gloves?

[BHwoodworking]

does anyone wear gloves when they are woodworking?

i know i wear them on a site i help on because its - insert naughty word of choice - freezing.

but i don't in my workshop, because i have heard various horror stories involving them.

 

[Sideways]

Never when using powertools or machinery. Except the proper gloves for welding / grinding / wire brushing.
Better lose a finger than a hand, a hand than an arm ...

 

[Trevanion]

I'm a very wary user of gloves in the workshop, I will use them sometimes on the machines but if I think there's a high risk of getting caught I take them off. A lot of my work is power-fed through the bandsaw, 4-sided planer and spindle moulder so there isn't much chance of getting caught there, but there are times where I may or may not do things which some would consider dangerous and that's when the gloves come off. I like to wear Maxiflex gloves as they're quite resiliant and a good snug fit, I don't really find I gain any more grip but it does make certain tasks more bearable when handling timber and touching very cold cast iron mid-winter.

A very good friend of mine who I used to work with had a habit of getting clothes caught in machines despite having over a decade of experience. One time he wiped away shavings on a morticer while it was running and passed under the bit with a glove on which happened to get caught and pulled his hand up into the bit which left quite a nice gash on the back of his hand. Another time where he was EXTREMELY lucky, he was routing something while wearing a hoodie with pull strings which hadn't been tucked inside the hoodie and when he lifted the router off the work to move position his cord got inside the router cutting area and was bouncing off the cutter, that was probably one of the scariest things I ever saw first-hand and I still do not know why the cord didn't snatch, divine intervention perhaps?

Another funny time was with my old boss, who had a really manky old sweater full of holes and it was falling apart, one day he was using the surface planer when his sweater trailed across the table into the cutter and the next thing I saw was him standing there with only a collar left around his neck :lol:

 

[Steve_Scott]

hang on... let me just open my can of worms.....

I personally don’t wear gloves as I view their benefits generally are outweighed by the significant drawback that they can get caught up in power tools... but only when your hand is in a position that it should be in anyway. i.e. if I was stupid enough to put my hand near a spinning tool, if could make a bad injury worse but either way I’d be having a bad day!

 

[Trevanion]

but only when your hand is in a position that it should be in anyway. i.e. if I was stupid enough to put my hand near a spinning tool, if could make a bad injury worse but either way I’d be having a bad day!

I guess the difference is one would be a life-changing injury and another would be a career-ending injury. I could probably live with losing a finger but I'm not sure about a hand, obviously, my preference would be to lose neither.

 

[BHwoodworking]

ok

glad i am not the only one. its just i have seen one stupid **** of a youtube woodworker using gloves on a lathe..... how to loose a finger in one easy step.

 

[Rorschach]

I do use gloves quite extensively when working but I do take care depending on the machine as to what I do.

They have saved my hands from many injuries especially from sanding tools.

During the winter I wouldn't be able to use my (metal) lathe without them.

Like everything you need to be aware of what you are doing. One of the most dangerous tools to wear gloves around is a drill press, I don't use mine often but I take extra care if I am wearing gloves and I do have a dead mans switch for it.

 

[Jacob]

I use them a lot (riggers - half leather) especially with heavy stuff as they improve grip and reduce splinters. Obviously they wouldn't protect against cuts but my hands never go anywhere near the cutters or blades in the first place (2 push sticks!) Improved grip can be a major safety measure as some accidents happen just at the point of losing control

 

[Nelsun]

I'm in Shetland way up north so I know what it's like working in less than warm conditions. In the summer we only wear just the one jumper

I wear Irwin "carpenter" gloves (lightish but tough enough to stop splinters and with no thumb and bogie fingers so you can feel thimgs) most of the time. But I'll take them off when an unimaginable slip could see them dragged in to somewhere they wouldn't want to go. I think it's a matter of common sense and not being lazy to take them off when your inner voice says you should.

