CCM Eflex3 Pro 2-piece catcher and blocker

[ArdeFIN]

While waiting for the poll results I took the catcher apart to replace the 2mm palm plastic with a 3mm plate. The 2mm was too sloppy for palm and while it did do the job it wasn't feeling very confy or reliable.

I made few wooden mold protos to use with heat gun to make these convex and concave shapes to plastic sheets. Worked pretty well already but the whole techinque for the job needs more training. I'm still happy for the result of the first attempt and if something needs to be changed then more heat and pressure!

For the plates I made. The edges are curled on purpose, outer edge inwards to protect the jenpro on the edge of the palm. The side towards pocket also curled inwards to create a smooth edge leading puck to the pocket and also make the pockets edge more rounded to stand the pucks hitting it. Might be very little of effect here and just for the experiment and test the idea. The edge where the T lip is attached I curled out to give the T a bit more room when opening the glove fully for coverage. Again a minor thing to do but because I can test these.

And all of the curling has one bigger purpose, making the whole plate more rigid. The glove itself is so soft and smooth operating that there isn't a major need for rigidity here anymore. But hopefully it feels stronger and more reliable comparing to the 2mm sheet. The whole new plate is more concave too for the same reason. Original plastic is very much concave, for me it feels a bit too concave making the glove angle feel awkward when trying to open the palm square to the puck.

Already did the holes and smoothing for the new plate so is only to sew the plate back in and lace the glove back together.

[ArdeFIN]

Just noticed I missed something from the previous project report but here we go. It might've been that I didn't take any pictures in the swift mood of going forward and didn't remember afterwards. 

So the sewing of the plastic to the palm. This is a bit of a work to do as I don't have machinery for this so it is the old fashion way. Blunt nose needle and 40 size thread doubled. This way I never accidentally pull the needle of the thread. Ofcourse only useable when you can do a double thread sew like here.

I drilled 1,5mm holes to the plastic and to make it easier you could drill the holes through all the fabrics so you have markings for sewing. Now I had the markings from the previous sewing so this time it was quite easy job. Although I did make myself some trouble by not dismantling all but just that much that it was doable. Lazy...

Stitched two rounds with even number of holes to get a continuous sew. There isn't much of a stress here so this should last for the rest of the gloves lifetime. Atleast.

And from the other side. Here you can see the little addition to protection which got a one closerange slapshot test and is approved with more experience needed.

The greenish material is Poron copy, not XRD though, a gel like foam more common in insoles. But as said from the first test it seems to do the job here too.

There are three sheets, one in the picture for fingers, one narrow slide at the break and third is covering the thumb area. Didn't affect the closure at all, not noticeable in any way. I'll continue testing and using this material and style in coming projects, including those old timers. The RX6 atleast needs some additional padding to palm. 

 

[ArdeFIN]

One more fix for this glove before it's ready. The edge lacing of the finger protector was going through the jenpro. Easiest and cleanest would've been a new layer of jenpro but to give a little detail to it I cut 4 small tabs and sew those over the holes. Punch new holes to the tabs and ready to go.

Inside look, the holes were breaking and when the it has began the best way is to replace or add a layer over.

Bit of a disappointment was the closure that isn't as good as I was hoping, but the reason is obvious. I didn't curl or convex the pinky area enough. It's not a big opening there and it might get better in time or with a little strap itclose and tight storage. No puck will get loose from there anyways.

Othervise the new plastic did what I was hoping for, more rigidity to the finger area and better feeling for the glove.