PLA Thermoformed Gauntlet
Ninjaflex Strap
I think it's important to develop printable alternatives to the velcro used on many gauntlets today. The common "two strip" method is difficult to fasten with one hand and requires some glue or stitch-work to secure the velcro to the gauntlet. The "one strip loop around" method is easily fastened with one hand, but still requires glue/stitching to secure the velcro to the gauntlet and to secure the contact patch to the velcro strip to ensure proper fastening. I prototyped two possible alternatives, one thermoformed PLA (see thermogauntlet beta testing thread for more) and one in Ninjaflex this weekend. I've been hesitant to use flexibles to date because they are more challenging to print with and don't contribute to the accessibility of a given design, but it seems that they are becoming more reliable and we've seen repeatable successes in the community (Flexyhand series).
The idea here is to match the profile of the load-bearing surface on the underside of the gauntlet with the surface form of the forearm to avoid pressure points, as described in the below diagram, which illustrates the problem with velcro in conventionally-printed (non-thermoformed) gauntlets.
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Thermofroming solves the surface-alignment problem, so this proposed Ninjaflex load-bearing surface solution is just to further reduce assembly complexity by moving it into the design. There are also marginal gains in the ease of thermoforming due to the consistent wall thickness of the gauntlet. What I see as a potential win here is the ease of adjustment and fastening/unfastening. The Ninjaflex part snaps over the fastening pins securely and, but is still easy to remove, so there are might be some usability gains here. Would love both design and user feedback to further develop and improve this if there are gains to be had.
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