Wearing gloves?

[Craig Colvin]

Do any of you wear gloves when turning?

One of the members in my woodshop insists on wearing gloves when turning. He claims that when roughing the chips flying back are hurting the backside of his hand and the gloves prevent that.

We have a policy of "no gloves" allowed in the shop but he's claiming that a lot of turners wear gloves and that he needs to wear them. Before kicking him out over this issue I just wanted to get some feedback from some other turners and make sure that I'm doing the right thing here.

Do you wear gloves when turning?

[Dave Wimmer]

I know some turners do wear a glove on the left hand (right handed turner). I don't like the idea. I am afraid the glove might get caught in the gap between the work and the tool rest. If the chips are hitting your hand, a slight adjustment of the tool or rest will often take care of it.

[Andy Hoyt]

I wear tight fitting semi-insulated gloves on both hands when roughing bowls. It's not that the chips hit my hands (they do); but rather that those chips are amazingly hot and thusly become a significant distraction.

EDIT: After reading subsequent posts, I felt encumbered to add that mine are fingerless as well; it's only when roughing the exterior; and on both hands as I often switch hit and because it somehow feels more balanced. But they come off asap because there is also a loss of "feel" when they're on.

[Mark Cothren]

I wear a snug-fitting glove w/o fingers on my left hand when roughing. It shields from the chips and it insulates the pad of my hand from the tool rest. I like that feature a lot when it's 50-degrees in the shop...:)

[Travis Stinson]

I wear a snug fitting Mechanix glove on my left hand. (Never have to worry about glueing my fingers to a blank with CA!;) )

[Steve Clardy]

I use a snug fitting leather glove on my left hand. [ I'm a righty]
Keeps the heat off my fingers.

[Kent Cori]

I wear bicycling gloves on both hands. They are tight fitting and have no fingertips. They have a gel padded palm which helps greatly with vibration. I use them for sanding with power sanders as well.

[Bill Stevener]

This Question has been asked several times.

One way to look at it is -- a wood lathe, with respect, is about, or similar to a drill press, only it runs horizontal.

OSHA, an origination, which I do not believe in everything they come up with, has had some good input, with the safety respect, in the working environment.

I look at wearing gloves while working on a lathe,( when it's running) the same as a drill press. I have posted this before -- OSHA imposes a $500.00 personal fine on one, if observed wearing gloves while operating a drill press. Now of course, this is in the work force. What you do in your home shop, is up to you. However, I am now retired from working within the construction industry and still have all ten I came into this world with.

I have seen some pretty ugly accidents with folks that insist on wearing gloves while operating rotating equipment.

I like to turn with all ten, and do not wear gloves. On the other hand, I don't wear pink ties ether.:D

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[Dave Mcintire]

No gloves here. There is a guy on the Eastern Shore (of Virginia) who sells a glove with a Velcro (I think) pad on the palm to hold sandpaper, thats the closest I ever heard of. Just out of curiosity, I'm old enough to remember those old safety books that say not to wear a necktie when running the lathe, I'm sure most of you turners wear ties to go with your Tux when turning.

[Carole Valentine]

No gloves at the lathe or drill press. Ever. Growing up on a farm, I have seen what a spinning piece of machinery can do to a person when it catches a piece of clothing, a glove or hair. It's not pretty. And it can happen easier than you think. OSHA imposes the fine for a reason.

[Carole Valentine]

No gloves here. There is a guy on the Eastern Shore (of Virginia) who sells a glove with a Velcro (I think) pad on the palm to hold sandpaper, thats the closest I ever heard of.

That would be Bruce Hoover.

[Dennis Peacock]

I use a snug fitting leather glove on my left hand as I am right handed. Since I started wearing a fingerless glove, at least my hand it protected from the chips that used to make my hand bloody on the outside edge of my hand. So, yes....I wear a glove while turning, but I'm real careful to not get it caught in the lathe. ;)

[Wolf Kiessling]

I'm right handed and wear a welders glove, sometimes a carver's glove, on my left hand when roughing. It certainly protects the outside edge of the hand.

[John Hart]

I was working on my first Natural Edge turning a few weeks ago. I was sanding and my hand slipped because of the arc of the piece, into the natural edge and caught my finger. My reaction time was good and I just bled a lot.

That night, I asked the same question that you're asking Craig.

