new guy question about using gloves

[blacksmithtech]

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[HWooldridge]

I never wear a glove on my hammer hand but if I'm handling something that gets inordinately hot or is spattering me with scale, then I feel no shame in putting a light glove on my tong hand. I'm past my macho stage in life and have enough scars. :wink:

I think Jim would have agreed that protection comes first - however, you will probably be more comfortable not using gloves in most instances.

[JimG]

Worst burns I've ever received have been when I'm wearing gloves. Usualy from something getting in the back of the glove. I will on occassion wear a glove when holding a punch or something close to the hot metal. One reason given for avoiding wearing gloves is that it gets you in the habit of not checking if the iron is cold before you handle it. Rule number 1 in a blacksmiths shop? All iron is hot. How are you getting slag on your hammer hand? short handled hammer? I've had to remember to change my grip when holding tongs and forgewelding or I get a palm full of flux.

[bruce wilcock]

if you use gloves you will get burns and scalds frow damp gloves .we still use leather palms.made out if old welding coats and aprons,when we handle tongs that heat a run up when on largish jobs ,we have managed to convince the health and safty that they are unable to trap scale and dross against your skin ,and we olso use peices of leather just held on to warm bars to handle them

[Woody]

I personally wear gloves, loose fitting ones with big wide cuffs that I can flip off easily. Just remember that any kind of personal protective equipment is no substitute for common sense. Sometimes I only wear a glove on my right hand as I am left handed. They do help to protect you from the dragons breath of a gas forge. The worst burn I ever got was on the back of my right hand when a big piece of scale went into a pair of tight fitting gloves and instead of sticking my hand into the slack tub, I pulled the glove off. The scale stuck to the glove and gave me a heck of a burn about half inch wide and2 1/2 inches long.

Woody

[blacksmithtech]

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[Glenn]

I usually forge barehanded. When the metal gets too hot to hold, I turn it loose!

Gloves can be dangerous but can also be very useful. If the glove gets hot, turning loose of the hot metal will do no good as the heat is still coming through the leather toward your hand. You must remove the glove to remove the heat. Gloves can trap and contain hot slag, welding sputter balls, etc. Wet gloves can give you steam burns when they contact hot metal. On the other hand (pun intended), gloves are very helpful when protecting the hands from abrasion, cuts, UV from welding etc.

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I usually remove the cuffs from "work gloves". The glove still protects from abrasion, cuts, etc. but if the glove gets snagged, it can quickly be removed from the hand and with little effort.


Bruce,
Please post photos of leather palms made out if old welding coats or aprons, and the peices of leather just held on to warm bars to handle them.

[Marc]

I've been using some Kevlar gloves I bought from Enco for about $5. These aren't the big Kevlar gloves from Centaur. They look like terry cloth. but I found that they protect about the same as leather, except when you grab something too hot, just letting go is enough to get cold again. Leather seems to hold onto the heat as it starts burning and you need to shake the glove off as soon as you notice they're not protecting enough.

Also, these gloves have a knit cuff that can't trap scale. And they're flexible enough for TIG welding.

[Brian C.]

I do not wear gloves either as a rule. I tried a leather glove on my hammer hand one time and as it became worn and slicker, at one point the hammer came out of my hand & flew across the shop (could have been just bad beginner technique :oops: ). Like JimG, I often use a big weldors glove on my tong hand when holding a punch or chisel.

This is just my preference, your mileage may vary. 8)

[HWooldridge]

I forgot to mention that the gloves I use occasionally are cotton mill gloves, which are designed for hot work and won't shrink on your hand like leather can. You can also soak them in water if you need some extra cooling. The only disadvantage I've found is that they will catch fire easily if they get a little oil soaked so I don't use them for general use.

[yesteryearforge]

I usually wear a welding glove on my tong hand / I generally use shorter length tongs or sometimes large vise grips and havent had a problem with slag or scale getting in the glove and they come off with a flick of the wrist when needed. But it all comes down to common sense , even my wife uses hot pads or oven mits when something is too hot to hold barehanded and I would hate to think she is smarter than me or at least I would never admit it to anybody but her :lol:

[Don A]

Speaking of hot pads and oven mits, a friend of mine told me that he had bought a left-handed "Ov-Glove" (as seen on TV). He said that it was amazing how hot a piece you could handle with those things.

I'm personally too tight to buy one. I'd rather be burnt than to part with the $15.00.

[Strine]

I'm in the no gloves camp. I just reckon if I have a glove on I lose all sense of touch...I can't feel what's happening. Besides I don't reckon they would have protected me from the burn to my face nor the burn to my leg. :oops: Both those occasions were due to stupidity not lack PPE. Oh..and I wouldn't hear of glove wearing as a sissy thing to do. If the glove fits, wear it. (Has it really taken 12 replies for that to come out )

[bruce wilcock]

Glenn i will send pic of leather palmes ,but i have never been able to fathom out a way to get a pict on to the site,i would have sent som of the anchor forging if i had found a way

[Glenn]

Bruce, just post the text and send me the photos. I will place them into the text for you.

or you can put the photos on the IForgeIron.com/gallery, and I can pull them from there and put them into the text.

or place the photos on http://www.yourimg.com and then post the URL inside the text. I will pull the image and place it into the text for you.

