Taser Glove

Tired of stupid looking electric gloves with weak disposable camera voltage? Hate people on youtube just showing you only the outside of their taser glove and not even tell how they made it? You have refined taste and want your glove to be both powerful and cool looking. Here you go.

By the way, the first picture shows the LED light shining, not electricity jumping between the taser nodes.

I have never made an electric glove before and this is first time, so I will be sure to point out what works and what gets you flailing around on the floor because you have a lot of volts being dumped straight into you from the deathtrap attached to your hand.

Sorry if there is a lot to read, it is really quite simple if you know what you are doing, but detailed description takes up space. I took a lot of pictures if the words confuse you. I do recommend you read the page before doing it so you don't mess up by working on it as you read it. I apologize if my camera is not the best for things close up.

The whole thing will cost about $30 minimum to make depending on how resourceful you are and what resources you already have. Hopefully you have some basic tools such as pliers, wire cutters, duct tape, something to put holes in things (drill, leather punch, or scissors if you have nothing else), a hammer, and a wallet if you need it.

Edit: I have found that the electricity in the glove does not really want to sit still for too long and the longer you leave the glove on, the greater the risk of shock. It really is not that bad of a shock on your hand if it does shock you, but to avoid it, don't have the glove on for longer than about 15 seconds max(quite a long time really.) unless you are shocking something. If you are shocking something then you should be alright.

Disclaimer: You should only use this for self defense purposes and not for offensive acts. Don't be that guy everyone hates because he electrocutes everybody and thinks it is funny and has no friends. Especially don't use it on friendly animals like pets, that's just messed up. I am not responsible for vigilante use either (you know its awesome, but still illegal). You can test it on yourself just to see if it works if you want to though... MAKE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

1.Taser.

(I recommend this model from Vipertek advertised as 15 million volts, it is a great size to work with and very powerful, if you get a larger one it my be harder to work with.) It just looks like a little box. You can get it on Ebay for $12.99 free shipping. That's what I got it for at least. This is the model these instructions are for. If you don't get it, you will be on your own when it comes to connecting glove to taser.

2. A sports glove or utility glove (this is a top glove for the electrical hookups)

I got mine at Home Depot for a little over $10 if I remember correctly. I like this brand because it has a simple style and no uncomfortable plastic knuckles. DO NOT GET A TIGHT FITTING PAIR. Get one that has some room for a thinner glove to go underneath and some wiring. EDIT: No seriously guys get a large glove that you can insulate with a rubber dish glove or lots of padding, you may want to add extra if you need to.

3. A thin material glove that goes over your arm and almost to your elbow.

This is just for holding the taser to your arm. I got these skeleton costume gloves at Zurchers for $5. I guess I sort of liked the idea of it looking like a skeleton too, but it is mostly covered up by the top glove anyway.

4. Metal rivets.

These are for the electrodes. I used regular flat rivets so that I could use my hand for other things while it is turned off without a bunch of spike rivets poking everything I touch. (and I don't like the look of spike rivets, though they make sense for poking through clothing a bit better) You can get these at just about any leather store.

5. Thin wire. (About 5 feet. 6 feet is a safe bet)

Insulated copper for best results. It does not have to be thick at all, if you unscrew the electrodes at the top of the taser, you will see the wire that carries all this electricity is surprisingly thin. Thinner wire means less hand irritation. I could not find this in any common convenience store though I did not try Radio Shack. I got mine by taking some that hung off the back of my radio and some headphone cords.

6. Some basic tools like pliers, something to punch some different size holes (leather punch or drill will work), scissors, a hammer and rivet anvil for setting those rivets, soldering items ( optional because I made this glove without soldering which may have some negative effects that I don't know about), utility razor, wire strippers, and paper (totally used this). I also used a little bit of super glue.

7. Electrical tape and duct tape.

I thought online was my best bet to cut cost so I spent $2 on a roll of electrical tape, then face-palmed myself when I walked by it at Wal-Mart for 58 cents... Doubt you could find a better price anywhere else. Duct tape is your crafting friend, always have some on hand.

