Gloves in the Shop Rant

[Roger Turnbough]

Morning all,

I was reading up on a few days posts and came across an accident thread where the individual that was injured was wearing gloves while running a cutting machine.

Apparently he was lucky in the fact that no stitches were needed and he didnt lose any body parts, but, and thats a big BUT!!

He is extremely fortunate for not having lost his finger.

I worked in a Manufacturing environment for almost 5 years, (Caterpillar Tractor company) and ran a variety of tools. And working on any machine that put your hands in direct danger, or contact with spinning or rotating parts the wearing of gloves was completely forbidden. A motor with as little as 1/2 HP can severly maim or injure you. And they dont even realize that they have you all wrapped up they just keep trying to chug away at their designed task.

If you think its difficult trying to do wood working now, try doing it with a severly mangled or maimed hand or fingers. Leave your gloves in your back pocket, or on the bench when using these spinning cutting tools.

Its your choice, dealing with a few splinters occassionally, or living the rest of your life with a bum paw.

Sorry for the rant guys, just hadda get this out in the open.

Roger
South of Chicago

[Chris DeHut]

Ever since I have been involved with machinery (about 25 years or so), I have always been told and have always taught, "your arms should be naked from the elbows down". Sleeves, rings and watches can get caught in a variety of moving (and stationary) things, all of which have the potential for removing limbs.

Now I know some of you will see me wearing a ring in the video. I know this is wrong and if I could get the ring off, I wouldn't wear it in the shop. When I got married, I weighed 160 pounds, now, about 220, and yes fingers get fat too.

Chris DeHut
(west of Chicago)

[thomas prevost]

Almost every machine in the shop spins and can grab clothing. We all work in shops that may not be the warmest in the winter, thus we wear long sleeved shirts and jackets. Most have loose fitting cuffs- an accident waiting to happen! $4-6.00 athletic wrist sleeves placed over the cuffs will hold any dangling cloth close to the arms, reducing the danger here.

I go nuts when I see pictures in the wood mags of "skilled craftsmen" with loose and unbuttoned clothing using saws, drills, routers, and the like. Rant: Never got any feedback when sending Letter to editor about the pics.

[Rob Russell]

There is one type of glove you can wear that helps with grip, helps prevent splinters and won't get sucked into a blade.

Plain old dishwashing gloves.

The rubber really helps with grip on wood but it's so thin that any contact with a blade is going to cut right through and not pull your hand(s) in. My ony comment is that I've always used the plain rubber ones, not very thick and definitely not the "padded" ones.

[Dick Parr]

I have also worked around machinery most all my life and you can get on your pedestal and say what you like about it, I will be wearing a new glove on my left hand when I go back into the shop next week. The leather golf Glove did not cause the accident, I did, for not having my hands out of the way of the blade in the first place and I was using a dull blade. The old one is on the saw to remind me to keep my hands out of the way of the blade. I like the glove on the left hand for a when working with the lathe, it has saved my hand more then once. I don't normally use it for any other machine but was tuning and didn't bother to take it off when trimming a lop sided blank. I can say that I felt the blade hit the glove before I realized it was happening and pulled back. The glove helps to keep hot chips off the hand so my hand doesn't move while cutting.

If you want to make a story for yourself talk about using sharp blades, because dull ones will cause more accidents then wearing a glove will.

[Frank Pellow]

...
"your arms should be naked from the elbows down"
...
Chris DeHut
(west of Chicago)

I could not agree more with this! I don't always do it , but I agree with it.

[Dennis Peacock]

Dick has made a very good point. Many accidents happen in the shop by us working with dull tools. Dull tools cause us to pull harder, push harder, apply more force with a hammer, etc...etc...etc...Then all of a sudden we put on a sharp blade, pick up a sharp chisel or handplane and bingo, How nice it is to work with a nice sharp tool. Less tiring, less effort needed to do the work as well as improving the quality of our overall work.

I too wear a glove when turning. It has saved my hand more times that I care to count. So I will also wear a glove when turning or using my chainsaw. Any other time....my arms are naked from the elbows down, no watches and no rings....as I have seen people get their finger yanked off by getting it caught in a moving tool. Not a pretty sight.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I too wear gloves at the lathe... already hot shavings have burned me through the glove. If I wouldn't have had the glove on, I would have jerked my hand back and who knows where the tool would have went.

The only other time that I wear gloves is when working with rough lumber in the planer. If I get my hand in that far, the roller won't let it out anyway.

[Tom LaRussa]

There is one type of glove you can wear that helps with grip, helps prevent splinters and won't get sucked into a blade.

Plain old dishwashing gloves.

The rubber really helps with grip on wood but it's so thin that any contact with a blade is going to cut right through and not pull your hand(s) in. My ony comment is that I've always used the plain rubber ones, not very thick and definitely not the "padded" ones.

I use those disposable latex jobbers for the same purpose. If they get caught on/in anything they just tear away, so they don't add any danger, but they keep my hands cleaner and prevent at least some splinters and such.

Plus, they're cool 'cuz they look like surgical gloves.

[Steve Cox]

I always wear either short sleeves or long sleeves with button cuffs. No rings, watches, etc. I told my my wife years ago she could either have a dead husband wearing a ring or a live one without. I used to work with high powered electronics and the habits just carry over. I don't use gloves in the shop but I'm given to understand that doe skin or a similar glove will work. The key is that they need to be non woven. Soft leather will tear similar to skin and not pull the hand in further.