Hot Raising an Hourglass Gauntlet


Click the pictures to see them full size. Most are about 170k each.

We headed back into the shop on Monday the 27, and you can see that work here
Hot raising Day 2

Greetings. On Saturday January 25, Aaron Toman [aka Master Valerius] and myself headed into my shop to try our hand at hot raising an hourglass gauntlet. This project and my interest in hourglass gauntlets goes way back to my beginning days armouring. In 1985 Aaron and Wade Allen [aka Master Will] made a very small hourglass gauntlet. About the size of a quarter, but using different techniques. When I saw it, I just had to try to make a full size version. With Aaron and Wades help, we drafted a pattern and spent a full day making a gauntlet that we were not pleased with. It has remained 'shop art' in my shop since that time. [See below]

Recently, Wade had called Aaron and they spent a lot of time catching up and talking shop. Aaron was inspired by that discussion and so here we are. This pictorial documents our work that day. We hope it inspires you as well.

Updated on 28 January, 2003

1.   Here we have the gauntlet we made in 1985. This started with a plate of 14 gauge steel and was completely flared. The problems: It took all day, 8 hours of hammering by 3 different people. That's just too long for the thousands of hourglass gauntlets created. Also, it thinned out the metal way too much. The cuff is about 20 gauge, and the front edge of the metacarpal plate is about 18 gauge. We had problems controlling the shape as it came out way too round, and the waist of the wrist to the flair was too great. Just too many problems to continue this experiment, so it lives in my shop as "Shop Art". The pattern is to the left of the gauntlet.
2.   Here is the start of our new pattern. By taking one of my welded hourglass gauntlets, we developed the pattern which we wanted to try. We cut it our of 18 gauge mild steel, ground the edges, rolled it into a cylinder and rived it on the cuff side, where typical hourglass gauntlets are riveted.
3a.   Tools: typical raising hammers and the pipe stake. Nothing special used. Heating was with an oxy-acetene torch with a rosebud tip. We used sharpie pens to do some marking for cutting and design, but for the hot work we used a soapstone pen as it will survive the heating. We still had to keep our marks refreshed. tools
3b.  

Show raising position on the pipe stake. We started raising from the cuff side, about 3/4" in from the edge, and worked toward the wrist.

You

 Raising Position
3c.   Here we have the end of the first pass. Working from the cuff in toward the wrist, we started heating about 3/4" in from the edge. This will help keep the cuff from flaring out as we were raising in. We were working with standard raising hammers and over a pipe stake.
    Some definitions on raising as we will use them.
  1. Pass - one round of raising, either from the cuff or from the metacarpal side [finger side]
  2. Course - completing one set of passes, raising from the cuff and from the metacarpal in toward the wrist
4.   Still showing the end of cuff pass #1 but turned to show the markings for the thumb root. You can see the old flared gauntlet in the background. Doh! we have a long way to go!
5.   We have now completed 2 cuff passes, and 1 metacarpal pass. What you don't see is when we got to the wrist. A large bulge developed, and although we raised it down, we had problems keep it from folding over and creating creases. These could crack later, but we found a way to work them better. See below. I learned to keep my raising tight and not be afraid to hammer the hot metal onto the stake. You need to work fast, but don't rush. Just think about where your working. The 18 gauge metal doesn't hold the heat very long, but don't work areas when they are cold. This will smash the metal and thin it very quickly. By working just the hot areas, the thickness is maintained. If you need to reheat and area, stop hammering!
6.   Same as 5 but from the side. You can see the difference between 2 passes from the cuff vs 1 pass from the metacarpal.
7.   Same as 6 but trying to figure out a marking method to keep track of passes. Uhm, we sort of dropped this as unnecessary.
8.   The bulge! This is what happens as the passes move in toward the wrist from both sides. We had problems with the first one we tried to raise down, but Aaron suggested that we use this very round and broad faced hammer to hammer it down before continuing.
9.   Buldge from the side.
10.   Ok, bulge from the cuff. You can see the necking that we are getting. This is proceeding very fast with only a few heats.
11.   After working down the bulge, we have a smooth work surface and can now continue with raising toward the wrist.
12.   Again, after working down the bulge. The thumb root is developing nicely.
13.   Marking the area to work on. We don't need to do much more raising on the sides. The back of hand needs the most work at this point.
14.   A different view of where we are going to work.
15.   Ok, showing after we have raised the last area. You can see the wonderful sweep that is developing on the thumb [right] side. We are about 1 hour into our work.
16.   I think this is about 3 courses of work. Complete passes from the cuff and metacarpal. You can see how much the metal has moved. We had very little scale. You can also see the 1 inch thick plate that I use for welding, and the pipe stake in the stake plate.
17.   Aaron evening up the cuff by working it on the face of the anvil with a slightly rounded face hammer. We have tried to maintain the cuff round and evened out any problems as we have worked. Watch your hammer work and try to correct twisting as you go along.
18.   Working the metacarpal over the pipe stake has left it too round. We have marked 2 triangle areas to heat and then working with a rounded hammer, pushed them out from inside on the face of the anvil.
19.   After working the metacarpal, we have a flatter profile. It fits the back of the hand nicely. We have also formed the edges of the metacarpal to fit the hand and started to work the thumb area.
20.   Here you can see the rosebud tip heating the next area to raise. We only need a the small oval area marked with soap stone.
21.   Aaron working the thumb root over a ball stake with the flat face of a small hand sledge.
22.   Same as 22.
23.   We have decided to stop at this point. We could have gone one more pass as the cuff opening is a bit large. About 3.5 inches, but for this experiment, we are please with the results. This picture also shows the surface scaling. We want to remove the scale before bouging and planishing.
24.   Removing the scale with a 6 inch wire wheel on the bench grinder.
25.   The metacarpal after removing the scale.
26.   The metacarpal after removing the scale.
27.   Here we see the overall profile after the work. Approximate time 2 hours.
28.   The side profile.
29.   Aaron modeling the gauntlet we can assess our efforts.
30.   We didn't keep accurate time, but it was around 2 hours. We should have also weighed the metal and rivets before and after to see how much we lost to scaling.
     Lessons learned:
  1. Keep your raising tight and controlled
  2. Don't try to raise too much in a pass
  3. Work down the bulge that forms in the wrist area before continuing. This will avoid folds and creases.
  4. Keep re-adjusting the gauntlet as you work.
  5. Don't work areas after they have cooled. Re-heat.
  6. Starting in 3/4" from the edges keeps them from flaring too much as you work.
  7. Other???
31.   Compare our efforts to this gauntlet from the Wallace Collection.   

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You can email me at cad@mallet-argent.com Cadwallon y’ Rhudd, Armourer.
Please include your name, SCA name, email address, project type.
Please note, that I tend to specialize in 14th century armour.