Just think about where you want the rivets on your outside glove, mark it, then put holes where you want them, just big enough for the rivet to fit through. My leather punch worked very well on fabric as well as the rubber covered places surprisingly. You probably guessed to put 2 or 3 on each finger (I did 2 because 3 would be cramping my movement and I imagine the electricity has to travel further with less rivets) but you may want to consider adding 2 to the palm (what I did). If you want to go a little crazy with it you could try the back of your hand or knuckles, but I did not because I thought it would be over-the-top a bit. Once you get the hang of wiring them, you can put them anywhere you fancy.

Now that you know how many rivets you need and where they go, it would be a good time to prep your rivets. By that I just mean cut them to size. I don't know if you can find them where the bottom rivet is just a little under 1/4 of an inch tall, so you can just cut them with some cable cutters or your leatherman or any other plier/utility knife with the wire cutting wedges on them. After cutting them, you have to use the pliers to squeeze the sides back open because they will be flat and pointy at the edges and completely unable to fit into the top section anymore. Just make it able to fit back in and you should be good. Now you know what to do if your rivets aren't the right size for your future projects as well.

The second picture shows a rivet with the top pinched together after being freshly cut, the next one over has been opened back up with the plier part of my tool (also use this to cut them), then the furthest to the right is the top of a rivet. Some people may be unfamiliar with rivets, like me two years ago, that is why I added this picture.

This can be done in a ton of different ways that are most likely better than mine, so if you have a better idea or preference, do it your way.

I started by putting the taser.... hold on, here is a very helpful hint if you did not already have it covered:

HINT: Run your taser dry. You don't want to accidentally zap yourself while working on it. If your taser has an LED light built onto it like my good model, just turn it to that and leave it on overnight or a ton of hours. If somehow it does not have a light, the best of luck to you. I do recommend you do leave just enough power in it to have the little red light that tells you it is armed light up. Just press the button and make sure no electricity jumps the gap so you don't get a nasty shock.

I would first start by doing something about that button on the side of it you have to press to get your taser to shock. No one wants to hold that button down constantly to have your glove work. Do something to it that makes it constantly and permanently pressed down. I put the top of a rivet on the button and covered it with tape (duct tape does not stretch like electrical so use that). You can tell if it works because when you switch it on the red light will not shine because the button is being pressed down. If it shines, you need to redo it because it is not working. Then just keep the switch on the off position for maximum safety.

I then shoved it under the glove on the bottom of my arm and positioned it where I wanted it. Then I cut a slit just at the top of the taser so it could poke through. Then I used duct tape and electrical tape to wrap around and under it through some more holes I cut on the sides to keep it in place. You can keep the switch covered if the fabric is stretchy enough to move the switch or have it exposed through a carefully cut hole. I say carefully because stretchy material is unforgiving of mistakes and holes that are cut when it is relaxed are much different that holes cut when it is tight. Be super careful or you may have to get a new glove, or like me stitch up a big hole (maybe you can see in the pic, just on the side of the taser near the switch). Anyway, be creative and do it better because I feel like mine is pretty bad. You just need the electrodes exposed. And the light because why let that be covered up and go to waste?

By the way, it was getting tight inside my glove, so you may notice in one of the pictures (picture #4) I cut off all the fingers and most of the hand ON THE UNDER GLOVE, but left the part between the thumb and index finger in tact to hold the wrist brace up still. If your glove is a little big on you and has some extra room, feel free to keep the top of the under glove in tact. DO NOT CUT UP YOUR TOP GLOVE.

The last picture is it just charging. I just pull the sleeve down a little and plug it in.

TIP: Make sure the taser is in a position that allows free wrist movement.

Here is the most time consuming and crucial part. I recommend you read the entire page before starting so that you are not trying to follow along line-by-line and mess up. It is simple if you understand what you are doing.

A NOTE ON POLARITY (IMPORTANT): The two nodes on your taser have either a positive or a negative polarity to them, like a battery. When you wire your fingers, alternate the polarity for each finger. Ex: thumb(positive), index(negative), middle(positive), ring finger(negative), pinky(positive). You do this by alternating which electrodes you attach each fingers wiring to, see second to last picture for reference. I put notes on each section to make it a bit more understandable. I honestly did not take apart my taser to find out which one is positive and which is negative, I just alternated which ones I attached the wires to and it works just fine.

