Official Luthiers Forum!

Well I've played guitar since I started fooling with it in 1949. Always trimmed my strings. But here of late I've been winding them up in a round circle and letting them flop. The ends aren't sticking out but I think they look very cool like that. Soprano ukes have been done like that forever.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I heard a great new one today! An old neighbour popped over and I showed him a guitar I made. He asked me what I was doing with myself these days and I told him my job and that I'm building guitars as a hobby... My dad had been playing the guitar I made for him so it was out on the sofa and I passed it to the guy saying, "I made this one for my dad".... He asked... Wait for it... "Wow, who do you get to do the woodwork for you?" Seriously.

Thanks everyone, I'm here all week!

I just had to post this!

You probably don't even wind your own &@?%ing strings either, do you, Nick?

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I'll let you into a secret... I didn't plant the trees either!

The horror. The horror.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Good one


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I usually wear gloves in the machine side of my shop. I wear the "Atlas" style snug fitting ones with the rubber grip palm. I feel like I can grip things better and have more control. (Also because there is no heat out there)

However, when I was building my buffer, the shaft was spinning and I touched it with the grippy part of my glove. Well, it gripped really well and in a split second it was trying to suck my hand around. With some serious panic I was able to yank the cord and came out ok although a little shell shocked.

So I have a lot more reverence for those quiet spinning things in the shop.

I also try to look at people's shop accident pics from time to time to keep a healthy level of fear of the machines.

_________________
Pat

Well I wear just thin hitters gloves not much grip but good protection. Stupid things you don't pay for quite so badly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would really worry about wearing gloves - there's the fact that there is a physical disconnect between what you feel as part of your own hand and the covering over it, lying some distance away, that can get grabbed. I take my ring and watch off too.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

+1 when using machinery.
Use then for grip or cut protection (or if it's cold)

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I sure appreciate threads like this. Coming from a terrible shop class many years ago, I'm essentially self taught and learned too many of these lessons the dangerous way. I always learn something from them.

One thing that freaks me out is an old glove I save from when I was first woodworking. It had a slice through it from the radial arm saw I bought at the neighbor's yard sale. I had no idea at the time how lucky I was. No more gloves for me. Actually no more radial arm saw either, but that was more space and quality related.

_________________
Mike Lindstrom

Jim I appreciate your concern. But there is something I am aware of that you may not be. Your sense of feel emanates from your brain not your finger tips. As far as that goes if you have callouses on your hands or if they're rough in any way then there is no way your sense of feel can compare to a person who protects their hands from such things. You see they have baby soft hands under those gloves. Using your theory the person who doesn't protect his hands has much less chance of "Feel" then the fella who covers his hands then if you cannot see with your eyes or know with your brain then it takes only a split second to remove your gloves. Then you can stroke it all you want too. Not being facetious here just reality is and theories is not .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lonnie that is a REAL stretch. By that reasoning your brain is used to your fingers being one length and then the gloves make them longer……

I run a university shop (wood, metal, digital etc…) and if I see anyone approaching a machine that has exposed moving parts wearing gloves (of any kind) they would be stopped immediately. Same goes with bracelets, rings etc… Ever seen a hand injury from a ring getting caught on a drill bit in the press?

In our setting we have to be more than "common sense" careful but I have started to see the good side of it. Working in that environment has made me safer in my own shop with no detriment to the work I am doing.

_________________
Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Lonnie, you need functioning nerves in your fingertips, relaying through the spinal cord and up to the cerebral cortex in order for your brain to get the signals from them. There are also various kind s of sensory nerve fibers used to "feel"....some for temp, pain, texture. This process requires all of those parts. Those are the facts. As for theory, I side with the non-glove wearers...less tactile sense than without them and more danger of getting them caught if there's anything not snugged up tight on the fingers and hands. That said, I know that people develop certain ways of doing things that work for them.

