What gloves?

[huntforlife]

I had it beat into my head at a young age to "protect your hands!". SO I wear gloves when doing things most wouldnt. I get called names to.

Ive been wearing batting gloves while making knives and I am hooked. They arent thick, they are comfortable, and still let me "feel" what I'm doing. But they wear out quick, and arent cheap.

Anyone have an alternative? I liked the deer hide, and use them when drilling and what not, but like the batting gloves when using files and sanding.

[pipecrafter]

I like the $6/pair mechanics gloves from Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93640

I have a pair for various uses. One is actually set aside for working on the truck.

[huntforlife]

Thats sure a cheaper alternative! Are the finger tips fairly thin?

[Bear_Blade]

Try this site. These gloves have an amazing fit, and freedom of movement. Some have reinforced fingertips, some others are real thin, giveing more sensitivity. I think you can find them at most any good automotive parts shop.

http://www.mechanix.com/us/#

[Shankmaker]

I wear these gloves. Harbor freight has a cheaper version of these that look to be of good quality. http://www.workgloves.net/CutResista...ork-glove-9672http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90912

[pipecrafter]

Originally Posted by huntforlife

Thats sure a cheaper alternative! Are the finger tips fairly thin?

Yes. They're actually quite thin at the fingertips, and very comfortable. On par with batting gloves, in a manner. The leather is a bit stiffer in the palm and fingers, but it softens up quickly.

[David Broadwell]

Mine are similar to the mechanics' gloves. Fairly thin and light with some padding and reinforcement. They fit closely so I have control of what I'm doing. Mind came from Lowe's. The index finger tips are the first part to go. It's easy to grind through them, and the sparks don't help. Couple of pics of them in use.

David

[WBE]

BEWARE!!! Gloves and most machinery don't mix. I use gloves only when grinding without a tool rest. The glove can get caught between the rest and wheel, and people have lost fingers and hands in some cases. A drill press can also grab the glove. Use common sense and caution.

[blademan3]

What Gloves, Never Use them

[ARCustomKnives]

Originally Posted by WBE

BEWARE!!! Gloves and most machinery don't mix. I use gloves only when grinding without a tool rest. The glove can get caught between the rest and wheel, and people have lost fingers and hands in some cases. A drill press can also grab the glove. Use common sense and caution.

+1000.

I RARELY use gloves unless handling something very hot, cold, sharp, or rough.
And for that matter, I try to build enough calluses on them to handle each of those in moderation.

It's just not worth the risk to me. I also try to avoid wearing sleeved shirts while working unless they are very tight, and even then I will usually roll them up.

I'd rather slice a hand open or sand off a finger tip than to have several fingers or an entire hand/arm ripped off, cut off, mangled, mutilated, etc... because a glove gets snagged on a drill chuck, grinder wheel, lathe, saw, etc....

There's a safety video floating around called "would you be here tomorrow" that I would encourage ANYONE who works around machinery or industrial equimpment to watch.

IIRC, there is one scene where a lathe operator loses his entire arm because he was taking a measurment with gloves on.

I'm not saying that gloves have no place in the workshop, or even while grinding, but I strongly recommend doing without them while using any rotating machinery (or similar) when at all possible. YMMV.

If you HAVE to use gloves, try to get gloves that are as tight, with as little excess material as possible.

[huntforlife]

I only work with files. So I mainly wear them so the end of the file doesnt go thru my palm.

[cliff fendley]

I saw a guy get his hand tangled up pretty bad in a drill press one time when the bit grabbed his glove. I wear them when welding, heat treating and when band sawing and rough grinding sometimes. I NEVER wear gloves when working with a lathe or mill.

[WBE]

At 18 yrs old, I worked for a window co. They had me drilling out mis-placed rivets in the frames with a power hand drill. One day the table edge broke off while I was drilling, and the drill went straight to my crotch area. The bit caught my Levi's before I could release the trigger. We won't go into details of what was injured, but 6 stitches took care of it. Fortunately, a minor injury. ANY loose clothing can be a hazard around power equipment.

[ARCustomKnives]

Originally Posted by huntforlife

I only work with files. So I mainly wear them so the end of the file doesnt go thru my palm.

Well, that definitely falls into the sharp/rough category that I would wear gloves for.

On the other hand, (no pun intendid), you might consider getting some handles for your files? If you're going through a lot of moderately priced gloves, this might be a cheaper solution... and probably a bit more comfortable too.

[ARCustomKnives]

Originally Posted by WBE

At 18 yrs old, I worked for a window co. They had me drilling out mis-placed rivets in the frames with a power hand drill. One day the table edge broke off while I was drilling, and the drill went straight to my crotch area. The bit caught my Levi's before I could release the trigger. We won't go into details of what was injured, but 6 stitches took care of it. Fortunately, a minor injury. ANY loose clothing can be a hazard around power equipment.

I remember on one of my first days of working construction, I was cleaning up the jobsite, and I grabbed an arm full of tools to take back to the trailer. One of these was a battery operated hand drill that was chucked up with a drill bit.
I had probably grabbed a few more tools that I should have tried to carry, and my load shifted ever so slightly, and the trigger on the drill got engaged on another tool. Unfortunately, the drill bit was pointed right at my shirt, which quickly became wrapped up into the drill.

It was actually pretty funny at the time, but then again, I didn't receive QUITE the injuries that you did.


I'm also reminded of an "ingenius" idea I had to unspool a fishing reel by tying one end of the line to a very high power impact gun and squeezing the trigger. Unfortunately, the line came off a little faster than I anticipated and backlashed, wrapping around my fingers in the process.
Thankfullly, my reflex was to immediately stop and reverse the gun. Had I hesitated a second or two longer, I would have had some severely lacerated fingers, if any at all....

Needless to say, I unspooled the rest by hand.