If I had been wearing a glove, it probably would have caught the glove. At 400 RPM and 3 HP, maybe it would have just torn the glove off my hand...maybe not. Still wondering.

[tod evans]

no gloves here

[George Troy Hurlburt]

I wear a golf glove on my left hand and sometime a golf glove on the right. Natural edge bowls can be wicked ,a few times I hit the edge with the glove and glad I had it on. Hand sanding for me is where the most danger is, the other is the jaws sticking out of chucks. I have two scars and stitches from the tool running off and it the jaws, balancing back and getting my left fingers. If I had on the left glove I firmly believe the gouge would not have sliced it. Construction workers wear gloves, baseball players, tennis players, drivers, mechanics, etc. and people in the know. Osha has their head up their rear, one rule fits all for those people. Common sense rules everywhere. I bet you wear gloves when using a chain saw.

[Lee DeRaud]

Sounds like the key word is "snug". If your glove is loose enough to get caught in the machinery, you're wearing the wrong size glove.

[Ernie Kuhn]

I'm right handed and wear a leather glove on my left hand for the same reasons others have stated.

Ernie

[Frank Chaffee]

Gloves! Sometimes are helpful but choose carefully!

I was working outdoors in Seattle one of those unusually cold and snowy winters. Every night I dried my layers of clothing and gloves on the space heater in my apartment. One night the fingertips on my leather gloves shrunk so much I couldn’t put them on, so I cut the tips off (of the gloves). I still had much of the protection gloves afford, but I gained fingertip dexterity. Later I learned that sheet metal workers already knew this.

Welding (MIG): A heavy leather glove on the left hand with a cheap close fitting cotton glove under it. Cotton glove on right hand. Welding radiation burns skin!

Once I was deburring the ID of some small heavy wall steel tubes on a drill press mounted burr. I caught the back of the right glove forefinger on the burr, pulled my hand out of the glove, and watched my glove go round and round while I reached for the off switch.

Frank

[Jim Becker]

I wear tight fitting semi-insulated gloves on both hands when roughing bowls. It's not that the chips hit my hands (they do); but rather that those chips are amazingly hot and thusly become a significant distraction.
I will occasionally do this on my left hand, too...fingerless and merely to keep from getting (another) second degree burn from hot chips coming off dry cherry, maple, etc. Outside of that, I do not wear them...this is a spot purpose and I'm personally willing to take the small risk as an alternative to the painful burns.

I never recommend gloves to anyone in the shop, however...

[Mac McAtee]

Workshop with no heat. Have worked out there when the temp. was 28°F. Dust collection system that would suck the hair off a ground hog. It takes about 5 min. at the lathe before my fingers loose their feeling because of the coooooolllldddd air passing by. I bought a pair of those synthetic mechanics gloves at the BORG, cut the fingers off so I can still feel things and keep on turning. Work great and I can stay at the lathe for much longer periods of time before my finger tips go numb from cold.

[Bob Oswin]

Do any of you wear gloves when turning?



Do you wear gloves when turning?

I live in the oil patch of Alberta.
We all wear gloves here. We rope and brand with them and in the colder weather we run machinery with them.
Running a lathe mandates that you keep your hands out of harms way whatever you are wearing.
We did have a case up here recently where a guy wrapped himself up in his lathe. From what we can gather he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and got careless moving in front of some home made Cole jaws.

I mostly enjoy my gloves on the lathe during the sanding procedure and of course during the roughing in .

If you are afraid of the machine or not confident get professional training before turning.
A 2 HP motor is most unforgiving of any mistake you make.

Bob

[Anthony Yakonick]

I wear a gel padded fingerless glove on the hand at the other end of the tool especially on my Stewart tool when hollowing due to vibration and carpel tunnel surgery in 2000.

[Dale Thompson]

Hi Folks,
It's amazing how different people look at the safety issue. For example, I NEVER use the guard on my PM 66. The "cage" that came with my PM 3520 has NEVER been installed! However, I ALWAYS use a face shield when using the grinding wheel! In addition to that, I also stand back for about 10 seconds after it reaches maximum speed. I only use a face shield on the lathe when I "crank up" the speed on pieces over 2" in diameter.

