine more because the loaded gloves are so big and bulky. I ended up springing for a nicer pucks though, their only about 7 dollars and another one of my friends gave me his old pucks for free because he bought the loaded sliding pucks. What kind of board do you have, I've got the vanguard from loaded
capn (author) says: Feb 17, 2008. 12:47 PM
I rock my 48" Never Summer Swift. It has a 36" wheel base, which is pretty close to the Vangaurds, but the NS has larger overhangs which I kind of prefer. The Vangaurd is a very sold board though.
suggsugg says: Feb 17, 2008. 7:38 PM
I've never tried never summer boards, but I tried their wheels once. whats the board like, does it flex?
capn (author) says: Feb 17, 2008. 9:17 PM
Its a pretty flexy board not as much as the vanguard. it is kind of hard to quantify the amount of flex, but it is about an inch and a half of deflection when standing with one foot on the center. you should check out the Never Summer site and look at the boards, thier pretty cool on whats inside.
pyro13 says: Feb 16, 2008. 2:29 PM
Great! Now you need to put an instructable on how to do a proper longboard slide. please?
capn (author) says: Feb 16, 2008. 5:08 PM
I use the standard Coleman technique, just youtube Cliff Coleman and there are the general slide techniques. but If I get more time I will def make a slide instructalbe.
pyro13 says: Feb 17, 2008. 4:22 PM
Wow. Thats hardcore. You think i would be able to do it on a 50$ word industries skateboard?
capn (author) says: Feb 17, 2008. 6:05 PM
You can slide on basically anything, just make sure that the wheels are hard enough. Most people will slide better on 75a+ durometer wheels its a 1-100 scale. But most of all make sure you wear safety equipment.
Zaboomaphfoo says: Feb 16, 2008. 7:06 PM
wicked cool stuff there. Nice job and +1!
PetervG says: Feb 16, 2008. 4:41 PM
I wish I had bought some good gloves for mine. We should colb. a sliding Instructable!
jameso says: Feb 16, 2008. 2:26 PM
Here's a pair I made last year. I just used a cutting board for the pucks. Then I melted them on using a torch. TA DA
Gnome says: Feb 16, 2008. 2:22 PM
GOD i need a longboard!!!
chigozie says: Feb 16, 2008. 2:20 PM
There are some things that I trust myself to make. These are not included in that list. I would not want to tear my hands up because I made a mistake in making my gloves. Although, having said that, I am very unlikely to ever need a pair of these, as sliding is not really something that you can do on a unicycle.
Brennn10 says: Feb 16, 2008. 10:24 AM
I like the detailedness of this Instructable. Nice job!
GorillazMiko says: Feb 16, 2008. 9:50 AM
Cool. You did a really great job on these, these kind of Instructables are just "Wow" things, like, just original ideas. Awesome job.
ry25920 says: Feb 16, 2008. 8:33 AM
What are these for?
capn (author) says: Feb 16, 2008. 9:31 AM
There is a link to a youtube video showing what benefits these gloves pose.
treflar says: Feb 16, 2008. 9:21 AM
Controlled skidding on a longboard to slow down requires putting a hand down. sliding gloves keep your skin on your palms.
PetervG says: Feb 16, 2008. 4:46 AM
Holy crap. Thanks, and great job!
drummonkey92 says: Feb 16, 2008. 4:38 AM
nice. i have the same ruler as you!
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