Dangerous Gloves

[Randy]

I know a lot of us in the forging world wear gloves when hot hammering. Here's some things to be aware of. I see a lot of newer smiths using welding gloves. I think you lose a lot of hand control with that type of glove because your hands can't move in them very well therefore you have less control of what you're doing and less of a good grip of the work piece. That could be dangerous.

Kevlar gloves are one of the most dangerous gloves for forgers of hot metals. Their specifcations state that they are good up to 900 to 1300 degrees F. depending on the type you buy. Our forging is done from 1796 to 2426 degrees F. So maybe they're okay to hold the end of a warm bar, but isn't that what tongs are for? I tried them once. I was doing a forge weld and the hot flux came back and landed on the back of the glove and the glove melted into my skin! One of the worst burns I've ever had!

You've seen those dots on the gloves that are supposed to create more grip? Well, those are plastic and melt at a low temperature. I've seen guys using them and the dots start to slide and goop across the top of the hot steel. They are a burn waiting to happen.

When I started to learn how to forge weld I did one after another for one job after another. Only problem I had was getting burned from the hot flux and scale. So I started using the brown jersey gloves. These have worked good for me as they are light enough that I still have hand control of the hammer and tongs, they are 100% cotton so they don't melt and they are cheap. Some complain that they are slippery and don't have a good grip. True. So when I first buy them I throw them in the washing machine and wash them and then dry them in the clothes dryer. Now I have a good grip. One must be careful today as many of the manufacturers are adding synthetics, in other words plastic that melts with heat to them. So make sure they are 100% cotton. There is usually a tag inside of one glove that tells you this. Seems like Lowes and Home Depot have gone to the synthetic cotton gloves. The only place around here that I can get the 100% cotton ones is at Grainger's. Being an ABANA member that means we get a discount there. I just bought a dozen of them today for $5.16 plus tax. So $0.43 a pair! That's pretty hard to beat. They make good rags when they wear out, too.

I hope you keep these tips in mind for what ever glove you wear while forging.

[HWooldridge]

Welding gloves are also bad because they can shrink to your hand when hot - the leather will bind up and cause a bad burn before you have a chance to get shed of them.

The 100% natural cotton mill gloves which are double thickness (they have a liner and an outer mitt) work well for me. It's easy to dip one in the slack tub if things get warm enough that my hands start smoking. Only drawback is they can't be allowed to soak up any grease or oil as they will burn.

[Yetti]

I use a solid wool hot glove. it great up to about 900F of so. I have blown holes in them using my mig welder when a hot gets up on the back of them though

[Marksnagel]

Good advice all on the gloves. As a common practice I have stopped wearing any gloves unless a specific job requires it. Like Randy said, thats what tongs are for. But sometimes a glove is needed.

I would not re-wear a glove that I dipped in the quench tank until it is completely dry. As a firefighter I know that if there is no moisture barrier or a broken barrier in a glove and it is wet and introduced to heat then a steam burn is in order. Not fun. This also means not to use a glove that has a water/moisture barrier as it is most often a plastic liner between two layers. Once it gets hot and melts, it is trashed.

Mark <><

[HWooldridge]

Good advice all on the gloves. As a common practice I have stopped wearing any gloves unless a specific job requires it. Like Randy said, thats what tongs are for. But sometimes a glove is needed.
I would not re-wear a glove that I dipped in the quench tank until it is completely dry. As a firefighter I know that if there is no moisture barrier or a broken barrier in a glove and it is wet and introduced to heat then a steam burn is in order. Not fun. This also means not to use a glove that has a water/moisture barrier as it is most often a plastic liner between two layers. Once it gets hot and melts, it is trashed.
Mark <><

Oh, I agree completely - only took one steam burn to convince me. I don't wear them wet but have caught them on fire and been forced to extinguish in the slack tub. I have several pair and put on dry ones as necessary.

[jmccustomknives]

I use Tilman 1415 drivers gloves (kid skin) with cotton jersey gloves as liners. They give me tactil feel to do some more delicate work but insulate against hot/cold as good as a premium pair of welding gloves. They are loose enough to sling them off if needed.

[ptree]

I am fond of the cheap leather palm gloves, about $1.00 a pair by the dozen from my mill supply house. They are good for cut resistance when moving metal around the shop. I wear a glove only on my tong hand. I do not wear gloves to hand hammer, but will sometimes wear gloves to strike as part of a team on bigger projects to protect from radiant heat, especially when moving a big billet.
The leather palm gloves are slingable if they get hot, and thin enough to feel the heat and get them off before they shrink.