On both the table saw and the lathe, I like to think that the wood will "tell" me when it is "distressed" or the wall of a bowl is too thin! :eek: On the grinder, there is no "verbal" warning! One small fault in the wheel and - BAM!! I'm WAY to old to duck that kind of shrapnel! :o

Ignoring that fact, I was astounded at how many of you turners wear gloves when operating your lathe. I would jump off of a 3000' cliff with a paper towel as a parachute before I would wear a glove when turning. I feel the same way about using the drill press.

As I said, this is a very interesting thread. :)

Dale T.

[Andy Hoyt]

.....I was astounded at how many of you turners wear gloves when operating your lathe.....
Dale - If it helps, my rationale is:
The forward hand never moves any nearer the spinning piece than the tool rest.
The glove deflects/difuses the heat thereby eliminating a distraction.
The glove is very tight with no loose or flopping parts.
I concentrate like crazy and am very aware of where my hand is and what it's doing.
And as stated earlier, it's only worn in certain circumstances.

[Pat Salter]

If I had been wearing a glove, it probably would have caught the glove. At 400 RPM and 3 HP, maybe it would have just torn the glove off my hand...maybe not. Still wondering.


Maybe more.

[Carole Valentine]

Read in the paper this morning where a tree trimmer in Loveland was killed when his gloved hand got caught in a chipper and pulled him in. What a horrible way to go.:( I am sure he thought he was always careful enough to keep that from happening.

[Mark Cothren]

Not ww'ing, but another "be careful or else" story... my wife's grandfather got a shirt sleeve caught in a hay baler back many years ago while making adjustments. It pulled his arm/shoulder in and chewed 'em off. His sister-in-law found him and had to sever the remaining flesh on his arm to extract him from the baler. Sorry for the graphic details, but anything that helps promote caution and safety is worthwhile, IMO.

After reading this thread and giving some thought I'm going to invest in a much tighter fitting synthetic glove for my "tool rest" hand. I turned "nekkid" last night for a while (again, after reading this thread and thinking it over) and the bark and chunks beat my stinkin' hand to death. I'm a wimp - I admit it. :o

[David Fried]

No gloves. It just never occurred to me. When its below 40 degrees in the shop I stay home. Today its 41 - off to the shop. I do wear layers. When not using machinery I slip on a heavy jacket with pockets to warm up my hands. I take that jacket off before using eqiupment and only wear a lighter jacket with the sleaves of the jacket, flannel shirt, and long johns rolled up.

[John Hart]

Maybe more. That's exactly my thought Pat, thanks.

I did do some browsing around and it seems that all the organizations I checked out, warn against gloves while working on a lathe. Here's AAW's safety page http://www.woodturner.org/resources/safety.cfm

I wonder if a thin, teflon, back-of-the-hand-shield would resolve the problem? Just thinking out loud.

[tod evans]

a little hide will grow back, if you go thunkada-thunkada-thunkada it`ll take a long time to mend.........02 tod

[keith zimmerman]

I used to wear tight-fitting goatskin gloves when turning. Never had a problem of any kind. I would still wear these, but I switched to gel filled fingerless gloves. These are much better with the vibration and still protect my hand from hot chips.

I don't recommend gloves to anyone and firmly believe that wearing gloves is an individual decision and should not be taken lightly and should be made with adequate information.

These are my thoughts. Yours may be different and that is your right.

keith

[Gary DeWitt]

I have twice seen people rip the skin off one or two digits while using a drill press and wearing gloves. Cotton gloves in both cases. Seems the flute of a bit tends to grab fabric easily.
It just occured to me we do use our lathes as a drill press on occasion, and I wanted to remind those of you who wear gloves, especially fabric type, to take care while drilling!

[Lars Thomas]

I have never worn gloves while using the lathe (or Drill-Press). Seeing a piece of steel wool get caught and going round-and round is enough deterrent for me. To be fair, I've never turned a hollow vessel either - just spindle work.

[Matthew Clarke]

Hi Craig,

Here is another perpective on the issue. Yes I am aware of OSHA's recommendations. I cut the fingers cut off of the gloves. That way, the palms and the back of your hands are protected from the debris that fired at you from the spinning wood. At the same time, you maintain sensitivity in your fingers to what is going on at the headstock(you keep them away from the wood). Best of all, you don't have that loose cloth near anything that you are cutting. I find that it makes a big difference in comfort at the lathe. By the way, I learned it while at a class at David Ellsworth's place.

