Making a Medieval Suit of Armor: Gauntlets 

A gauntleted thumb up!

I'm glad I can help!

I like this style as well, they take a little longer to assemble, but I hope it's worth it

What kind of leather was the glove made out of and where did you buy it?​@LivingManuscript

I used them for steel longsword for a while, but you're right, they're not ideal for that.

Thank you! 😁

I'm afraid a new lens is a little out of my budget at the moment, although I will experiment with the manual focus and fiddling with the aperture. I've been attempting to step up the quality of my videos and that's something that I wouldn't even have thought about, so thanks for pointing that out!

I actually have a video in the works that goes over my whole 1355 harness, the one these gauntlets were made for. In addition to that I recorded some video a while ago about some other pieces of armor I've made. Maybe eventually I'll do everything I've made, but that's quite a few pieces. Aside from the maille components (even those I modify sometimes) I made all my armor.

That's what I used to do, but honestly I like using an angle grinder so much more.

It's not strictly necessary, most original armor pieces from the 14th century are unhardened steel or iron, these particular gauntlets were no exception. For a little less than a year I used these for longsword sparring without any finger breaks, just a little discomfort once in a while. A lot of it, I found, has less to do with padding and more with the distribution, placement, and overlap of the plates instead. In fact, I think that if I did these again I could use an even thinner metal and be just as good.

much apritiate the response.....gota bother you with another question.....if i dont have access to leather, is thick wealders glove good substitute? (Ofc for riveting plates to and for glove part)

No problem! I'll answer it as best I can. I think the leather from most welding gloves would be a little on the thin side, since a lot of the actual substance of the gloves tend to come from other linings inside (in my experience). Perhaps if you layered a few of the outer leather together it would be strong enough to rivet the finger plates to. For the interior glove though just a simple leather work glove is fine, since having the least amount of material in between your hand and the weapon is ideal. I understand that linen gloves could be used as well.

Steven Good I'm putting together an arming doublet at the moment, which has a linen liner. Would that be the sort of thing you're looking for?

Living Manuscript yes ! No one i know sews so I’m trying to learn from what I can thatd be very helpful ! I’m trying to make a the Burgundian puffy shouldered doublet of the late 15tg century

I do love those doublets with the puffy shoulders haha, though I the one I'm making will be a bit lower profile I think

Lol

Way ahead of you ;) Alex and I have been trying it out casually recently

Living Manuscript good hope to see some videos of it one day

I'll admit now that my metallurgical knowledge is pretty limited, although in some cases mild steel could be comparable. For example, many extant pieces of armor from the 14th century are made of low carbon steel or simply just iron (there are also extant pieces that feature higher carbon steel, although they are not always heat treated despite having the ability to be). Modern mild steel is similarly a low carbon content, so in that regard it's reasonably similar to some medieval steels used. Although, medieval steel varied greatly in other aspects, such as the overall quality of the steel. In most modern steels there is an expected level of consistency that may not have been taken for granted 700 years ago - I don't need to worry about inclusions or it being brittle in some spots. I hope that helps! That's my understanding of the subject and I'm far from learned on the subject 😁

@@LivingManuscript Thanks! I'm seriously considering puting together a similar harness to yours. Although mine will feature maille chausses and floating plate arm harness. While that may not be documented; I suspect that some Knights of the mid 14th century would have worn something similar, as plate armor at that time was more reinforcement for existing maille and gambeson kit from the previous 50 years.

@@jaykilbourne1110 Absolutely! And I would say to go for it, I find it to be a very fulfilling process! I can't think of a particular example of that arrangement, though maille chausses stuck around for a while, even when other leg defenses were available, so I don't think it's entirely unreasonable. Was there a particular time period and place you were considering in the 14th century?

@@LivingManuscript I was considering the 1340s-1360s, as I'm quite enamored with the transitional period between gambeson /maille kit and full plate harness that would later appear towards the 1370s and 80s. As for place; my family is suspected to have ancestry in the lower English nobility (knightly class), so France during the hundred years war (but as an English knight). P.S. Forgot to add that I will be using floating leg plate in addition to the maille chausses, I remember seeing an effigy somewhere with that type of kit. (For the mid-14th century I suspect my desired harness would be considered on the upper end of protective capability.)

You and I share a fascination with that time period and region then I see 🙂. I would love to see your progression on this harness, it sounds like a very interesting project!

Thanks! I guess I just *really* like the leather of these gloves haha. I did end up riveting a leather strip to the cuff that I sewed the glove to though, so it all worked out in the end :)

thats good it would be more comfortable on the wrists =)

Может, поэтому в Висби была найдена только левая перчатка 😛