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There has been a lot of topics concerning safety in the shop and we have had all kinds of advice on staying alert and not cutting corners. This got me thinking about gloves. Does anyone use gloves throughout their building process? I understand that it could slightly take away from the "feel" through certain processes and that it couldn't protect against violent table saw mishaps and so forth but it would help with slivers, chisel slips, quick glances against powered sanders, etc. If anyone is using gloves, is there a particular brand/style that offers up better feel and protection that they could recommend?

no gloves to easy to get tangled up in tools and equipment . I NEVER use Gloves.

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Gloves and machines don't mix well at all...seen too many mangled fingers.

Sometimes me will slip on some of them fingerless gloves if its really cold...but not around machines.

Latex, if me don't want me fingers stained.

But generally, no. No gloves for

the
Padma.

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I never wear gloves whuile using machinery in the shop , one day I was in a hurry using my table saw, I got very lucky, just nipped the tip of my finger , it is no longer round , if I had been wearing gloves my hand would have been pulled into the saw. and no doubt it would have cost me large portions of several fingers ! Jody

I use nitrile or latex gloves when using CA, epoxy, or stains/paint.
Heavy leather gloves for stacking rough lumber.
That's it- I never wear gloves around shop machinery.
If your chisels won't slice through heavy leather gloves, they're not sharp enough!

Cheers
John

What John says!

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Nitrile when working epoxy or CA, and during finishing processes (often just on one hand so I have a 'clean' and a 'dirty' hand for handling things), and heavy work gloves for side bending, and sometimes for sorting lumber in the rough. Otherwise it's bare hands.

Pretty much the same as the others. Nitrile for glues/finishes as needed. Heavier gloves when bending. No gloves around the machinery - too easy to get hung up and get your hand mangled.

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I wear nitrile glove while doing most hand work. I wear leather welding gloves when bending. No gloves when using power tools.

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I recall a post advising rubber gloves when buffing, to avoid the buffer from throwing the guitar out of your hands.

Regarding clothing and power tool safety. If you have long hair -- cut it shorter -- the chances that something could happen over a lifetime should not be toyed with. If you wear long sleeves make sure they are rolled up past your elbows. Absolutely NO gloves - huge safety violation and incredibly dangerous around cutting equipment. Make sure your shirt is tucked in.

I can't tell you how many "accident" stories are out there. There are very few true accidents in woodworking -- almost all the time the operator is at fault. Never leave anything to chance or you will be losing some digits or possibly worse.

What Todd said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most machinist accidents involving gloves being worn and rotating machinery will result in partial or total loss of appendages or even worse. Here at our machine shop any machinist caught with gloves on while operating their machine will be terminated. It is a major safety vilation.

I do like gloves when I work on machines, I use the soft rubber gloves from the hardware store, but I get them a size too small so they fit really tight. I feel that the control I get holding the work piece is worth it. They do need to be tight though, no extra room at the fingertips. If there is an accident on a tool, I don't think gloves would be the cause as much as poor safety technique. If your glove gets that close to a tool, you did something else wrong other then putting on gloves.

That said, I think all the no glove advise is for most situations the better call. I use them sparingly and keep a set of clean tight gloves for when I use them on tools, and then a more worn set for basic wood handling (big wood for other projects, not guitars)

Michael Dale Payne's reply makes a ton of sense in a pro shop. I worked in a larger custom mill for a time and they were strict on lockouts on machines for any purpose, change a blade, lock it out, this was 0 tolerance, first offence, termination. But we were issued gloves to work with.

Does any one know OSHA's take on gloves?
Rob

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It does not matter how tight the glove fits when working around machinery. The torque of the machinery will win every time. It also does not matter if you are in a professional fab shop or on your home drill press. Gloves will turn a couple of stitches in to reconstructive surgery faster than you can react to avoid it. There is no argument about this. It is foolish and intrinsically unsafe to wear gloves around rotating machinery period.

I still think that's probably dangerous, even with thin rubber gloves. It could still get caught on something and pull you into a tool more than you would with just your bare hands. Doesn't matter if gloves caused the accident or not, they can make it worse when you have one. If you require the extra grippiness to help hold your work, it's probably time to look into a different technique that doesn't rely on your hands as much (i.e. featherboards, hold downs, push blocks, clamps, etc...).

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I am sure you were issued gloves to work with for loading, unloading the machine and handeling the raw material and finished parts. but I am also sure you were likely told or at least should have been told never to operate your machine while wearing your gloves. to wear gloves while operating rotating machinery has been an OSHA safety vilation for decades.

I am definately with Michael on this one. Neither OSHA or tightness of gloves or anything else will matter when you are picking up your finger out of the sawdust. You may get away with it a thousand times in a row, but the thousanth and first time will get you. In the shop it only makes sense to develop protocols when it comes to safety that are 100%. No loose clothes, gloves, ties, long hair...... they are simply not close enough to 100% for me.

We were told in High School , no gloves around rotating machinery

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When all else fails, clean the shop.

I am sure you were issued gloves to work with for loading, unloading the machine and handeling the raw material and finished parts. but I am also sure you were likely told or at least should have been told never to operate your machine while wearing your gloves. to wear gloves while operating rotating machinery has been an OSHA safety vilation for decades.[/quote]

We were not given that OSHA safety about gloves. I will not argue it, and am glad to have brought up the opposite point to get some more info about it. Thank you Michael.

What Randolf said, 1001rst time can be the one. If I have and do "get away with it", it is because of all the feather boards and other devices I have used to stay away from the tools. I don't like getting even close, as a result after my 14 years full time in a wood shop, I can still count to 10 with my shoes still on. I will take the info in this post very seriously as safety is #1. I like to go over safety protocol on each tool each time I use it. The deep breath and a moment of thought really should precede the turning on of each power tool.

I have had the unfortunate experience twice in others shops where a finger was lost or severely damaged. (Not involving gloves) It is a somber experience for the whole crew. I met a woodworker at a lumber yard in SF once who had a push stick slip on the table saw dropping the back his hand into the blade. I have never heard a better endorsement for triangle style push sticks over the standard stick.

Thank you all for your valuable insights on this matter. I take all safety info to heart. . ..
Rob

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Safe or not i do where gloves some times. Especially when i'm jointing long pieces of wood. I have special gloves that grip the wood better then i can bare handed. In my opinion it is safer wearing them then when not wearing them. I would not wear them around saw blades though. I don't know if it cellular memory or what but there is a natural sense of where your fingers end. Gloves confuse this and you will find that a lot of accidents happen because a glove got to close to a blade.

Nitro gloves are a must for some applications and i'm sure that any safety organization would advocate the use of the right glove for the right job and where they are not i'm sure they would warn of the dangers.

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1) no gloves around machinery -lathes, drills, saws etc.. at all
2) gloves on for handling rough lumber -splinter control
3) soft,very thin cotton gloves for some detail work -keeps finger oils off the wood

You can usally trust the real old guys with one digit missing. it is the middle aged ones with 2 or more missing that you have to watch out for

I'm in the "no glove while operating machinery" camp......no exceptions.

I gotta admit, if a level headed gentlemen that had lost a finger in an accident was giving me advise on safely operating a machine.......I think I would listen.

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same: nitrile for messy glues, leahther for carrying wood. soft cloth gloves withsanding. Seems to absorb the vibration of the ROS.

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