I also have some sample leather palm, Kevlar back gloves and when new they are pretty good, but the leather twists and you soon have no leather on the finger grip surfaces, just kevlar. I think I really do prefer the leather palm.
At the big upset forge shop I I worked as Safety guy, we used hot mill gloves of pure cotton. Only fair in heat resistance, poor at cut resistance and the bulk made for a harder grip on the porter bars when working and increased fatique and risk of ergonomic injury. I trialed Leather palm gloves, the guys loved them and we had no increase in burns in the 2.5 years after we switched.

[Francis Trez Cole]

for years I have used welding gloves with no problems. and I ware them on my tong hand and when holding punches. Expansive or cheep it dose not matter the last about the same amount of time.

The gloves I would worn about are these new mechanic's gloves those things melt very fast even though they say leather, I was peeling harden plastic off my hand and it sucks. I was looking for a light glove to help with the grip here in Florida it gets very hot and sweet can be a issue. So back to the welding gloves I ware out the left hand and have a stack of right hand glove on the shelf.

[Tran]

I have used this formular and found it to 'work as advertised'. Try it before before using, as it might not work for you.
"Flame Resistant" mix 4 ounces of Boric Acid, 9 ounces of borax with one Gallon of Water. Soak the cotton or other simular type of material gloves, cotton pants, apron in the mixture. Dry before using. This not fire proof, but it will withstand flame for an reasonable amount of time.

[Frank Turley]

In horseshoeing school in the early 1960's, we did not wear gloves, period! For horseshoe forge work, we would constantly change the tong hold on the shoe to get the bends in different areas of the shoe. A gloved hand would have been a detriment. When not in the forge, we would be handling pulloff pincers, hoof nippers, nail nippers, clinch cutter, driving hammer, clinch block, and rasp. Most all of us in school got blisters. Our instructor, 'Dick' Dickenson, hollered at us, "You're all going to get blisters and then blisters on top of the blisters until you get hard hands!" That's what happened. When I was on my own, another shoer, Tex Shiveley, told me to wear thin, deerskin gloves in the winter time, which I did. If the gloves were not thin, you would lose your sensitivity to the work.

I guess my point is that I never started with gloves, so they weren't thought about much. Later, when I started blacksmithing in a shop situation, I continued without gloves unless I was working heavy iron at the power hammer or perhaps taking a bodacious forge weld. My current pair are plain leather work gloves. When I'm through with the work that requires them, off they come.

If you get used to holding warm iron with gloves, some day you will pick up hot iron with that same bare hand. Oh, yes! Also, if your glove gets really hot from grabbing iron, you'll move like you've never moved before trying to shake that glove off.

An old friend had a chance to work in a multiple man shop in England, and he showed up on the first day wearing his new apron and gauntlet type gloves. The foreman of the shop took one look and said loudly, "In England, we don't wear gloves!"

You may have surmised that I'm not a big fan of wearing gloves for everyday work of a moderate size.

P.S. Keep the glove away from the tool rest and grinding wheel.

[HWooldridge]

I don't wear gloves for everyday work but they tend to help with foundry (required), electric welding (required) or large power hammer work (optional). They are a bad idea around any type of machine tool, with spinning cutters and such.

[oakwoodironworks]

I tend to agree with Mr. Turley. I perfer not to wear gloves when forging and usually do not use them when using a coal forge because I have better control of the heat. Not so when using my gas forge which I do alot because of ease of use, etc. Even when using tongs, I find it necessary to wear a glove on my tong hand to keep from burning myself form getting to close to the "Dragon's Breath" coming out of the forge opening.

[dimenickel]

I would say " use the appropriate protection for the job "
I've used welding gloves, or leather gloves for 12 years... if you make a living with your hands ..take care of them..

... take a month off work cause you've gotten a very bad burn.... who's gonna make the mortgage payments ????? (don't worry the banksters will understand ... hah )

[Old N Rusty]

Only Mustang brand T.I.G. welding gloves are big enough for my hands ALL other brands "large" is just too small, I got big hands! When electric welding, or using the gas forge and power hammer I wear gloves, I never have gloves on when forging at the anvil.