Expose the end of your copper wire (first picture). Wire strippers are your best friend for this job. A little over a half an inch at the end will do the trick, just enough to wrap around the base of your rivet and twist a little bit around itself so that it does not come off, like you would a twisty tie on a bag of bread (second picture). If you are a solder guy, you can solder the wire straight to the base, but do not make it bulky because you still have to pound that rivet down. I did not use solder so don't worry about it if you do not want to solder (again it worked out just fine). YOU DO NOT WANT ANY COPPER WIRE EXTENDING PAST THE EDGE OF THE RIVET. Exposed wire is an electrical hazard. If there is any, just trim the excess.

The third picture is of me punching a hole in squares of electrical tape stacked on top of each other. I use these to put between the glove fabric and the rivet, as you can see in picture four. I only did this because I did not entirely trust the fabric to repel (more like prevent the flow) electricity as well as the tape. I do think it helps the rivet stay in better though. Put a layer (one of those squares) of electrical tape on the inside and outside of the glove, sandwich it on both sides of the glove between the rivet, sticky side to the glove obviously (note pictures four and five for that).

Once you have the exposed wire wrapped around the base of your rivet, turn the glove inside out and put the bottom of the rivet through the hole AT THE END of a finger (does not matter which one at this point, because you will wire each finger separately but I started with my thumb). You want to always work from the end of a finger to the opening. Then manage to turn the finger back outside-right (if that is a real term) while keeping the bottom part of the rivet poking through the hole to the outside. Then put the top part of the rivet on. I put the rivet anvil (the round metal piece that actually came with a pack of snaps I had, so technically it is a snap-setting anvil) inside the finger underneath the rivet, then hammer the rivet down tight. If you are unfamiliar with rivets and have no snap setting anvil, you might be able to just press the finger of the glove flat against a stone slab or something and hammer it down the best you can, though it may cause some damage to the back of the glove finger if you aren't careful. Anyway, it should look like picture four and picture five when you have it set nice and tight.

TIP: Be careful not to damage or sever the wire while pounding the rivets down.

Now move to the second hole below the one you just did on the tip of the finger. Hold the wire next to the hole and where the hole lands on the wire, start removing the insulation there. Remove a little under a half an inch below the hole, exactly like picture four. This part requires much care because it is not as easy as stripping the end of your wire. I used a utility razor to carefully peel away the insulation. Be super careful that you do not sever the wire or you will have to redo the entire finger or splice the wire back together and splicing is sketchy. You want to wrap this once around the bottom of a rivet and continue to the other side without copper wire extending past the edge of the rivet (picture six). Then set the rivet the same way as the first one. Make sure the wire is going in the direction you want (towards the opening of the glove at the wrist, or to the next hole. Don't forget the tape.

Continue wiring like this and once you get to the end of each finger, lead the wire down and out the opening of the glove with 2 or 3 inches to spare hanging out, You should have enough length to reach your taser, so if it is not right there on your wrist like mine, just have enough to make it to the electrodes of your taser. ALWAYS HAVE A LITTLE MORE LENGTH THAN IS NEEDED TO GET TO THE ELECTRODES OF YOUR TASER! YOU DONT WANT TO FIND OUT YOU CUT IT TOO SHORT BECAUSE TAKING RIVETS OUT IS A PAIN AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO REWIRE AN ENTIRE FINGER!

If you have electrodes on your palm like mine, have them be a different polarity by connecting the wire from the index finger and pinky, or two fingers that you know will have different polarity.

The second to last picture shows the finished wiring on the inside, the last shows the electrodes on the outside. That is what it should look like.

Time to make sure the electricity stays away from your hand.

First, put a square of electrical tape to cover the exposed back of the rivet (this is all the inside of the glove). This is before the first picture, so don't be confused. Just one layer.