 

[That would work]

If I was moving a large quantity of rough sawn timber certainly, otherwise I can only think it bizarre that anyone would ever wear gloves for woodworking? ?? #-o

 

[Jacob]

If I was moving a large quantity of rough sawn timber certainly, otherwise I can only think it bizarre that anyone would ever wear gloves for woodworking? ?? #-o

Not all the time but sometimes better grip = better control, especially with heavier pieces.
If someone was stupid enough to get their hands so near a cutter that it'd catch the gloves wouldn't it just cut the glove first?
I doubt these tails of gloves snatching your hand into a machine. But if that's what they reckon then don't wear them, or if they do then do use two push sticks.

 

[Trevanion]

I doubt these tails of gloves snatching your hand into a machine.

I've seen it with my own two eyes as described above, without the glove it would've been a far smaller nick compared to the gaping hole opened in the top of his hand.

Skin cuts easily, thick gloves not so much, they get pulled in along with your hand.

 

[Roland]

As I get older I tend to wear gloves to protect my hands when moving things. However not when using machine tools. There is one exception. When turning wet yew I wear surgical gloves to avoid having hot toxic sap sprayed on my skin.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I only have heavy duty gloves, for heavy duty work. I couldn't operate machinery with them, or hand tools. I also often do a Michael Jackson impersonation and just wear the one: hold the tool with an ungloved hand, and hold the thing to be hit/cut with a gloved hand. That would be for tree pruning (ungodly sharp pruning hand saw) and cleaning the twigs off sticks with a machete - both of which can hurt if you get it wrong. I have a vast number of orphaned right hand gloves, and all the left hand gloves are full of holes. It's annoying. I am currently wearing one red and one yellow glove, which is a striking fashion statement.

Why do gloves only last a few days, before they fall apart? Probably my fault for using them...

 

[Marineboy]

I like thin gloves when I’m using hand tools. Saves a lot of those annoying nicks, scratches, grazes etc which I seem to collect when I’m doing stuff.

 

[Jacob]

I doubt these tails of gloves snatching your hand into a machine.

I've seen it with my own two eyes as described above, without the glove it would've been a far smaller nick compared to the gaping hole opened in the top of his hand.....

Difficult to prove and hands shouldn't have been that near in the first place.
But maybe it's conducive to safety overall, to have people exchanging horror stories about accidents, real or imaginary!

 

[Doug71]

A chap near me had a terrible accident because of wearing gloves. He worked on old planes (type that fly) and was using his gloved hand to slow a spinning shaft down quicker, something he had done hundreds of times. This one time the glove somehow just got caught in itself, it tightened up ripping out a finger with some of the tendons and nerves behind it. He now doesn't have full use of his arm.

I find it horrifying how your whole life can be changed in a split second.

 

[wallace]

I always wear gloves, the really snug ones that help grip. I have whitefinger and without gloves I wouldn't be able to touch metal. I wouldn't use rigger gloves for anything other than grunt work.

 

[Jacob]

A chap near me had a terrible accident because of wearing gloves. He worked on old planes (type that fly) and was using his gloved hand to slow a spinning shaft down quicker, something he had done hundreds of times. This one time the glove somehow just got caught in itself, it tightened up ripping out a finger with some of the tendons and nerves behind it. He now doesn't have full use of his arm.

I find it horrifying how your whole life can be changed in a split second.

Well that sounds believable and would prove that gloves improve grip, but not necessarily when you want them too!
But the main lesson is that he shouldn't have been slowing down a machine using his hand as a brake, even if previously done safely hundreds of times. An accident waiting to happen.

 

[AJB Temple]

The horror stories do worry me, but a lot of the time I do wear close fit elasticated gloves. I am allergic to wood tar (it brings on Eczema) and my skin cracks easily so when handling wood I find it better to minimise contact or to make sure I wash my hands well from time to time. I don't think there is any real risk with my machines as I don't put my hands near the blades. I don't use gloves on the lathe or pillar drill.

I suspect in the last 10 years I have become much more careful and risk averse.