Gloves in the woodshop?

[Dan Barr]

Just wanting to post a thread to find out your opinions, advice, warnings etc. on using gloves in the woodshop. (with these tools, not with these tools, etc.)

I'd imagine there are plenty of opinions and i'd like to hear the ones that have reasons behind them.

v/r

dan

[Josiah Bartlett]

I use nitrile/latex gloves a lot to avoid getting greasy finger stains on wood as I am getting ready to finish it.

I started using them when working on cars, and it has been a good habit, my hands stay much cleaner and I avoid small slivers and scrapes that way.

[Pete Clifford]

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.

[Mark Rakestraw]

Dan, The other guys are right in that it is a serious safety hazard. That said, my shop is unheated, so if I didn't wear gloves sometimes I'd not be able to woodwork. I use the high dexterity type of gloves you see at all the big box stores nowadays. The are considerably more expensive than standard "work gloves", but do allow for greater movement and are generally stocked in a variety of sizes. If you do decide to wear gloves make sure they fit well, no saggy fingertips hanging over the blade. I'm hyperalert when wearing gloves, they feel a bit "foreign" on my hands and I'm always aware that given the chance (a touch of a blade) they will pull my hand into harms way.
Mark

[Philip Giangarra]

Hi,

My hands get really stiff when it is cold, but I can't pick up anything small when I am wearing gloves, so I solved this problem by cutting off all the fingers of an old pair of gloves. This way, the bulk of my hand is warm and protected from injury, but the first inch or so of my fingers are exposed and save from getting caught in the machinery.

Phil Giangarra

[Aaron Beaver]

I wear some of those Mechanix type gloves (not sure of the kind I have) but they have extra padding in places, grippy fingers, but I mostly use them at the Miter Saw. My hands are not any where near the blade and I mostly do it when cutting rough lumber down to smaller size, just easier to handle and better grip when using the gloves I have.

[frank shic]

i wear the ones by fastcap whenever i'm working with melamine since it cuts flesh so easily!

[Bill White]

I'm with Frank on the melamine issue. That stuff will eat ya alive.
Nitrile for staining, glazing, etc.
Bill

[Joe Unni]

Like Mark, I wear the close fitting, high dexterity gloves when handling rough stock and when jointing. The rubber grips really seam to help holding and pushing stock through. That said, I'm very much aware of the risk and would never consider the cheapy gloves.

-joe

[Rod Sheridan]

After seeing someone lose three fingers in a drill press from wearing gloves, I only wear work gloves when stacking/unloading wood.

I wear nitrile gloves when applying finishing materials or turning wet wood.

regards, Rod.

[Larry Fox]

Nitrile when handling anything messy or with solvents. Other than that - never. Learned that lesson early on as a kid. My dad has a friend who is a very good sheet-metal guy who ran a very sucessful business and had decades of experience. He was in the shop one day and he had a glove on his hand to protect from the sharp edges on a piece of stainless steel as he was doing something with the drill press. Went to reach for something and the spinning bit grabbed the glove on the back of his hand between his wrist and knuckles.

[Mike Cutler]

Dan

It takes a very rare set circumstance for me to wear work gloves in the shop. Finishing work is a different story altogehter.
The only time I have worn gloves while operating a machine was when I was jointing and planing wenge. Wenge can create some wicked slivers. Even then, I used an old pair of cycling gloves that had no fingertips.

[David Tiell]

I'm with Pete 100%. Work gloves for moving stock around the shop ONLY, NOT AROUND THE POWER TOOLS, rubber gloves for working with solvents/stains/finishes.

[Earl Reid]

I wear gloves when handling rough lumber and surgical
when staining and gluing.
Earl

[Charles Wiggins]

Originally Posted by Dan Barr

Just wanting to post a thread to find out your opinions, advice, warnings etc. on using gloves in the woodshop. (with these tools, not with these tools, etc.)

I'd imagine there are plenty of opinions and i'd like to hear the ones that have reasons behind them.

v/r

dan

(Pun fully intended), is not to use gloves if my hands are going to be anywhere in the vicinity of machine movement, like on the table saw. I generally don't wear gloves anyway, except when moving a lot of stock, or when applying finish - then I use nitrile gloves. If I had a cold shop and really needed to wear some, I'd probably invest in a good pair of anti-vibration gloves without fingertips.