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Main => The Armoury => Topic started by: Sir Edward on 2013-11-09, 17:47:17
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My new gaunts just arrived! I commissioned these from Andrey Galevskiy (Ukraine). I sent him my measurements, and ordered them in Stainless, because I really hate cleaning rust off of gauntlets, with all their little bits and pieces.
It's slightly a mixed bag. I won't want to use these for Blossfechten (unarmored combat), because the thumb is actually pretty immobile. Also, there's a large gap that opens up between the glove and the finger portions of the steel (as shown below). The secondary knuckle plate moves really nicely though.
However, for Harnessfechten I think they'll be fine. That's mostly either pole weapons or half-swording anyway, so the finger mobility isn't as much of a concern. This all works works out OK since I ordered these primarily for fleshing out the 14th century kit a bit more anyway.
The gloves appear to be a linen canvas sort of material. The thumb is a little confining length-wise, but in making a fist it's not too bad.
I think part of the problem with the gap opening is that the gauntlet is just sitting too far forward, because of the thumb length, and some of the side stitching. At some point I may want to redo the stitching and reposition the thumb a little, and that might solve some of it. The stitching looks easy. The thumb would entail taking out a couple of rivets on each, and replacing them.
(photos are clicky)
(http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5794.jpg) (http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5794b.jpg)
(http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5795.jpg) (http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5795b.jpg)
(http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5796.jpg) (http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5796b.jpg)
(http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5797.jpg) (http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5797b.jpg)
(http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5798.jpg) (http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5798b.jpg)
(http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5799.jpg) (http://ed.toton.org/photos/2013/weapons/b5799b.jpg)
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They should be stitched a lot further down. You could easily fix that with some linen thread. That will eliminate that gap for you. If you don't mind the labor, I would replace the gloves entirely with a nice deerskin pair for both durability and comfort. Those gloves look like they might be a little restrictive. I think the thumb mobility issues are because of that extra piece of leather between the plates.
Here's a shot of the stitching on mine, if you duplicate this it will get rid of that gap.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5490/10762505775_fb6f2ae9c5_z.jpg)
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Yeah, I may just need to find some time to sit in front of the TV and do a lot of stitching. I'll have to look around for some good gloves to use.
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Steel is the hardest part of the gauntlet, especially in stainless. You've got that part, so, that's good news. I think a new glove is a good idea too.
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awesomeeeeeeeeee
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They look awesome Sir Edward! I agree with Sirs Ian and James though and recommend you consider the heavier deerskin gloves I purchased for mine.
http://www.westernsporting.com/FE1282/Deer-Skin-Gloves_Short-Cuff_Medium-to-Heavy-Duty.html (http://www.westernsporting.com/FE1282/Deer-Skin-Gloves_Short-Cuff_Medium-to-Heavy-Duty.html)
It looks like the wide cuffs on these gloves would readily adapt to the cuff on your gauntlets since they were astute enough to leave pre-holed leather along the edging. :)
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Very nice Sir Edward. Side note... I never saw how nice Sir Ian's were up close. Very nice and quality detail for his period kit.
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Not to ask in poor taste but I am looking at different options for a 14th century kit that would be SCA approved...what did he charge you for em?
I am thinking of buying a kit and making my own as 500 seems to be the going price for 14th century gauntlets of any type!
http://www.3turretsarmoury.info/Wisby-Gauntlet-Kit-001.htm (http://www.3turretsarmoury.info/Wisby-Gauntlet-Kit-001.htm)
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Before shipping they were about $550, because I went with stainless. They would have been $350 in mild steel, or $450 in spring steel.
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They look awesome Sir Edward! I agree with Sirs Ian and James though and recommend you consider the heavier deerskin gloves I purchased for mine.
http://www.westernsporting.com/FE1282/Deer-Skin-Gloves_Short-Cuff_Medium-to-Heavy-Duty.html (http://www.westernsporting.com/FE1282/Deer-Skin-Gloves_Short-Cuff_Medium-to-Heavy-Duty.html)
It looks like the wide cuffs on these gloves would readily adapt to the cuff on your gauntlets since they were astute enough to leave pre-holed leather along the edging. :)
Ordered.
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Sweet! I know you'll like them better. BTW my modified steel gaunts work great! :)
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Very nice Sir Edward. Side note... I never saw how nice Sir Ian's were up close. Very nice and quality detail for his period kit.
I think those are Jeffrey Wasson's work. Top shelf armor.
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Not bad...looking at https://plus.google.com/photos/101692441556602403365/albums/5534867207099894225 for about 350 too...i think that might include shipping...how hard do you think building my own wisby gloves, using the kit I linked above, would be? How many hours of labor?
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Not bad...looking at https://plus.google.com/photos/101692441556602403365/albums/5534867207099894225 for about 350 too...i think that might include shipping...how hard do you think building my own wisby gloves, using the kit I linked above, would be? How many hours of labor?
Something that Sir Ian educated me about, and might make a difference here, is that the hourglass gaunts at that link don't have a secondary sliding knuckle-plate. It needs this to be historical, and also it enhances the motion of the gauntlet quite a lot. It facilitates making a fist without the top of the gauntlet pulling tight and resisting it.
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What would a secondary sliding knuckle plate look like and how can I spot it?
EDIT: I think I see what you mean...at the top knuckle where it goes from a demi to a fingered gauntlet there is a second plate there which I am assuming is riveted the top of the hand and has a slide hole...I think I understand it now...
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Not bad...looking at https://plus.google.com/photos/101692441556602403365/albums/5534867207099894225 for about 350 too...i think that might include shipping...how hard do you think building my own wisby gloves, using the kit I linked above, would be? How many hours of labor?
Something that Sir Ian educated me about, and might make a difference here, is that the hourglass gaunts at that link don't have a secondary sliding knuckle-plate. It needs this to be historical, and also it enhances the motion of the gauntlet quite a lot. It facilitates making a fist without the top of the gauntlet pulling tight and resisting it.
I think there are historical examples that exclude the knuckle rider plate, but it certainly seems to have been a mark of a 'good' example of hourglass gauntlets and most definitely enhances motion and comfort.
Belemrys, be careful with gauntlets in the SCA. They have some particular rules about fingered gauntlets and especially the thumb. The specifics escape me, but SCA fingered gauntlets have to be constructed differently from historical fingered gauntlets to be more protective for their purposes, so before buying anything make sure you verify SCA legality. These rules are especially important if you intend to use a regular cross hilt on a sword. I think you can get away with less hand protection if you fight exclusively with an SCA-style basket hilted sword since it's more protective.
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Yes, that's the plate. I had hourglass gaunts without it (GDFB). The movement was okay, but it would gap when making a fist. When it doesn't gap, the movement isn't acceptable.
If I remember right, the SCA gauntlets have to be "grounded", meaning the finger plates when grabbing a weapon touch the weapon. Historical gauntlets were mostly flat and didn't do that, as it makes grappling and fine weapon manipulation more difficult.
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Yeah definitely going to sit down with some SCA people when I make final decisions on all my armor and make sure it fits rules without taking away from the historicity of everything :)