[ramsies11]

i might be the odd one out, but i DO wear leather welders gloves when i forge. and, on occasion, i put on a jersey glove before i put on the leather. i still keep a GREAT grip on the hammer and the work. after about 8hours of countinuous forging, i end up burning out the stitching on my left glove.....anyone wanna buy some right handed gloves? lol

[Private Entrance]

I burned out the stitching on my left hand glove (leather), too - right at the base of the thumb/forefinger. I re-stitched it with waxed cotton thread, and it seems to be holding up pretty well, but I'm not using a glove so much as I was before. Pretty much just for punching/slitting, etc.

[Larry H]

I too started shoeing horses in the '70s, no gloves, still, no gloves, only for special occasions, for the non hammer hand. Like Frank said...your hands toughen up

[pkrankow]

Some places sell left only welding gloves you know.

Phil

[Dabbsterinn]

i mostly use leather gloves made by norhand, I get them from time to time from my dads workplace, they're thin, strong and resist heat rather well, only problem is the seams tend to burn apart if you're not careful, often at the fingertips so you don't necessarily see it, i figured that out the hard way, but i highly recommend them, good strong gloves and will last a long time if properly taken care of

as for the wrist thing, it is possibly to shake them off, it just takes a bit of a force to get them off, i've actually just folded my sleeve over that to prevent burning coal from flying there, but only time will tell how well that works

[Glenn]

I prefer NOT to wear gloves when forging. I instruct others that if the metal gets hot - turn it loose.  If the metal is hot, then use tongs.

 

I use the $1.00 a pair gloves any time there is abrasion or sharp edges. I ALWAYS cut the cuff off. That way if the glove gets snagged it leaves your hand before you get a chance to take action.

 

Welding gloves are worn if I am welding. Protect from the heat, abrasion and sharp edges.

 

No matter what glove is used be sure you can get out of the glove quickly.

 

Safety first. If the glove is wet (or not) and you grab a piece of hot metal that gets too hot to hold, turning loose and dropping the metal does no good. The heat from the metal is stored and still moves through the glove to your hand. This causes a more serious burn than is you were not wearing gloves and turn loose of the too warm to hold metal with no heat storage.

[Dabbsterinn]

well, i don't use gloves when working with power tools for that reason, I prefer wearing the gloves because my blower is a tad bit too powerful and it happens now and then that i get an eruption, and it's a habit of mine to have my left hand on the valve for immediate shutdown if i notice the top of the coal lifting, i know it's an accident waiting to happen, im working on fixing it. thanks for the safety tips though, they are well appreciated and shall be kept in mind 

[Bruno C.]

Simple $3 pair of leather-like purple/gray gloves. The cheap stuff, unless I'm in the money, then I'll go for the $7 Orange/Gray gloves.     Usually from Home Depot. Might last you a week if working pretty hard everyday.  Longer if under normal use.   Mine usually get a hole starting in the finger or in stitching where the thumb meets the rest of the hand.   When that happens, I'm either extra careful or get new gloves.   I consider them part of the expense of forging/working.  Welding gloves are nice, but too thick for any work that requires any sort of dexterity.  Great for hot stuff though, but you'll probably wear one out faster than the other.  I'd rather just cool the handle of whatever I'm working on.   Regular Joe Shmoe worker gloves work fine, especially for many of us keyboard blacksmiths.   Sometimes you use a glove, sometimes it's better if you don't, there is risk in everything. 

 

Overthinking stuff tends to lead to overly complex.

[Glenn]

This is the way I cut the cuff on my gloves. By looking it would seem they would just fall off but they actually are very stable and cover what is needed to protect the hand.

 

 

 

 

 

It only took one time of getting the cuff caught, and being thrown to the ground several feet away, to learn this trick. Your hands will still be protected just as before, but your hand will now come out of the glove with little effort.

Removing the cuff has saved my hands and hide from injury several times. Now all my works gloves (of this style) have the cuff removed before I use them.

It was noted by a couple of blacksmiths that they prefer the cuff left on the glove. One went on to say that it saved him from injury several times.

My use for the cuff removed glove has NOT been in blacksmithing (forging) but in handling materials such as steel, pallets, firewood, and other items where the cuff can become caught.

Try it both ways and choose for yourself. Just remember that it is your safety that is on the line, you decide what is best for your situation.

[Frank Turley]

...and yes, we've all used tongs, but on some jobs tongs are a pain. Who has not arc welded on a scrap-length handle to get their holding hand away from the heat? Better yet, for practice, forge weld on the extension.

[Ten Hammers]

Welding with 400 amp pluse mig you better wear gloves and be covered up.  At the forge, not for me.  Perhaps cotton gloves for an instance or 2.  Heat transfer on those is good and you know when you hot. Never on hammer hand though.