For the second layer, cut small circles out of paper (just regular printer paper is what I used) that are just big enough to cover the rivet (which is hidden under one layer of electrical tape now). See the first picture, where I lay the paper circles over all the rivet areas for reference. Three circles on each one, so there is three layers of paper (four if you are extra cautious). Then cover that up with three more squares of electrical tape (second picture). In total that is one electrical tape layer on the bottom, three paper, then three more electrical tape layers. Why paper? I read on Wikipedia that paper is non conductive and I agreed with it. I did not want to bet it all on just electrical tape to keep the electricity away from me. Paper is readily available to everyone and is flexible.

Put two more circles of paper ,then three more layers of electrical tape over the already layered pieces from the paragraph above for extra safe insulation thickness. (Edited in after I felt the electricity was too close to my fingers for comfort. This thickness keeps it away from me at full charge.).

NOTE: You probably have realized by now that electrical tape has disappointing adhesive properties when it comes to fabric (it doesn't stick too well). Don't worry about it, it will be fixed after the next paragraph...

Trim all the tape corners to reduce the bulky square size of these "resistor pads" as I like to call them. You don't need them to be these huge ugly peeling squares so cut them into rounder shapes, but be sure that it covers the rivet completely with a good amount of overlap to be safe. See picture three.

Now these resistor pads are better shapes, but still not sticky or durable, cover the entire pad in a layer of duct tape that sticks it to the glove. Duct tape sticks very well to fabric and will hold it in there nicely and your hand will not peel the duct tape as easily as electrical tape when you shove it in. See picture four. You can trim a few corners off the duct tape to keep it away from the seams, but don't over do it. You want those resistor pads in there solid.

By the way, now is a good time to trim the electrical tape around the rivets on the outside of the glove. Trim it close as you can get it, it just looks bad on the outside. See picture five.

NOTE: You can test your insulation by using a screwdriver (plastic or wood handle) and touching it to the insulation pads (your glove being inside out) while your glove is on with a considerable amount of power, if not fully charged. If any electricity jumps (it wont) then it is done wrong. You could also touch each pad with your finger (on a low charge, like 15 minutes, just enough charge to hear the electric whine) then put your entire hand on all of them at the same time. If you feel any electricity, fix it.

NOTE: You may have noticed one of the wires on my glove (ring finger) is a little bit funky, but that is because it was a thinly insulated wire that I found inside another wire, so it was white. I encased it in a little bit of electrical tape for better insulation. If you have enough of the same wire to do the entire glove, yours will just look like all the other wires, so don't freak out when you see my "special wire" just because it looks different.

EDITED NOTE: After charging this thing for over an hour, I put it on to discover my hand gets a funky, semi-electrical feel to it. Also, it felt like a small bubbling sensation under the insulation pads on the rivets. I figured that this is a combination of the entire glove carrying the electricity and my insulation pads were a bit too thin (I only used two layers of paper and two electrical tape layers on top of that, which is why I edited it to say three paper layers and three electrical tape layers. This may in fact be the only reason my hand felt some electricity). If this happens to you, just add some more insulation. A few extra layers of electrical tape might do the trick, or maybe you could add some more layers of paper. Just make sure that it is secured down by duct tape as the final layer. I am pretty sure your hand will always feel a little funny while the glove is on due to the whole thing basically carrying a ton of electricity. It may be unavoidable like the noise it makes while it turns on. If you have all the insulation layers from the instructions above, you will still be able to feel a little bubbling underneath the pads, but there is no way the electricity will jump through those pads.

This part can be a little tricky, but not too much.

Strip the ends of all the wires coming out of your glove, about half an inch will do. See picture one.

Twist the wires from the thumb, middle, and pinky finger together at the ends. Then twist the other two wires together at the ends to keep them grouped. This is all with the glove right side out. See second picture.

Now you want to take off one of the nodes on your taser. Just twist the node on the end with some pliers counterclockwise to unscrew it. That is just for this model, I have another model that has no plate and it does not unscrew, so If you have a different model than the little 15 mil volt Vipertek box-looking one, your on your own for wiring. See picture three. I have the pointy ends bent up and over already in the picture, but I had to bend them back to unscrew and wire, so do not bend them back until after you have wired the glove to the taser.

