John Martin Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Do you wear gloves, do you not? DO you only waer gloves for one hand? Do you cut the cuffs off? Do you special order left or right handed? What is the best type of glove material to wear? I wear gloves, on my left hand only. I've cut the cuffs off my gloves. Where can you special order them? And what is the best material you can wear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebear Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 i only wear gloves if i'm worknig a very very large piece with a relativly short "handle" if my hand is 4 feet from the heat then i don't bother with gloves at all. if my hand is 6" from the heat then i wear a leather glove of my right hand. (i'm left handed so i hold the metal with my right hand) so much of the time i don't use gloves because 1. they get in the way and they inhibit my artist and craftmanshipish feel for the steel. and 2. i have long enough tongs that i don't need them most of the time. Son daughtry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat pete Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 If you wear gloves i have heard you wanna wear 100%cotton. Any type of plastic can melt on to you ...no fun! 99% of the time I do not wear gloves. Randy McDaniels has been tellin everyone not to try the kevlar type cause they melt also. If you are wearing gloves they should be able to come off super easy.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I try to only wear gloves when my hands are cold. If a piece is too hot to hold I should be holding it a different way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I use the bare knuckle method of forging. No-cuff gloves available if needed or when handling materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I use a piece of leather cot off the bottom of my apron (Cos I'm a shortie) about 9" long by 5" wide with a slit cut at one end to fit over my wrist. It can easily be flipped out of the way so I can use my bare hand on whatever I am holding. Works right or left hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Martin Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 I have handle any longer pieces of steel than like 8in. The scale and sometimes yellow hot pieces fly off onto my left hand, so I've started wearing a glove on my left hand to limit those annoying burns. I have had in two months, third degree burns on my fingers, caught a piece of steel. Not thinking. Duh. And multiple pieces of melted steel that have burned into my arms and hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P. Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 At Mr. Periwinkle's Academy for Young Gentlemen, we were taught not to use gloves, as it indicated a deficiency either in your ability to control your heat, or in your ability to use tongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easilyconfused Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I'd suggest 100% cotton gloves. I'm a hypocrite though and do use leather welding gloves because my dad got a couple 55 gallon drums worth when the welding shop closed down in town. They're usually because of cold metal not hot and only on my tong hand. One problem with leather gloves is they shrink when hot and keep the heat in as well as they keep them out. Translation, you're trying to pull of a burning hot glove that's shrunk on before you felt it get hot but it keeps getting hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I wear cotton mill gloves only when necessary but never on the swinging arm when I'm hammering - too easy to lose the grip on the handle. Cotton really seems better than most any leather glove I've tried. Most of the time, I work bare handed - when you develop a habit with gloves, it's easier to burn yourself in that moment of being absent minded as your subconscious mind gets lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GVR-4579 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I only wear gloves when i need to and then i will use leather welder's gloves. I make sure they can come off fast and i usually have 2 pairs or so sitting near so that if one gets hot i can switch it out for a cool one, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchmancreek Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 No gloves...if it's too hot to hold, use tongs ( you have 20 or 30 pairs hanging there don't you?). If sparks/scale/flux/etc fly up and burn your poor little hand just suck it up until you get done hammering...it's part of the job. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian C. Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I only wear a glove on my tong hand when I have a very short work piece and the gasser cranked up producing a lot of the dragons breath-rarely. I agree with Hollis, never on my hammer hand for the same reason. Don't ask how I learned this the hard way. Getting a hot glove off is almost as much fun as trying to get a shoe off that caught a hot piece-no low quarter shoes either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 sometimes yellow hot pieces fly off onto my left hand You might be a blacksmith if the burn marks and scars on your arms make you look like a dalmatian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J W Bennett Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I always have at least one pair handy but I rarely wear gloves and when I do it's on the tong hand. However we had a gentleman take glove advise to the extreme on this forum about a year ago and he burnt his hands real bad. If your are feeling discomfort or pain you need to do something different. Learn better tong control...Tongs take practice just like any aspect of smithing, use gloves, weld a handle on or leave the stock longer. "Sucking it up" and being macho won't make the peeling skin and blisters hurt any less. If you feel you need to wear a glove or gloves that is your choice. Don't get hurt because "the others don't use gloves". Sorry, I'll step off my soap box now. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Jim Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I wear leather welding gloves when I feel the need. Usually only on my tong hand, but I might were them on both if I am doing something like twisting with a short wrench. Basically if I have the hand close to the hot metal. I try to never wear a glove on my hammer hand though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I always start students out bare handed, and if you feel the heat - turn it loose !! If you wear gloves and depend on them to protect you from the heat, when the heat gets to where you live and you pull away from the fire, all the heat from the outside of the glove is still traveling to the inside. YOU WILL get more heat before you can get the glove off your hand. Wet gloves will give you a steam burn before you can get the glove off your hand. If heat from the forge, or hot metal, on your hand is the problem tongs are the answer. Ask Mr. Lincoln to provide his blessing and weld a piece of metal to the stock your heating as a handle. It will not slip off, fall off, or get loose, and you can make it what ever size is needed to fit your hand, and what ever length is needed to keep you away from the fire. Just break the weld and touch it with a grinder when you want to remove the handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Don't like gloves. They encourage sloppy habits. Or so some of the oldtimers I've met say. On the other hand( the one with the tongs) I do use a glove now and then when punching or drifting. Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcraigl Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Some of my chisels, punches and chasing tools are a little on the short side and when using them I have no problem with either a welding glove or a cotton hot mill glove. Otherwise, most of the time I think folks are right, if your hand is getting warm, you need to think about tongs, or periodically quenching the non-worked end of your stock. There are times when forge welding when some protection on the hammer hand would be nice, but haven't found anything suitable that doesn't imprede hammer control.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Martin Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 I use tongs, but i use short vise-grips for smaller pieces. Thank-you for all of the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnie Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 I never wear gloves at the forge. I prefer the feel of the metal and tools in my bare hand. I also had a steel splinter surgically removed from my left hand years ago. The splinter was sticking through the artery leading into the thumb. The splinter was a projectile from a punch with a mushroomed head. I no longer use poorly maintained tools.[stuff WILL happen] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latvius Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 I use a kevlar glove on my left hand and sometimes a cotton glove on my hammer hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayco Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 There are those awkward pieces of a certain size that I sometimes use a glove on the left( I'm right handed)hand to hold them at the anvil. Say....something in 1 inch round.....18 inches long. To me , that size is just a bit unwieldy with tongs...I prefer to use my my bare hand to hold that size, but after a couple heats, the end I'm holding starts to get a little hot to handle. You know how that residual heat is in a larger piece...you can quench it in water to cool, only to have the heat return seconds later. So in those kind of situations, I opt for a glove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 That is the very reason I like two forges. My project was heating 16 inches of 1-1/4 x 1/4 flat bar to form the end. The small forge has a fire pot that is 4 inches diameter and 3 inches deep. It will heat a length of metal about 4 inches long. You could hand hold the metal for 4-5 heats and it would be luke warm. The BIG forge is 13 inches in diameter. By the time one end of the metal (same project) was hot enough to forge, the other end was too hot to hold. It is not always the gloves and tongs that make the difference, sometimes it is the type and size of the fire. (Both fires were at yellow heat) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainsFire Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 I use cheapo leather gloves, thicker the better and only on my right hand, and only if its to hot to hold by hand. I like the feel of steel in my hand and really hate the feeling of the gloves overheating and cooking your hands.. Im a left too.. so I only use a right handed glove for the steel.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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