Laertius Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Hello Guys and Gals, Long Time no post for me, but I still check out all the awesome advice and posts! So, Life has changed for me recently, in that I am now a medical student at the Northern Ontario School Of Medicine, and as such, my hands need to look and stay healthier than in the past: patients don't want a doctor with blacksmith hands, and open sores are a no-no for surgery scrub in etc. So, I am asking for advice on gloves: I have always been a no glove for smithing guy unless hot punching etc to protect the tool hand from burn. And before I went back to school I was able to keep my hand calluses up to a point where it took quite a lot to make a real mark -- Last time I went in the shop, I seemed to cut and scrape on everything as I have not done 'real' work in a few months -- white collar problems, sigh, I know ; ) I have Tig gloves and standard welding gloves - and they do those jobs well, but lack the dexterity needed for fine work and filling etc. will obviously not wear anything flammable, so looking for options that are similar to golf or baseball gloves (would these be my best options?). Looking for something that I can put on when I enter the shop and not take off till I leave. Amazon.ca is my main shopping centre, so any advice would be welcome. The main role of the gloves would be to protect from the 'light' abrasions. burns, cuts and scrapes we all get when we come back to the shop after a hiatus. thanks for any and all advice : ) Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmyiorn Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I'm not a big fan of gloves either but these are somewhere between leather and latex......in thickness. That company has several kinds that are similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Tough balance to meet there. I'd look into deerskin which the big company Wells Lamont has in it's standard line-up. I find it more supple and thinner than some other hides. It doesn't hold up as well as others may, though. I had a pair with elk hide way back in the dark ages and those were really nice but I don't think they are readily available these days. Goat is also OK but a little more variable. Cow is a little thick but you might be able to find the really cheap ones that are split very thin and consider them disposable. Pig is right-out IMHO. I personally hate all woven offerings so am not going to go muddy those waters. Others may love them. Any glove will definitely fatigue your hammer hand more. For me, it makes the hammer handle effectively larger and tougher to grip without fatigue. Because of that, it might be that addressing your hammer handles to make them a hair smaller and more grippy compensates for the glove problem. When working, I tend to wear gloves (roper style) for everything except hammering. To me it's like wearing shoes--you don't have to dance around like a pixie, worrying about every pointy thing or nasty black widow spider you might run into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Unless it's in your glove. Build a glove box that will keep wee little beasties out but let them dry between uses! (Of course up north there are fewer scorpions, black widows, brown recluses, etc that we have down where the winter is trivial. (Saturday is supposed to be 11 degF colder than Friday---down to 58 deg F!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laertius Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Late Reply -- but thanks for the suggestions... Will have some time off from school in March, so will let you all know how it goes when I get back in the shop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Dirt can be washed off. Try auto liquid or semi-liquid soaps (Go-jo, orange pumice cleaners, etc ) and when thoroughly worked in without water, then add liquid soap such as dawn etc. and work that in as well. Finally add water a little at a time until everything gets loose and rinse. Then get out the nail scrub brush and wash again like you were trying to get hospital clean. Should end up clean enough for finger foods. LOL If your hands are not in your pockets, cuts, abrasions, burns, calluses, etc, are a part of the blacksmithing process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I use gloves in the shop. Put them on when I start, take them off when I leave. They are leather fingerless gloves. Used to buy MMA leather gloves but then they started using synthetic stuff so had to change. Same with weight lifters gloves. Tried the bikies gloves and found them useless, lately found a supplier in the UK that sells fingerless gloves on e-bay for wheelchair guys. Work like a charm. Strong yet not bulky. I still use the big leather glove for forging or welding on the left. I do a lot of welding with MIG and use a long leather glove on the left, all the way to my armpit. Short thick leather glove for forging, the right hand is always only with the fingerless unless I have to manipulate a large hot piece. The fingerless gloves allow you to get in and out of the big gloves with no issues and when you take the gloves off you still have gloves on. Hammer handling with the fingerless glove is never a problem. Of course you still get dirty fingers and can burn yourself if you are not careful. To clean my hands I use citrus hand cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueRugger Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I currently follow most of the advice that Glenn provided. However, when I used to have to deal with the various self inflated egos of generals and politicians I used a product called 'Gloves in a Bottle'. I bought it in art supply stores where it is used by artists who work in graphite, etc. A quick web search revealed that it's now sold by everyone and their brother. Worked pretty good for me (in conjunction with the cleaning advice that others have provided). ....Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Back when I worked in the art restoration studio (lots of stains, pigments, dyes, etc), the thing that always got my hands cleanest was a three-hour martial arts class. Man, everything just sweated right out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 somehow the term "dirty fighting" comes to mind. I know I've had a disappointing week when I go for Communion on Sunday and my hands are *clean*! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Probably a dumb question, but you can't just wear disposible gloves when doing your doctor's work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Best home made hand's cleaner is washing machine powder mixed with sawdust. Rub your hands in it dry, then add a little bit of water at the time and keep on rubbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I also use a bit of borax from my forge welding flux stash to help soap along when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Comtois Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 I'm a safety guy at work - lots of our guys like Mechanix brand gloves. Thin leather palms and fingers, spandex on the back, tight fitting and decent dexterity. Not for heavy work, but they might work for filing, etc. Home Depot has them for sure, also Amazon (I just checked). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Laertius, You may have touched on this in your OP, but if you must use gloves use only leather or 100% cotton. Like welding, smithing lends itself to fire and sparks and...those can cause synthetics to melt to your skin if they catch fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 17 hours ago, arkie said: Laertius, You may have touched on this in your OP, but if you must use gloves use only leather or 100% cotton. Like welding, smithing lends itself to fire and sparks and...those can cause synthetics to melt to your skin if they catch fire. This is true of nomex and other flame resistant synthetics. They'll work well for flames but touching a thing that's very hot, 350f. or hotter will melt it and it gets REALLY sticky when melted. Deep frying your hide is a B -A -D thing. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Going off on a bit of a tangent, I've seen a number of knifemakers' videos showing them wearing surgical gloves while grinding etc. Obviously, there's limited durability on these, but I suppose it makes sense for keeping your hands clean and for keeping a decent grip on the steel when your fingers are wet from repeated quenching. Any thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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