Gloves in the woodshop?

[Al Willits]

I wear them a lot, surgeons gloves when finishing and a pair of yellow strechy gloves that have rubber nubs all over them for planing and the jointer, I also use the little handle thing thats rubber coated on the bottom to push on the wood for some reason I have to get close to the blades.

Gloves are only dangerous if you let them come in contact with the blades, keep them away and they work fine, and they also help prevent slivers and such.imho

I don't wear them with my router, hard to keep very far from them blades.

Al

[Jesse Cloud]

I agree that they are good when loading/unloading rough lumber and for solvents. Never around spinny things.

A buddy of mine was wearing gloves while chopping mortises on a horizontal boring machine. The official procedure was to blow debris off the table with an air hose after each piece. Well, the air hose missed a bit of debris and he flicked it away with his hand. The bit caught the glove (a high end, well fitting glove) and dragged his hand into the bit.

Luckily the wounds were not deep. He was back the next day with lots of stitches and huge bandages on his hand. The glove had three fingers torn off and was soaked in blood.

No gloves for me!

[Kyle Kraft]

I use grippy gloves when edge jointing and my cabbage grabbers are well clear of the cutterhead, for example on 6" wide or >. Never use 'em on the drill press or band saw. Table saw if more than ~12" away from the finger cutter. I'll use them on the miter saw because I've had too many cuts from sharp board corners.

Latex gloves are a must when using contact cement, stain and finishes.

[Jason Beam]

I'm in the camp that only wears 'em when handling hazardous material.

Rough lumber, I have those insanely cheap 'dipped in rubber' sock gloves that are like a buck a pair at HF. I'll use 'em for moving and stacking, but also for the initial milling stages until I have the majority of the rough stuff smoothed out. Once milled, though, the corners can still slice ya open nice, so I take the gloves off but handle with care nonetheless.

After that, it's pretty much no-gloves until the finishing stage. Then it's hazardous material again. Nitrile for the most part, sometimes latex if i'm too lazy or cheap.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Not with Power tools other than maybe a hand drill.
If a BS, TS, or DP snags a glove it'll pull you in faster than you can see it happen. It's unlikely you'll come away with all your parts.

[Ron Conlon]

This is a bit graphic, but I feel it's important to relay. I saw an interview on tv with a gentleman who had been wearing gloves while using the drill press, and got his glove caught. His hand got broken at the wrist, and continued to spin axially along the length of his forearm multiple times (i.e. like a candy cane). Doctors were able to restore some minimal functionality to his hand but it was a real mess. It still sends shivers up my back thinking about it.

So, no. No gloves.

[Glenn Pearston]

Nitrile for finishing and glueing (especially Gorilla Glue)

I have a set of thin gloves with leather finger tips and palm for rough wood moving or working with Melamine - that stuff is worse than razor blades.

[Simon Dupay]

NEVER WEAR GLOVES OF ANY KIND WHEN ON THE JOINTER!!!! I saw someone lose a pinky on a jointer because he was wearing gloves the cutterhead will pull your hand in no matter what!

[Mark Engel]

I am confused!

It seems to me that most well fitting gloves are going to be fairly close to the skin. A good pair of gloves will only 'fatten' your fingers by a fraction of an inch, probably a good deal less than 1/4". That being the case, why would anyone get their fingers within 1/4" of any power tool blade?

I wear gloves all the time in the shop, have done it for years and years without incident. I don't like cuts or slivers.

[Bill Wyko]

I suggest that gloves should not be worn when using powered rotary machines with sharp, finger-eating blades e.g. table saw, jointer, planer. The risk is that your glove will get caught and drag your hand into the machine, resulting in a rapid loss of body mass. The only time that I wear work gloves in the shop is if I am handling/stacking rough lumber. I do wear protective rubber gloves when using solvents, stains, etc, but this does not involve the use of power tools. My $0.02.

What Pete sait.

[Tony Zona]

I am afraid to wear gloves when machines are running. I am even reluctant to wear long sleeves.

[Mark Engel]

While I can agree that an injury may be worsened by getting a gloved hand or a long sleeved shirt engaged in a power tool blade or bit, that will only happen if you get that glove or sleeve close enough for the tool to grab it.

Those tools will be spinning/turning whether the operator is wearing gloves or not. If you get too close to the blade, you will be injured, glove or no. Keep your gloved or non-gloved fingers away from any blades or spinning tool bits and you will be fine. Use your eyes and your common sense when using power tools, that is the best safety practice. Wearing gloves in and of itself does not cause injury. If you wear gloves, just be aware of the additional clearances needed while doing so.

Or, maybe we should just shut all the power tools off completely. That may be safe enough for most of us.

[Per Swenson]

Hi Everybody,

Gloves are a very bad habit.

Per

[Jude Kingery]

Dan, I'd have to go with the "no gloves" guys. I may use gloves for unloading tree trunks or some latex gloves if I use CA glue because I don't like that on my fingers. But otherwise? Anytime around the lathe, drill press, grinder, anything running, sander? Nope. No gloves. Any loose edges, cuffs can catch and it even might give you a false sense of security or protection. If I have bare fingers out there, I'm watching carefully. I'd highly recommend no gloves, no sleeves. Just my opinion. Stay safe. Jude

[Bill Brehme]

Michael Jackson wore only 1 glove...

And look what happened to him!!!