Folks your brain tells your fingers what it's feeling. Tight fitting gloves like I wear having no dangling straps,cords,etc. All your senses stem from your brain as every bodily function stems from your brain. This is a reality. Not my theory. Now if you wish to deny reality that is something that I'll leave to you. Everything in or on your body depends upon your brain.
Now I know there are horror stories. It's really easy to say he cut his hand off because he was wearing gloves. Unless of course there were things dangling from the glove that got caught up in a moving tool thus pulling a hand into the blade. That's another story. That's not what were talking about. A form fitting glove with Velcro strap is not a dangerous thing. A hand gets cut off because somebody stuck their hand into a spinning blade etc. Never has a tight fitting glove with no dangles ever forced a person to stick their hand into a blade. Now I'm seventy years old and have worked with my hands my entire life. Twenty five years as a construction worker. Both as a worker and contractor. I went to gloves after 20 years in the trades. Fingering inch and three eights nails with them at a high rate of speed. My mind knows where my hands and fingers are thank you very much. Now for those of you who disapprove. Let me ask you have you ever approached this question from one of knowledge? Have you ever worn the kind of gloves I'm speaking of? If not then there is a real possibility that you know not of which you speak. You know one side of the equation, yours. That's cool. You continue to do what you've been doing and feel comfortable with. Horror stories come about by foolish acts. Not sticking your hand into a spinning blade is a pretty smart thing to do. If you have a glove on that spinning blade doesn't know that. If you don't have a glove on it doesn't know that either.
Now I'm just talking common sense here. I never wear loose fitting clothing as I know it can get you hurt. Your sense of feel is the tip of the glove. Cutting the finger tips out of the glove would destroy the integrity of the glove . Here's something to ponder. Golf. I play the game. I wear a glove on my left hand as I swing right handed. Now the professional Golfers nearly to the man wear a glove. Guys,feel is very important when hitting a golfball. Now are you thinking that their feel would improve without wearing a glove? These guys hit millions of golf balls in theirlife. Now most take their glove off to putt. However the greatest golfer of all time (Jack Nicklaus) putts with his glove on. I think Arnold Palmer does also. These guys have a great sense of feel. You see in the golf swing the ungloved hand merely goes along for the ride. Professional baseball players also wear hitting gloves. Those are the ones I use. They are very thin do not flop around and impart a very high sense of .feel. I could go on all day but if you want to say your hands do your thinking for you then your accepting the fact that a person who doesn't wear gloves has never cut off part of a hand,etc. It don't make sense. Accidents do happen. I would be curious to know if there was a study made how many people wearing the kind of glove I wear vs the people who wear no glove. Which of that two would you say has had more body parts cut off? Betcha the non glove wearers would lose. Mainly because of the thinking. That's ok guys all the "experts" at one time would have bet their lives on the fact that the world was flat. If you came to close to the edge you would fall off. These rules that so many people follow have been established the old fashioned way. Experience is a great teacher. The only problem is it leaves dead people in its tracks. Folks it's the 21st century. We have things that I would have never thought possible. I am communicating with people all over the world on a little hand held device.(iPhone 5s). Things are changing. Newer conveniences are appearing everyday. Good common sense will always be with us. But the "Times they are a changing". What was once a definite no-no is no longer necessarily so. Whew that was a bunch but I sprained my large toe and it hurts to stand or walk. Maybe I should of had a glove on my right foot. I had a shoe. But like I said I'm old and I hurt easily. So I choose to wear a glove that protects my hands when doing anything physical. God willing I won't stick my gloved hand into a spinning blade. I know I'm not going to stick my ungloved hand into a spinning blade because I'm going to wear my gloves any and every time. To each his own guys but today some guys use Carbon Fiber in their instruments. Things change,people,however,are the last ones to accept change. Just saying guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

just wanted to post these two photos. As you can see form fitting. Nothing hanging or dangling. Just another layer of skin tight thin leather. I prefer the Easton brand as my 2 1/2 yr old grandson is named Easton.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lonnie,
If that works for you, then that's fine - but almost no one that is safety conscious would recommend your approach. Here's the main problem -- your flesh can be torn pretty easily. A drill/router bit or spinning device will rip your flesh, cause a blister, or something along those lines. However, a glove is much more durable and when in contact with one of these dangerous tools will result in a significantly worse injury because your hand stands a much greater chance of being "sucked" into the machine. This is the same reason long hair is dangerous around machines. This has nothing to do with the brain sensing things -- it has to do with the pragmatics of the severity of the projected injury.

Safety is about minimizing injuries. It is about minimizing accidents and mistakes. Saying don't put your hand in a blade or make a mistake is, no offense, very poor safety advice. Folks will be careless, not have their mind in the game, and slip up. It only takes just 1 accident out of decades of proper safety to result in a devastating injury. When someone does make a mistake, a glove on your hand is the very last thing you want!!!

A thin surgical latex glove is a slightly different matter but anything more than that is going against widely established safety rules. No one here is saying that you don't have that right to proceed as you wish -- but I doubt you will find anyone who agrees with you on this matter. I certainly don't and advise any readers to not follow your advice in this matter -- not because I'm trying to be argumentative but because I believe it is dangerous advice.