The important thing is to get the photo into the post, not the process. The best size for the gallery and the forum is 400 pixels wide or tall which ever is greater. If you have problems, contact me directly.

[Daryl]

DO NOT WEAR GLOVES! However, I trust you are wearing safety glasses. If you have excess amounts of scale flying on to your hands, it means either you have a gas forge that is scaling the bejeepers out of the iron, or your coal fire is oxidising too much. In either case, correct the cause, not the condition.

Old German Blacksmith saying for those who pause and look at their work after pulling iron out of the fire, "If you want to think, be a priest; If you want to get something done, get hammering!"

[T-Gold]

I usually work with a gas forge, and I usually wear a loose plain leather glove on my left hand and nothing on my hammer hand. I found that if I wore a glove on my hammer hand it gave me a death grip on my hammer that caused rapid fatigue. The left glove is a must due to radiant heat from the gasser heating longer pieces of stock, and also to protect from dragon's breath. I can work without it, but why? If it gets hot, I hold it so the hot part is down and hanging away from my skin (hence, loose glove). If it's too hot for this to work, it's probably on fire, and I'll sling it into the slack tub. :)

[Glenn]

Careful about getting those gloves wet. Next time they get hot the water can turn to steam and you may get a steam burn.

[irnsrgn]

Well, I will have to go with the minority on this one. I most always wear a left handed glove, and only rarely wear a right hand one except in the winter time to keep my fingers warm, (frostbitten several times).

I will not wear those gloves with a cloth back or all cloth gloves as I have gotten some really bad burns from welding sparks and sparks and dross from the cutting torch and scale from forging starting the cloth on fire or burning thru the cloth. I use what is called a drivers glove that look similar to the ones Glenn has pictures off, except they have leather backs also. I usually wear the cuff out putting them on, and when part of it gets worn or torn away they get scrapped as in my opinion a glove without a cuff is one of the biggest hazards to burns I can imagine, next to not wearing one.

When you work with large hot things you are forging, (plowlays and mower blades) a glove is a must to keep from toasting your hand good and also when quenching the large hot object in the slack tub a gloveless hand invites a major steam burn.

I also almost always wear a glove on the left hand when drilling and expecially when grinding.

Just my opinion and I am sticking to it from expierience.

[Glenn]

The welding supplier locally has several types of "welding" gloves. There were two pair that caught my eye, one pair had the leather so thin and so soft that you could tell if a dime was heads or tails and then pick it up.


The second pair was more of the normal welding glove, but with an aluminumized foil backing to relfect heat. There was a 5x7 inch aluminumized foil backed pad with elastic straps beside them to use over your existing glove to reflect heat.

Carolina Glove Company is one source for gloves.

McMaster Carr is another source for gloves. Search for gloves or see page 1622 in their catalog for Welding & Heat-Resistant Gloves.

Gloves are designed in many different configurations for many different purposes. You just need to find the style glove that will work for you in your situation, and keep your hands safe from being injured or damaged. Then tell us. :wink:

[anvillain]

This subject has been thoroughly covered, but my 2 cents worth is: Sometimes I use em and sometimes I don't. On light work mostly I don't, but you can always stand more heat with a glove on. Mainly I do what seems right at the time and if I use gloves I feel absolutely no guilt, nor do I concern myself if great-great grandpa would have done so.

Anvillain

[CurlyGeorge]

I agree that wearing gloves to forge is a burn waiting to happen. I do wear a loose fitting glove on my left hand when forge welding a large item. But normally not for regular forging. I can tell better if the heat is getting too close to the end I'm hangin' onto, if I don't have a glove on there.

[RBrown]

i ware gloves most of the time the cheap leather ones from hf get about 10 for $6 or so they are loose enough that they will just flip right off if i get any slag in them or if you get something to hot and the glove gets to hot. I hardly ever get slag in the glove but it happens some time. As for grabing a peice of metal that is black but still sears the flesh (admit it we have all done it atleast once) I would much reather be waring a glove when that happens. I get allot less blisters and burns when waring the gloves than without and thats even when im not doing something stupid.

[civilwarblacksmith]

At BGCM we teach student to forge barehanded as we don't want to get used to wearing a glove then grabbing hot metal when they forgot to put the glove on. Down the road on their own if the choose to wear gloves is up to them. If the do, the glove need to be loose fitting so that if a spark falls into the glove it can be thrown easily.

I wear a pair of high welding glove on certain thing I might be doing. I normally forge barehanded though.

[ksb]

I was in the battery business for 29 years ( wholesale, repair, rebuilding, etc ). The first two or three years I didn't wear gloves ( and my hands showed it). So the rest of the time I wore every kind I thought would help - from dish washing to heavy lined rubber gloves and everything between. Sooo .. Im used to and comfortable working with gloves . I wear them almost all of the time in the shop. Another reason I seem to have developed a case of dermatitis. As I write this I have a crack on my left thumb that is sore and a large one on my right that really hurts. So gloves help protect my hands a little bit. I would really like to be able to work without them, but....
yeah - I wear gloves
KSB