Dangerous Gloves

[Bruno C.]

This is the way I cut the cuff on my gloves. ....

...

It only took one time of getting the cuff caught, ....

 

Glenn,

 

WoW!.   That is great advice on the gloves.  I was just working with an Old 7" Wheel "Sander" as it's labelled, but I use it as a grinder, as well, as a cheap ryobi with an oversized cutting wheel on it.   While working, I had the thought, "The cuff of my glove is awfully close to that spinning wheel".    I hoped for the best.  But on a serious note, your method would relieve some of that worry.     I agree, it's not the best method when forging... but for other task's.. it can  resolve some probabilities for injury.     A few instances of Welder Burn, and one learns to cover up, or at least hide behind the glove.

 

BTW: Those are the exact Home Depot Gloves that are cheap and work Wonders for anything you are not willing to touch by hand.

 

-bruno

[DSW]

In general day to day work in construction I almost never wear gloves. The reason is I find most guys who wear gloves tend to think gloves will protect their hands from everything and tend to rip and snort their way thru stuff rather than use a bit of common sense and caution. Most of the times I've had things stuck thru my hand was when someone with gloves on was "helping" me. They'd grab a hold and just yank and not bother to see if the other guy was ready. I do tend to use them around really sharp materials like glass or sheet steel where just brushing against an edge can cut you seriously.

 

Welding I almost always use gloves. However I hate the typical heavy "welding" glove. Most of my gloves are thinner Tilman's. I tend to have small hands, so I have to order the models I prefer at my supplier in medium rather than the larges they typically stock. The smalls fit my fingers perfectly, but are a bit too tight in the palms, The super thin tig gloves in small do make feeding filler easier.

 

One issue I always have with students is that many of them try to cheap out and buy the mechanics gloves at the box store vs decent "welding" rated gloves. To many of those are nylon or some other non heat rated synthetic. Nylon gloves and heat don't play well together. It also never ceases to amaze me how many students can't be bothered to grab their weld coupons with the tongs the school has. They just reach over and grab the steel with their gloves. I walk in to help some one and they reach over and pick up the coupon and you watch their gloves immediately start to smoke  because the steel is so hot.

[Nobody Special]

People wear the kevlar gloves to forge in? That's nuts. I've melted those just changing barrels on the .50 cal. (stupidity on my part, and gotta watch wear ya put your hands....)

 

Not forging, but one of the worst shop injuries I saw was a guy that decided to use sandpaper on a rod in a lathe, holding it in his gloved hand. Got caught, wrapped around, and.......presto. They did manage to save most of the fingers eventually though......

[anvil]

I don't wear gloves. I am in the habit of checking any iron with the back of my hand.

I feel gloves are too dangerous. by the time you feel the heat, its too late to remove them and not get burnt.

if I'm not usong tongs, when I feel the heat, its time for a localized quench.

I feel I'm more aware of my situation this way.

[Admanfrd]

Leather works great for me. I can still feel, but it keeps the heat out and wont melt

[Frank Turley]

Old Spanish saying: "El gato con guantes no pesca ratones."

 

The cat with gloves catches no mice.

[Stefflus]

Back when I was working at the mill, clothes that were easily torn off in a snap was mandatory. For the hands this meant leather mittens, and for the feet it meant unstrapped, loose boots.

I'm still following the same general mindset, but last winter when doing some chisel work I was wearing a short glove on my tong hand when a little piece of charcoal erupted and got stuck, white hot, between the glove and the back of my hand. This resulted in an uglier crater burn than I've even gotten from the odd metal droplet that found it's way down into my clothes.

So now the gloves are off, and the chisels are longer.

[nuge]

Being a Wisconsin boy transplanted in the arid West I used to have huge problems with cracks in my hands, especially in the winter.  I mean I think I could sometimes see the bone.  I would rub all kinds of elixirs and jelly's and grunt it out through some pretty bad discomfort.  At the time I wore leather gloves, had no problem with them but would always remove them to do tactile tasks and my hands took a beating.  I started wearing the plastic coated cotton weave gloves, you know the ones in the hardware store, they look like they are dipped in blue plastic (surely they are).  I get the yellow ones from Harbor Freight for two bucks a pair.  You can do some fine motor maneuvers with these gloves, so I usually keep them on.   I know what is hot in my shop and i don't grab it.  I rarely get cracked skin anymore, seriously,  those things really helped me.  I don't like having plastic near my skin but it is a good trade off.

[Chestnut Forge]

In my first shop, really just a large shed. My buddy and me had a "Fatso" wood stove for the winters. Somehow I got tar on my gloves and needed to clean it off. I grabbed a can of acetone and kinda washed my hands with the gloves on. I put the up to dry and an hour later the palms were still a little bit sticky. So, being the genius that I am, I had the gloves on and stuck my right hand in the ash pit of the burning wood stove to cove the tar with ash. There was this noise, a WHOOMPF sound and my glove was in the very back of the stove. It seems the leather held enough of the acetone for combustion. The hair was gone off my are clear to my elbow. No burns but a lesson was learned.