Toonces thanks for your input. Have you ever put a glove on like I showed in the picture? If not the Bud your not dealing with all the facts. You can almost read my palm through my gloves. If I feel a tool spinning in my hand I withdraw my hand. That little piece of leather saved me a nasty happening. Now I'll admit we sometimes do stupid things. I bought a bench planer. Never having used one before. I proceeded to use it. I reached down and turned it on with my right hand. I immediately felt the blade begin to spin on the palm of my left hand. Now planer blades are sharp but I lifted my hand and thanked god for my glove. As I had done a stupid thing. But my glove didn't even get cut. Now the planer had brand new blades. But because of the thinness of the glove I felt it when it took off and was able to save mysel a terrible injury. It didn't grab my glove it just spun on the surface. Got nothing against not using safety gloves. I just don't feel safe without them. Did I mention I'm also a commercial artist? A solid glass Sculpter? Now when your sculpting glass on a 7,000 degree torch do you know how satisfying it is to look down and see your glove smoking? Giving you an opportunity to get your hand out of the torch but also remove that smoking glove. For it gets hot also. I've just been using my hands to make a living for nearly seventy years. They are the most important tool I have. Just as you park your car in your garage to keep it nicer I park my hands in snug thin leather gloves to offer them the highest amount if protection I can give them . Heck I'd wear a suit of Armor if I thought it would bring me more safety. A hand covered with protection is safer then one left unprotected. I'm not trying to protect my hands from a saw blade but from sandpaper,rough wood,splinters,spider bites, anything when rubbed up against would be painful. Did I mention I have long fingernails on my right hand for playing my Classicals? I pay a little Vietnamese lady to put 4 gel nails on my right hand so I can do that. My God do you know how I'd feel if I broke a nail? I'd have to try and hold on while my wife went for help. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

" A form fitting glove with Velcro strap is not a dangerous thing."

Be careful of the velcro strap. I know a cabinetmaker who likes to leave them dangle.

Lonnie,
I have never worn a glove aside from thin nitrile gloves for woodworking purposes. I do not believe very thin gloves like that would be a huge risk. I used to play golf all the time -- a skintight glove like that would be a massive safety risk, in my opinion. Yes, absolutely, there are many situation in which a skintight glove would minimize risk. For your sculpting application, I think a glove would be a reasonable idea.

However, for spinning tools like routers, drill presses, lathes, jointers, sanders, shapers, bandsaws, disc sanders, etc... I absolutely would not recommend them. Truly, no offense intended, but there is just no point in debating this further. I simply respectfully disagree with your assessment. I wouldn't have even bothered to make a contrary statement but since this is online and other folks might listen to your advice -- in concern for others' safety, I wanted to offer my opinion that your advice is not a safe practice. Again, no offense intended.

Well maybe he likes the gloves to fit more loosely. I know this is a real unheard of situation wearing gloves working with power tools. But as I've tried to point out those rules were set fifty sixty years ago or more. Techknowledgy has come a long way since then. They merely give protection against splinters sharp edged tools. Rough things. Sometimes our wood gets stored in scary places. I know up north y'all don't have them but down here we have the brown recluse spider. A terrible gentleman. So not only do I have the rougher things in our world. But I don't get burns,blisters,callouses,splinters no matter how rough the wood is. I would never leave my Velcro strap hanging. I like the sensation of the tight glove on my hands. Just like when I sculpt glass I enjoy the feeling of the hot torch between my hands. I thought I was crazy for that until I stopped at other glass Sculpters shops. Oh yes they too like the heat. To me it's like coming home you learn to judge the distance from the torch by the heat. Now doing that kind of craft three hands are needed. We humans have only two. So gravity becomes your third hand. As glass sculpting is no t an art. It is a craft. Dating back three thousand years. They found it in the pyramids. It's a combination of science and knowledge. The ability to heat the glass slowing gravity to let it go into the shape desired. Be it a unicorn or a hummingbird. As you do not reach and grab a gob of red hot glass and squeeze it I to shape. Now I learned using gloves but switched to bare hands after the learning time of sticking your hand into the fire. That happens. That should tell you I work with dangerous to me stuff. I use gloves so my hands are as soft as can be so I do have a better sense of feel when I remove my gloves. I'm not talking welding gauntlets here. But super thin leather. That fit tight and have nothing dangling. Gee guys next time your in Walmart go to the sporting goods section and try on the tightest fitting hitters gloves you can get on your hands. Then tell me they are clumsy or impair your ability to use your hands in any way. I think you'll be surprised. Getting used to them takes a little time. But even if you used them for your rough work but not your power tools. You'll be amazed how much more better your sense of feel increases. Plus no more burns blisters splinters owies of any kind.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Too cues I appreciate your concern for mankind. Not trying to talk someone into doing something unsafe. Others on here use gloves as well. I use them because it's safer . Maybe not sixty years ago but definatly now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I should qualify my use of gloves. I don't use them when cross cutting, rarely when using my thickness planer ( gloves can get pinched between the board and planer casting ). NEVER when using the drill press. When I am ripping on my table saw I wear them, but I either use anti kick-back wheels or a power feeder.
I use a lot of QS red oak, which I am mildly allergic to, and gloves help to keep my hands from breaking out, and from getting slivers that usually get infected.
When I worked at General Motors, if you cut your hand and weren't wearing gloves, you might get suspended.


Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Good idea General Motors. It's not that big of a deal. I don't use my gloves when wet sanding. But the tools hold no fear for me wearing gloves. Guess it's whatever works for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

5 pages... Yeah, this thread served no purpose and was just for whining! Not.