[Dale Thompson]

Read in the paper this morning where a tree trimmer in Loveland was killed when his gloved hand got caught in a chipper and pulled him in. What a horrible way to go.:( I am sure he thought he was always careful enough to keep that from happening.

Carole,
My first job out of college (In those days Socrates was the ONLY Professor) was out in Iowa. The father of one of my fellow engineers was a local farmer. Over the years, he had lost four appendages (three fingers and one hand) in four different accidents with a corn picker. About a year after I left my job, I heard that his fifth confrontation with the picker cost him his life.

If all the wooses out there can't take the "heat", they should put their blanks in the freezer overnight before they try to turn them! ;) :) :cool: Am I a genius - or WHAT?? :eek: :confused: :)

Dale T.

Dale T.

[Dale Thompson]

Dale - If it helps, my rationale is:
The forward hand never moves any nearer the spinning piece than the tool rest.
The glove deflects/difuses the heat thereby eliminating a distraction.
The glove is very tight with no loose or flopping parts.
I concentrate like crazy and am very aware of where my hand is and what it's doing.
And as stated earlier, it's only worn in certain circumstances.

Andy,
I hear what you are saying but I many times find my "forward" hand behind the piece because of that cursed "chatter". :mad: That neutralizes the forces on the piece and I can skim the chatter marks with my skew. It is almost a subconscious response so a glove is out of the question for me. I don't know what the problem is but this sometimes happens on pieces as small as 1/4" and sometimes on pieces in the 2-3" range. :confused: :(

Andy, this should not be taken as a common occurrence for experts. However, in my case, with ALL tools, the name D-a-l-e is spelled K-L-U-T-Z! :o AW HECK! At least I TRY!! :D ;)

Anyway, what is this HEAT thing? As President Truman once said, " If you can't stand the Heat, use colder blanks(or SOMETHING like that)" ;) :)

Dale T.

[Andy Hoyt]

Dale - For me anyway - Bowls and skews don't mix too well. And I'm willing to bet that everyone who's posted that they wear a glove is only doing so on bowls. The heat comes during finish turning when the forward hand lies in the path of the shavings. Doesn't burn on green wood, just dry.

And if we're talking spindle stuff - yup, no gloves. And with the skew - yup, hand over the top to balance the piece.

[Dale Thompson]

Dale - For me anyway - Bowls and skews don't mix too well. And I'm willing to bet that everyone who's posted that they wear a glove is only doing so on bowls. The heat comes during finish turning when the forward hand lies in the path of the shavings. Doesn't burn on green wood, just dry.

And if we're talking spindle stuff - yup, no gloves. And with the skew - yup, hand over the top to balance the piece.

Andy,
NOW you tell me! I always thought that my skew could do ANYTHING! ;) Maybe I had best get that big "Crown" deep-bowl gouge off the rack and see what I can destroy with that "bad boy". :eek: :D

In all honesty, I don't turn that many bowls. They are usually reserved for graduation, wedding, anniversary and birthday presents. A nice engraved Brass plate usually makes up for the fact that my "bowl" is a usually a collection of "exploded" scraps in a pretty velvet bag! :o :cool:

Whatever, I still wonder how you pros can be so heat-sensitive? :confused:
Using the "forward" hand to stabilize a spindle normally makes me cry out loud from the pain of the heat. :o On the other hand, I just LIVE with it! :) ;)

Dale T.

[Robert Mickley]

I'm going to have to join the no glove field. Far as I'm concerned gloves and loose fitting clothing are no no's around the shop.

I don't wear a watch any more either. Learned my lesson on that one years ago picking corn. Stopped to clear some trash out of the head. Turned off the picker but didn't shut off the tractor. On that tractor you had to make sure the Power take off lever was in the off position not neutrel. Other wise it would randomly spin for a few seconds. Well thats exactly what it did while I was pulling crap out of the gathering chins and it grabbed my watch band. Lucky for me it was an old weak leather band and it broke.

I figure it this way it only takes a moment of distraction to result in a disater. Better off to try and control anything that could lead to disaster's. By our own admissions some of us have had things happen that could have been avoided.

