Safety Gloves

[niemeyjt]

Who wears them in the workshop - always / sometimes / never?

Issues - what do people think of issues of sepsis safety vs loss of grip and sensations?

So, what do people think? Recommendations?

 

[Orraloon]

Sometimes would be my answer. I use gloves for a few things but they are not safe around woodworking machines. Spinning cutters can catch the glove and pull your whole hand in. Same goes for loose clothing or anything else that can get caught. Think about the job you are about to do and whether gloves will help or make things worse.
Regards
John

 

[Bumble]

I wear gloves in the winter but this is because it's minus eight degrees and just touching steel tools is like handling a ball of red hot needles! I need to take them off and put them on again for perhaps seventy percent of tasks; I find bare hands are needed for dexterity and sensation for those.

I use gloves with very thin rubber on the palm side and a breathable fabric on the back of the hand.
Not dissimilar to these

The jack russell that is the trimmer/router tried to bite my finger once; luckily it was one of the times I was wearing the gloves and mostly all it got was a mouthful of rubber.

 

[Seascaper]

Hello,
I often wear a pair of leather close fitting gardening gloves, especially when drilling metal. I have cut myself several times on the metal when brushing aside the swarf.
I can well recommend them.
Regards

 

[Bingy man]

Depends on the job in hand , biggest issue for me is most cause my hands to sweat which is not pleasant or healthy. I learned from an early age that cold steel in the middle of winter is not kind to your skin so waterproof and breathable are important. A recent thread about using gloves / woodworking machines a member recommended dirty rigger gloves which left the thumb, fore finger and index fingers uncovered but the rest of the hand covered so again dexterity is important picking up screws , and nails or using a pencil. I like this design and have a pair for rough work and a pair for clean ( workshop use )

 

[kinverkid]

Depends. I wear gloves similar to Bumble's above most of the time. I have neuropathy in my fingertips so a loss of feeling from wearing them is not an added problem. I'm used to wearing them and I keep a pair in most jackets and aprons. I now keep tweezers in various locations around the workshop (like some of us do with pencils) to make handling fiddly bits easier. Also, touching something cold is like holding a frozen turkey for a couple of days a week after my medication day so they are also for comfort. I wear rubber-faced Kevlar-type gloves for handling used/rough timbers like pallets and anything with nails protruding. I have also had close calls while wearing them where the glove suffered rather than my hand.

 

[Phill05]

All my working life I have never worn gloves my hands hardened off to work metal, wood and stone work they got cut, trapped, scared in many ways and I was told by an old lady traveller that used to pick up some firewood when you have a cut put some Aloe Vera on it as soon as you can and it heals up very very quickly, I always did and she was right.
Now I am older I find I need gloves to keep warm.

 

[johnnyb]

I find rubber palmed gloves essential for grip on say the planer. But I require slip through on the saw(so no gloves). My hands can slip on wood without help. But all extras are a potential hazard especially around machines but the grip is important as well. I get them from home bargains branded spear and Jackson really cheap. Make sure ther a good fit and not baggy.

 

[Lons]

I wear gloves quite often, similar tight fitting type like the ones shown by Bumble, I buy them in packs from Costco and they last well. I don't use them when using the table saw, router table or lathe and am careful with other machines. You just have to be aware and use good old common sense.

 

[Sideways]

Never, never, never on rotating machinery unless, say, you are the helper taking cut stock off the outfeed of a tablesaw or planer and never near the blade.
Same for drills, wood and metal lathes, routers, etc, etc.
It's the risk of being snagged and losing more than a finger.
Leather gloves for wire brushing or angle grinding as you need something and they're less likely to snag like a fabric glove.
If you have a sensitivity to something, then PR88 barrier cream and or disposable nitrile gloves that will rip.

All that said, I like v tight fitting knitted kevlar cut resistant gloves for those handling tasks where you need some protection. Shifting metal and timber stock about.
"Hands - fingers - wrists" was a campaign at work (FTSE100 engineering co) for a few years. These account for a significant proportion of industrial injuries. Proper methods with proper tools helps a lot. Broadly, PPE is there as the last defense when something else has gone wrong.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Use in a workshop is limited, but I use these - they wear quite well and are cheap enough to throw away when dirty. You don't lose much feeling, they're quite lightweight.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BXD8VKKX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Amplidyne]

Use in a workshop is limited, but I use these - they wear quite well and are cheap enough to throw away when dirty. You don't lose much feeling, they're quite lightweight.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BXD8VKKX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks, I've ordered some of those, I was getting near the last pair I had.
Never wore gloves at all, but I do these days. Nitrile for oily jobs, similar to those above for handling and general use.
Saves lots of small cuts and abrasions.
Not around any rotating machinery though as already said. Nor any rings, watches, bracelets, long sleeves or long hair.
Something that certain TV presenters might need to be aware of.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I found them brilliant for the money. I used to rely on a manual wheelchair when out and they wore well enough - my hands aren't soft, but you pick up minute glass splinters in your palms from the wheels. I use nitrile ones for filthy jobs - they're ideal for spreading PU adhesive with your hands/fingers - just chuck them away.

 

[TRITON]

but they are not safe around woodworking machines. Spinning cutters can catch the glove and pull your whole hand in.

