Topknot's Gauntlet. Just Posted Many New Pics Of The Finished Piece To Finish Up This Thread. 06/02/

[alphatech686]

After much consideration I decided my first Topknot gauntlet was just to bulky looking. I really like all
the blades but I am chalking  it up to experience. Here are a couple of drawings and the gear box I will
be using. I found this gear box while working on the spear, in fact the the exact gear head is in the spear
minus the right angle turn. I am making something as sleek as I can with 7 to 8 inches of movement.
Sorry for the poor quality of these sketches, I really do know how to draw. Stay tuned.

 

[BonzRus]

SWEET!!! Another topknot build...looking forward to it Jeff. I have considered a sleeker looking blade gauntlet myself by having the blade spines be exposed when retracted. That way the housing wouldn't have to be as bulky looking and the exposed blade spines could be sharpened to make them functional for backhand slashing even when retracted. Just a thought. What ever you do will be outstanding and I love the mechanical aspects of what you build.

Steve

 

[made007]

Whats the rpm and torque on that gear box?
Looks very strong, is it 9volt?

 

[made007]

Sorry i just saw the pic that its 12 v, i have to put glasses on, damn!

 

[wonko]

I'll be watching this one too.  I'm sure this will turn out as good or better than your spear.  Can't wait for an update!

Brian

 

[alphatech686]

So I started on this this morning. Got a few hours in. I always start with the basic frame work so I 
have something to build on. If you have seem my other guants you know I always hinge them in the back 
and fabricate a latch in the front. This works well to keep them together on the wrist.

This is the wrist cradle. The flat bar on top restricts the gaunt from spinning on the wrist by
using the natural flat area formed by the radius and ulna.

These next three photos are just to see how it all lays out and to help position the track as it will be off center
to make the blades centered. You can also see it will only be as tall as the blades and only as wide as the 
blades as all the mechanics are set between them.

I always try to keep things as square as possible.

Here is the rear support that holds the hinge, track, and motor. The screws are temporary as I had to tear
this down and do some tweaking several times, they will be replaced by rivets eventually. I added my old
friend epoxy putty for structural stability and to cleanup that back edge.

 

[alphatech686]

Got a little more done this afternoon. Not very interesting just fabricating the wrist clasp,

 

[BonzRus]

I just love watching you create stuff Jeff. Aluminum, springs, hinges, geared motors, chains, fiberglass, the list goes on. And it is all planned out how you want it to work together. Just fabulous to watch and get ideas from. Talk about raising the bar...you raised it long ago and haven't let it down. 

Steve

 

[alphatech686]

Some minor updates, finished up the latch and doing a slight redesign on the blades. The fourth photo is of my original
blade template from the 4 bladed Topknot gauntlet next to the upgraded design. I just beefed it up a little. 

I was going to hijack the blades from the other gauntlet but then I realized I would miss out on the hours it
will take to make new ones. Where's the fun in that?

 

[alphatech686]

Here's a few of the blade work.
I decided to cut these out together so I contact cemented the 2 pieces of plexiglass together.
It worked great.

Filing the saw marks

The blade works

Now onto mounting these

 

[ThePriest]

Damn bro you really did get going nice man i can see it on your arm already (KICK ASS !!!!)

 

[wonko]

Love the blades Jeff, and the gauntlet is looking good as well.  Thanks for the updates!

Brian

 

[alphatech686]

Got some good stuff done today. Got the blade mount made and the blades mounted and got the motor
mount made and the motor mounted.

The last part of the blades behind the motor will be trimmed at an angle to fit the shape of the final cover.

 

[BonzRus]

Awesome Jeff...just awesome. Thanks for the updates. So many good ideas to glean from...

Steve

 

[alphatech686]

spent several hours today trimming out the blades.
Started with the blade pistons.

Tapped the blade and the piston, screwed them together with super glue as a lubricant, and dremeled
off the screw heads,

laying in the metal work.

lines for grinding

I didn't take any pics of the grinding stuff. Kind of boring. Here they are primed and then painted. I was 
going for that "tactical" look on the blades. Hope I didn't over do it.

of course I still need to age and weather the **** out of them.

I know some people here at the lair probably can't believe how fast I am doing this build compared to my
normal snails pace. I'm trying not to jinx myself. 

 

[wonko]

The blades look fantastic.  Hell, the whole thing is super cool.  I did my blades out of 1/4" hardwood, and HATED the grinding.  I can only imagine doing it with plexi  .  can't wait to see this thing moving.

Brian

 

[eaglewood]

Jeff-- you are a MADMAN!!!!!  I love it Bro-- awesome work.

 

[UnitedHerps]

DUDE you've inspired me, lol!!!!  very cool design.  but can you explain how you will be able to put on and remove the guantlet?

Pitoon

 

[alphatech686]

I had a light bulb moment the other day. I was studying this thing trying to figure a way to get the most out of the chain/sprocket drive. 
The first photo is how I did the drive connection on the other gauntlet. You can see the end of the line is at the out most edge of
the sprocket. My latest idea is in the next few photos. As you can see the attachment is now through the chain. You can see that the
end of the line now is actually behind the center line of the sprocket. This mean about a half inch on either end which means almost a
whole extra inch of movement. When we are only talking about 6 or 7 inches total, one inch is a lot.

The old gauntlet.

The new one.

Hey Pitoon, Here's a couple of photos showing how you get in and out of it.
First you unlatch the front then you slide you hand in from the back then relatch and you are in. No chance
of it coming off. If it some how were to unlatch it would still have to slide off past your hand.

 

[UnitedHerps]

cool, thanks!  now i have a better understanding of how you get it on. 

how much does it weigh....that's a lot of metal? 

you plan on using LiPo batteries to power it?

Pitoon