[Jim Bell]

Some of wood coming off my gouge and over (or into) my hand is very hot and does hurt. On the other hand ( ha ha ) the thought of my hand, fingers, bones, tendons, nerves, ect spinning through my work, keeps me gloveless. Of course I live in Fl where my idea of winter temperature is where you up north set your thermostats. To each his own and my very best to all of you in the coming year,
Jim

[Bob Aliano]

Father-in-law lost all the skin from the back of his hand wearing gloves while working an industrial drill press. I never wear gloves while operating power tools, the risk of getting snagged by the tool is too great. Here in Denver, we had a tree removal worker sucked into a chipper a couple of days ago because his glove got snagged, he never knew what hit him.

[Bill Grumbine]

I wore a glove once, and felt guilty the whole time. I was wearing it because I got smacked real hard on the drill press and my hand had not healed up enough to handle the chips coming off the bowl I was turning.

I see the arguments for and against, and while I have a lot of respect for the people expressing them on both sides, I am a barehanded turner, and I recommend it. It is one thing to say that I will never get my hand in the wrong place, and it is another to actually do it all the time. Accidents happen. That is why they are called accidents. If the chips are too painful, take a break or slow down or change your position. If you think the impact of hot chips against your hand hurts, just think how having the skin ripped off by a merciless motor will feel.

Bill

[Carole Valentine]

Father-in-law lost all the skin from the back of his hand wearing gloves while working an industrial drill press. I never wear gloves while operating power tools, the risk of getting snagged by the tool is too great. Here in Denver, we had a tree removal worker sucked into a chipper a couple of days ago because his glove got snagged, he never knew what hit him.

That's the one I referenced in my post above. I hope it was not someone you knew.:(

[Chris Barton]

I never wear gloves while turning, and generally use the drill press or lathe only when completely nude. Dang those wood chips hurt!

[John Miliunas]

On the other hand, I don't wear pink ties ether.:D

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

Where's Andy or Loy when you NEED them????:D :cool:

[Andy Hoyt]

Where's Andy or Loy when you NEED them????:D :cool:
Right here. 28690 Oh yes you do! Pink Tye Dyes, that is

[Lee DeRaud]

I never wear gloves while turning, and generally use the drill press or lathe only when completely nude.Based on your avatar, you're using a very different definition of "nude" than I am.:p

[Dennis Peacock]

So................

The general sensus is? That most wear some type of glove while turning. Right?

[Bill Stevener]

So................

The general sensus is? That most wear some type of glove while turning. Right?

Not to bust the bubble, but I reviewed all of the posts noted so far. Now being one that occasionally has "Senior Moments, I may have inverted one of the views. The review presented the following. Those that noted they wore gloves while turning was 14. Those that did not have any comments on the fact that they wore gloves or not and only told a story was 6. Those that noted they did not wear any gloves while turning was 17.

Even if we were to take one away from the no and apply it to the yes, it would be at 15 to 16.

This reflects that the answer is, Wrong, to the above question and the general senses is that most do not wear some type of glove while turning.

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[Andy Hoyt]

Bill - Ya gotta stop doing all this higher math stuff. Your head will explode.

Like mine just did while trying to keep up with your dissertation.

[Keith Burns]

OK I'll throw in my two cents, not that it's worth muchat only two cents, but you won't catch me wearing gloves around any power tools, period.

[Bill Stevener]

Now Andy, one must realize I have attempted this complex mathematical equation on New Years day-- the morning after new years eve. It's like I red it over 3 times and it was still to short.
Or I could have just said, I do that to see if anyone is reading the post:D
Well anyway, I did place a reason in the reason for edit box.:confused:

Now I have to do it all over again, because Keith jumped in. Oh Well, start over.:(

[Jim Ketron]

Ok add me in No Glove:D I do some welding so my hands are used to the heat! I ether change my cut it it gets warm or take a break and let things cool off.;)

[ROBERT SCHUMAN]

I wear figerless anti vibration gloves when doing rough work, when turning five days a week ten hours a day the ruduced vibration is a plus ,also it can speed up your turning when working with certain kinds of material, green wood is easy to turn but if you add bark ,rocks ,and other stuff coming off in the roughing process it can help, but on the other hand I have seen someone who used an old pair of cotton gloves end up in the hospital.I think the right kind of glove used in the right way can have its benefit,I use mine to polish my projects! and have never had an incedent.good luck!