You are going to wire the bundle of three wires to one node, the bundle of two to the other. Anyway, The little knob should come out and the plate with the pointy side will come off too. you will notice a little red wire (there is a little wire on both sides that come up to touch the metal plate to carry the electricity). This is the important part of the whole thing, you need to have your copper wires touching the end of this. You can fray the end of the wire bundle a little bit to have it lay a little flatter and cover more area on this plate area. See picture four. You need to screw the plate back on top while your wire is underneath it, of course with minimal copper wire sticking out from under the plate. If you are having a hard time keeping the wire in place and screwing the plate back on, I used just a little dot of Krazy glue (just super glue, different brand) at the end of the frayed wire to stick it to the plastic a little bit. DO NOT USE SUPER GLUE ON YOUR WIRE CLOSE TO THE LITTLE RED WIRE AS IT MAY GET BETWEEN THE WIRES AND PREVENT A GOOD CONNECTION.

I have both the sides done in the fifth picture and bent the pointy edges back up and over the little node so that the electricity was not tempted to ever jump that gap again. I used a little super glue on the little screw-node to keep it stuck where it was with the plate tight down on those wires. Also around the plate just to keep it real solid in place.

Afterwards I simply covered those nodes the best I could with electric tape (4 or 5 layers on mine) and a little bit up the wires too. See last picture. Electrical tape still has a hard time sticking to these things, so you can use duct tape over your electrical tape to really keep things stuck. IF YOU LIKE THE LED LIGHT ON YOUR TASER DON'T COVER IT UP WITH TAPE. I think it is cool on your wrist.

NOTE: Using super glue on these metal nodes and wires has an interesting effect. When you finally turn your taser on (and it has some decent charge to it), you will hear a faint sizzling... I panicked a bit and would not put it on my hand until I knew what was making that sizzle noise. I figured out it was the super glue down there on those nodes, so don't worry about it if that is what is sizzling.

This just means if you need to attach the top glove to the bottom one in some way to make it easier to get on and off, do that. I have no pictures of me doing this though you may notice on my final product. The picture is explained in the first note.

I used a few rivets around the wrist to attach what little was left of my under-glove to the top glove. My fingers are right against the duct tape on the inside, but if you have all the fingers on your under-glove then find a way to try to keep the under glove inside the top one so it is easy to pull off and put on. Maybe some hand sewing or tape if you are lazy, or you could try rivets.

Every time you take your glove off or put it on, you want to take extra care to put as little strain on the wires as possible, fixing things would be a pain.

Add some designs to make it cooler if you want.

SOME NOTES FOR USING THIS TASER HAND:

NOTE: When first trying it out, you want to only charge it for maybe four or five minutes so that if there is a problem, you will only get a very tiny shock. I had a small amount of a rivet poking through after a mistake I made and failed to correct it. It was directly touching my skin and it gave me the smallest shock so that I knew where it was and corrected it by covering it back up. I barely felt it, and I am a guy who is super paranoid about shocks. This happened because I tried to tighten a rivet by pounding it down with my hammer AFTER I put the resistor pad on the back, so it just poked straight through. (picture)

NOTE: When you turn on the glove, you will hear some unsettling electric whine coming from it (when it has a considerable or full charge). This is normal and will just continue until you touch something, making a sparky noise on metal or be quiet if it is on skin or other non-metal surfaces.

NOTE: I would not dare make a fist with this thing turned on, I don't trust throwing a punch while it is turned on either, I bet you would get shocked, but if I'm wrong, good for you risk-takers. Who am I kidding? Putting this glove on your hand and turning it on takes a ton of courage. You are taking a risk just having this thing near you because it is a death trap that you voluntarily attach to your hand, complete with amateur electrical wiring and warranty-voiding alterations. But who cares because it is super cool.

NOTE: You can always run the battery dry if you do not want it charged up, just leave the LED light on.

NOTE: You always want to fix any insulation or wire problems while you are finding them out at low voltage. Do not (can't stress this enough) fully charge until you have it perfect with all the flaws worked out.