Gloves again

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

Put it here because it's not about safety.

Had an interesting experience yesterday. As I've said, I never wear a glove on my hammer hand. Well, I spent some time grinding and had cotton gloves on and then had a few hours of hand hammering to do. I had left my gloves on and after awhile my hand was getting sore. Took my glove off and hammered for a couple more hours.

Seems with the glove on I was having to grip the hammer tighter causing the soreness. The frictional coefficient of a bare hand on wood is absolutely ideal. I could really feel the difference once I took the glove off. So I tried a few other kinds of gloves. Nothing gave me the relaxed feel of a bare hand. A rubber faced glove was pretty good, but I don't think that's a good idea forging and I didn't like it either.

Just an observation for your consideration.

[Ranger604]

My experiences and career have charted me on being a vigilent safety minded person. One day a breech in safety led me to two broken wrists. That was 15 years ago. Yes that sucked big time!!! When I started smithing a couple years back, I tried working with gloves, safety from burns and such. Now I get some arthritis in my wrists anyway, but with a lot of hand work (hammering) my wrists would ache. I found my ability to control my hammer was less and less as my forging time ticked away. I generally had to stop after acouple of hours and the next day my wrists were achey. I decided to skip the glove on my hammer hand one day. It made all the differance. My grip and control is better than ever, and I can forge away for 5 and 6 hours. And no arthritic issues the next day (some due to better strength from smithing).

But safety glasses and ear plugs remain in place. Glove for the holding hand. Hammer safe.

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

Glad to hear you can smith now!

Just a comment on the rubber faced gloves: They were TOO sticky. You'd be surprised at the small adjustments you make to your grip "on the fly", the rubber gloves interfered with that ability. It's a subtle thing.

A blacksmith isn't just bashing, he's molding shapes with his hammer and the hammer must be a relaxed extension of his hand. You just can't have anything interfering with that.

[clinton]

I use pine tar on my hammer hand, it gives good grip and keeps you from getting blisters ( I learned this from Brian Brazeal) You want to get your fire going before you apply the pine tar if you are using coal, the dust will make a mess when it comes in contact with the pine tar. When you are done forging borax will clean up your hands nicely.
I saw a guy that was forging with leather gloves on that fit tight, and I thought to myself if that glove gets hot it will be hard to remove, causing more injury. With a loose glove you can just fling it off. I do sometimes use the ove glove that fits kind of tight but I am real carefull not to grab anything that is too hot

[HWooldridge]

This is one of the things Hofi talks about frequently, i.e., gripping the hammer with a death's grip causes all kinds of physical problems. Gloves only tend to compound the issue as evidenced by your experience.

Everyone has their own secret recipe for how to hold a hammer but I believe a fairly loose grip is the key no matter what type of head or handle pattern you favor. I personally shave my handles to an octagon shape so I can know by feel what plane the head is traveling in relative to the strike and I leave a little knob at the end of the handle so it can't easily slide out of my hand. The wood is sanded to 400 and whiskered, like a gunstock, then I put on Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil to finish. I hold a hammer loosely and am fortunate not to have any wrist or forearm problems after almost 30 years of working at the anvil - maybe that's genetics or technique or some combination of both.

Gloves are made for handling hot stuff or welding - not hammering, IMHO.

[John Larson]

I definitely agree that hammering with a glove on is a bad thing. Building up callouses on the hammer hand is the absolutely best way to adapt to long episodes of hammering. I spend most of my time machining metal and I try to avoid use of gloves for safety. I DO wear leather welder gloves religiously when welding and they're always loose enough to escape quickly. I DO wear gloves or use tongs when manipulating hot metal.

One of the greatest things about Mr. Hofi is that he uses reasoning and analysis to create his lessons. Not just transferring what somebody else has said. He always tells you WHY something should be done.

[EWCTool]

Along with what other people have said I feel like you lose my connection to the hammer and the metal when i am hammering with a glove on. I do not have as much control over the hammer when I have gloves on and I cannot feel those small pushes and pulls that the hammer reflects from the hammering. From those small pushes and pulls I can adjust the angle of the head to move the metal where I want it to go. But with gloves I am unable to make those small adjustments and I have to spend more time on the details.