This is very true, but why are your hands that close to the cutters in the first place ? TBH here, for a glove to catch, your hands in going to have to be millimeters from the cutters, so the suggestion is something that has gone through something like Chinese whispers and safe practise has become a dont do it scenario where the actual HSE advice has become lost.

I would say people wearing baggy woolly jumpers is more of a problem and safety issue.

The only advice the HSE gives on gloves and woodworking machinery i can find is not around bench drills. I would also say that they wouldnt expect gloves not to be worn around cutter machines as you should be feeding properly, be using guards and not have your hands that close to any cutter as would present a safety risk

So i think this is a fallacy, and work gloves are safe to wear when machining on machines where you are feeding long sections. Grip is improved, and it is difficult to feed a big board through something like a moulder without your hands slipping on the timber. Especially if its been surface planed, as the finish is very smooth and slippy.

They also prevent cuts, abrasion and in particular splinters, which can contribute to down time, and on some timbers like African hardwoods like Wenge(or any), splinters are poisonous, causing infection, which again leads to downtime.

That said, sleeves should also be up.

But despite all, I would look to seek out exact HSE recommendations on glove use, possibly by email, as again the only real info i can see concerns rotating machinery like drills and lathes, and in the engineering side.
Again advice on machines like spindle moulders, surface planers and table/crosscut saws is you dont come that close to the blades, or you shouldnt as that would constitute bad practise.

Of course i would think if you are machining small components, then hand ppe would not be appropriate .
https://books.hse.gov.uk/gempdf/L25.pdf

 

[Etaf]

i wear various gloves depending on use
Leather garden gloves (gaunlets) for Brambles roses etc
Building type gloves for most otherthings
Special gloves with chainsaw
Padded gloves with the Recip saw - get a lot of vibration on it - maybe a fault version

When using other tools , like drills , mitre saw, circular saw, planer, jigsaw - NO

 

[Inspector]

I wear anti-vibration gloves (Impacto Air Gloves) when using tools that vibrate or my fingers tingle and go numb. Routers, all hand held sanders and grinders, etc. While working at all other machines no gloves. One of the guys in our turning club showed up at a meeting with a big bandage on his right hand. He was wearing cotton gloves Cold in his garage I think) while sanding inside a bowl when it caught. It ripped a 40mm diameter patch of skin off the back of his hand.

Pete

 

[Katomi woodsmith]

Gloves.
Depends on how and why
Handling rough wood, load in load car... heavy leather cloves, high wrist
Feeding the wood thicknesser, as above
Fine close work with knives, chisels
No cut gloves (grade 5)
Cold day to day, de ice car..... anything waterproof and warm
Glue, petrol, oils, other liquids etc that are not good for the skin...
Non latex skin tight.
Re the post about cutting hands clearing metal shavings etc
When I left school I went into marine engineering.. my tutor gave me a 2 inch paint brush to use instead of my finger to clear tools.
As he said
“You can buy a new brush. You only get given one set of fingers. If you are lucky.
The latter part of the statement is because I am from the time (1960’s) when babies were being born with a number of deformed limbs or missing limbs

 

[Doug71]

A couple of weeks ago I got a pair of those safety gloves which have the break sections in the fingers to try, if they get caught on anything the fingers just pull off rather than dragging your hand in.

The thing to remember is when removing them to roll them off, don't try pulling them off by the thumb........at least I know they work

I have Raynaud's so could do with wearing gloves more this time of year but the thinner ones don't seem to help and I can't work in thicker ones, and before anyone suggests fingerless gloves they seem to make my finger tips even colder.

 

[carpenteire2009]

I've never seen those Uvex safety gloves before, they're a great idea! I have never worn gloves when using any tools or machinery with a spinning blade- I've watched enough of those horror warning videos on YouTube. That said, I'm a big fan of gloves when needed. I especially like those 3M fabric type with the rubber palm and fingers, they still allow a great deal of dexterity and feel for whatever material your handling. I use black nitrile gloves when painting, handling a lot of solvents etc, they're cheap and I'll get multiple uses out of a pair before they get holed. I've a really nice pair of leather gardening gloves for outdoor work and if I had been wearing them in Spring of this year I wouldn't have got a badly infected finger from a bramble thorn! Lost a finger nail due to that infection so I always wear gloves for gardening now!

 

[bp122]

I have about 36 pairs of the safety gloves shown in mainly 2 different types. The red ones are light cut (thinner but more flexible) and some green ones (thicker but less flexible) Some have been modified with index fingers cut off for specific tasks.

So depending on the job, I'm always wearing one or the other type.

I have poor circulation in my hands and also my skin is verrrry sensitive, so to avoid washing it a 1000 times, I do wear them whenever I'm in the workshop (hot or cold weather) EXCEPT when my hands are going to be too close to a drill press or my old table saw (BAD IDEA and was taught by our workshop technicians in 2 different companies I worked for)

I can definitely say my fingers have been spared a ton of injury by wearing them. So I'm not going to stop.

I find it especially useful while planing as the likelihood of the plan slipping off my hand because it's sweaty is reduced and I could have nicks and cuts which were prevented. (I'm not talented with hand tools and I'm extremely clumsy, so I chose well with a hobby - what can I say!)