Plus I have had a couple of instances where scale falls into the glove. That is always annoying.

[evfreek]

Grant, you are absolutely correct! One can get a bad overuse injury from wearing a glove on the hammer hand.

Noting that, however, sometimes I don't like rough calloused hands. On several occasions, I have caught a smith I was shaking hands with trying to feel for callouses. I really dislike this and it really makes my skin crawl . I mentioned this to my old teacher, and he does the same thing (feels for callouses). He says that it gives "a measure of the smith." I even had a woman who I shook hands with do this to me, and I did not like it at all. It's just creepy.

Another time, I was getting my blood drawn with a finger stick lancet. The nurse could not get a good stick on my fingers. She asked: "You have a soft desk job; why do you have the hands of a laborer?" None of her business, but I said blacksmith anyway. She said I know what to do with people like you. She spread two of my fingers and zinged me with the lancet in between two of them. OWWWWW :o

[Sam Thompson]

I wouldn't deliberately feel for callouses but I find men with soft hands a bit creepy, especially when combined with a limp handshake.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I tried using the new style work gloves that mechanics use. the material they are made of is synthetic and melted near the heat that sucked but got them off fast now I only use a glove on my tong hand

[CurlyGeorge]

Thanks, Grant. You said what I have thought for a long time. I can control the hammer much better with no glove on the glove hand. Actually, I prefer not to wear a glove on the hold hand, either, if I can get by with it. If the tongs start getting hot, I can feel it better and cool them down while the metal I'm working is taking another heat.

[hildenmw]

Put it here because it's not about safety.

Had an interesting experience yesterday. As I've said, I never wear a glove on my hammer hand. Well, I spent some time grinding and had cotton gloves on and then had a few hours of hand hammering to do. I had left my gloves on and after awhile my hand was getting sore. Took my glove off and hammered for a couple more hours.

Seems with the glove on I was having to grip the hammer tighter causing the soreness. The frictional coefficient of a bare hand on wood is absolutely ideal. I could really feel the difference once I took the glove off. So I tried a few other kinds of gloves. Nothing gave me the relaxed feel of a bare hand. A rubber faced glove was pretty good, but I don't think that's a good idea forging and I didn't like it either.

Just an observation for your consideration.

I forged the first 5 to 6 years with no gloves on either hand. Decided a few years ago to wear glove and not beat up on my hands. actually made the change with little effort. Hammering is more mental than anything.

[Dragons lair]

If and when I use a hammer hand glove I use either a elkskin tig glove or a golf glove. Other hand gets a lite/med
weight mig glove. Tong hand is flip off. Hammer is snug( 1 or 2 trys at picking up hot iron will convince ya to use the other hand) No control? Pro golfers can risk a huge payday due to control. Oh yah an old smith might think calluses are great. How about your lady? My grand dad used to say calluses say you are working hard or working wrong.
Ken.

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

Analogies are often a substitute for facts. Golf is about getting your grip right, making sure the club doesn't turn in your hand and taking one swing! Now if I had a three foot handle on my hammer........

Mother Nature has a way of putting leather where you need it.

[Frosty]

Mother Nature has a way of putting leather where you need it.

Mother Nature would've put the leather on my LG brake band? I sure wish you told me sooner it would've saved me some work!

Frosty the Lucky.

[EWCTool]

If rough hands bother your lady you could learn from Curley in the book Of Mice and Men. He keeps one hand soft for his wife by keeping it in a glove full of Vaseline.

[Dragons lair]

If rough hands bother your lady you could learn from Curley in the book Of Mice and Men. He keeps one hand soft for his wife by keeping it in a glove full of Vaseline.

Ah Ha now we are back to not only wearing a glove but lubing it as well. Now another thought for those that like thick calluses. I have grown a few in 65 yrs. Mine had no feeling like shoe leather. How do you finess with no feeling?
Grant ya missed the point. CONTROL. Try golfing with a welding glove. My point was/is if ya wish to use a glove
it needs to be able to pick up a dime. It will not help with burns. It will allow ya to control the hammer.
No I don't use them all the time.
Ken

[Frosty]

Guess I'm lucky on another score, Deb likes my hands rough.

Frosty the Lucky.

[bigfootnampa]

Hope this isn't too far from the main subject. I like to use a glove on my tong hand most of the time. I have a few kevlar reversible gloves and find that they are the best I have yet discovered. They give better heat resistance and a decent grip too. I also like the kevlar sleeves with a thumb hole for my hammer hand... gives me some protection against hot scale that likes to stick on my sweaty hammer arm and burn it's way in. United Glove makes both of these products but I don't know where to send you for a dealer probably you could ask them (I bought mine at BAM conference tailgate sale).
United Glove Co.

[EWCTool]

My roommate played baseball and whenever he got a new bat he would take athletic tape and wrap it around the handle, saying it gave him better grip. I tried the same thing on the handles of my hammers and it has really helped. It gives me a lot of extra grip and control, not to mention it helps in preventing blisters too. It works for me.

[Sam Thompson]

I wouldn't deliberately feel for callouses but I find men with soft hands a bit creepy, especially when combined with a limp handshake.

Apparently someone with hands like a wet fish didn't like that!

[Glenn]

take athletic tape and wrap it around the handles of my hammers and it has really helped. It gives me a lot of extra grip and control, not to mention it helps in preventing blisters too. It works for me.

Remove any factory coating or glaze from the handle then put a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits on the wood. Let it soak in and reapply as needed several times the first day, then daily for a week. Reapply as needed or any time the woods starts to look dry.

I use it here of all wooden handles, hammers, hoes, shovels, rakes etc etc. You can still slide one hand on the handle such as using an axe or sledge hammer, while still having the ability to grip the handle with the other hand. First time I used the mix was on a shovel handle followed by moving 2-3 tons of creek gravel onto a truck and then off loading the gravel in the driveway to build it up from the winter wear and tear. No blisters for the first time when repairing the driveway, so I was sold on the process. The rest of the tool handles were coated in short order.

Currently we use the mix on all the tools, applying the coating them spring and fall to keep them in good condition, or as needed due to use. YMMV. I guess that I should add that I still have callouses, just Mother Nature's was of looking out for out for us. (grin).


I have included the following as another member and I have discussed using Linseed oil at length.

From the MSDS Sheets
SKIN CONCTACT ACUTE EXPOSURE EFFECTS: None known.
CHRONIC EXPOSURE EFFECTS: None known.

Another MSDS
Potential Acute Health Effects: Hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion. Slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant, permeator), of inhalation.
Potential Chronic Health Effects: CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. TERATOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available.
DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available. Repeated or prolonged exposure is not known to aggravate medical condition.


From the net
Raw Linseed Oil
"Raw" linseed oil is just that - linseed oil mercilessly squeezed from flax seed and packaged with no additional additives or preservatives. It is 100% pure, non-edible and slow-drying. Raw Linseed Oil helps wood retain its natural moisture content which retards cracking, checking, shrinking, and aids water repellency.

Boiled Linseed Oil contains driers to speed film drying and hardness. Linseed oil without this additive can take over a week to dry. Enhances brushing and leveling when added to oil based paints. Linseed Oil is a yellowish oil extracted from the seeds of flax and used as a drying oil in paints and varnishes and in linoleum, printing inks, and synthetic resin.

"Boiled" linseed oil, though, is not boiled. The actual boiling of some varnish oils changes their drying characteristics. With linseed oil, though, it is the addition of certain solvents that causes linseed oil to dry more quickly, acting as if it were boiled. This makes it a better product for preserving tool handles, decks, and furniture. I suppose they should have named it "sort-of-boiled linseed oil", or "kinda-like-boiled-but-not-really-boiled linseed oil". Boiled Linseed Oil is used as a natural wood finish and preservative, either alone or with other oils and solvents. Mixed with oil based paints and varnishes, it increases gloss and improves leveling and durability. A mixture of 2 parts boiled linseed oil to one part turpentine creates a semi-gloss wood polish for furniture. Can also be mixed with mineral spirits.

Most important hazards:
Risk for spontaneous combustion if linseed oil is absorbed by porous organic material (cotton waste or rag). This oxidation, which give rise to heat can happen even at room temperature, but raised temperature increases the risk.