Do you wear gloves when you turn?

[jcooper]

i was curious to see how many people wear gloves when they turn. I usually wear these gloves http://www.clccustomleathercraft.com/products/detail003.asp?partNo=150
when i am mostly turning dry wood to reduce heat and burning on my hands.

 

[Randy]

I have a pair of Mechanix Framers that is very similar to what you use. I like them alot. They keep splinters out of my hands, make turning more comfortable, and keeps CA glue off my hands too. I would caution anyone considering gloves to get a pair that fits well without being loose on your hands.

 

[Sky]

I wear a glove similar to them,usually only on my left hand. I have a dry skin patch on two knuckles that can't take the chips most of the time on medium to large turnings.

 

[john lucas]

My shop is really cold in the winter so I wear my gloves as much as I can. I'm always aware that I have gloves on so I try to stay clear of the spinning wood. I will also occasionally wear a glove on my left hand when turning larger dry pieces of wood.

 

[Mr. Don]

Gloves

You people do what you want, but for me, wearing gloves around rotating equipment makes the same kind of sense as wearing rings, watches, loose clothes, long hair (head and/or beard). I used to work in a machine shop, and witnessed first hand a literal scalping from long head hair tangled in a drill press ( the person survived, but many surgeries!!!), fingers with rings torn off by lathes, etc....if you have a skin or other problem, there are other safer ways to deal with it. Be safe...most body parts DO NOT GROW BACK!!!! P.S....the same goes for paper towels vs. rags for hot wax on lathe polishing (Hut pen wax)...the rags grip and pull...the towels tear free. Do the math!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Simoli]

I've considered it when turning dried wood, but won't wear them since it gives me the weebie geebies when I think of what could happen.

 

[Bart Castleberry]

A little tape, masking or blue painters works for me on my left hand where the shavings hit and burn, usually just below my little finger on the back and side. On rare occasion I've used a glove when the wood was for whatever reason losing large pieces that made great splinters, but that's usually turner error and short lived.

 

[woodwish]

I have a pair of nylon and leather sailor's gloves that look a lot like the ones above but have nothing past the first joint on any finger instead of just the first two as above. The fit tight and sure make turning nicer- no hot chips bouncing off the sides of the hands, tools have more cushion on the palms of the hands, etc. I undrstand the point made about turning equipment and gloves made in the two posts above, but I prefer the comfort and accept the risks. I also am very careful. I also wear them for most of the flat work I do.

 

[Brian Myers]

Glove on the left hand unless cold then both. Glove on the left has saved some knuckle skin a few times. Goatskin gloves with fingers.

 

[colinsp]

Thin leather glove on left hand ONLY when turning bowls from dry wood. Never for spindle work.

 

[Ron Sardo]

I wear a glove on my left hand when turning bowls or platters from dry wood. My hand is behind the tool rest, so no need to worry.

 

[Richard Baker]

Yes. Very snug fitting knit gloves with neoprene or nitrile foam coating on palm and fingers. Can pick up a dime from a smooth surface with them.

 

[Bob Chapman]

gloves

Some woods produce such hard/sharp debris that it does hurt. An example is the outer shell of Banksia nuts. On these occasions I wear a latex glove on my left hand. It is such thin material that it would simply rip off if it were to catch, yet it still cushions the chips enough to reduce the pain to mere discomfort.

Bob

 

[MichaelMouse]

I've considered it when turning dried wood, but won't wear them since it gives me the weebie geebies when I think of what could happen.

Yep, I've seen both the training films and the real life up close and spurting, so I won't do it. That light touch against something catchy, unnoticed through the glove, can be all you need to react and get your hand out of danger. Then again, skin/flesh is sort of a breakaway item, gloves aren't. That's where the finger usually remains.

For the hot shaving issue, I simply pick up a different gouge and drop the shavings sideways rather than down the flute.

 

[gran]

I saw what happened when a man got a bit of clothing tangled in shaft a 600 hp motor. Maybe my 1 1/2 isn't as powerful but I don't want to risk it

 

[DMcIvor]

gloves

I prefer not to wear gloves, but end up wearing one or two maybe 50 percent of the time. I have a tight fitting pair. I face two problems. In winter my shop can be in the single digits, and holding a metal gouge or touching the lathe with bare skin is just not an option--it's almost instant numbnous. The second is the issue mentioned elsewhere of either hot or sharp chips. In that case I'll wear a glove on my left hand long enough to get through the problem, then revert to bare hands if temp permits. I take seriously the warnings others issue about getting a glove snagged, but it is all a calculated risk.

Don

 

[Sky]

I worked in a slaughter house for several years and have seen what machinery can do to body parts. I will cut back on my well fitted glove usage on my left hand & try low sticking painters tape on my skin problems. Coldness is no problem here in South Florida. Today at our turning club workshop one our members was applying finish to a spinning piece on the lathe when the rag he was using snagged and was pulled out of his hand wrapping around the turning flapping loudly. Fortunatly he didn't have it around his fingers ( which we stress greatly here ) . I new this could happen and in 8 years of turning never witnessed it. Paper towels is the way to go.

 

[KenN]

In my former life as a sculpture professor, I witnessed too many students injuried by breaking the "No gloves around machines not being held in your hands" rule in addition to all the other "comfort" or "expedience" excuses of not rolling up sleeves, removing rings, watches, loose sweaters or vests, neckties (right!) or necklaces, etc.

So long as you are comfortable turning with gloves in a cold shop holding a hot gouge and nothing untoward happens, O.K. But - when it goes wrong on a stationary machine - lathe, tablesaw, bandsaw, drillpress, whatever....it goes wrong in spite of our comfort and is over before you know it has happened. All you can do then is deal with getting your hand fixed, and hope your time away from the work is not too long.

We have an uncanny sense of where our hands are in space with reference to our big toys. Yet, even at that, we receive a reminder on occasion with a nick or bruise. Following an expletive and maybe a bandaid, we go right back to work. We have no sense of where the surface of that glove is, however. Anything attached to us which gets caught in a spinning chuck will pull our hand right in with it - ala finishing RAGS as opposed to the paper towels mentioned in previous responses.

It seems to me that it might be more prudent to figure out how to warm up the shop, change the grip on the gouge with dry wood, or use tape than put our non-exchangable parts at risk.

Be safe, turn long.

 

[Mr. Don]

gloves

Thank you MichaelMouse for your vote....to those of you that cry because of the cold...GET A HEATER!!! I have no problem with you that use paper tape in sensible wraps for protection. If the shavings are hot, MAYBE you are using wrong tool or just in a hurry. SLOW DOWN!!! Heck, it took 7 days to build the world...you are trying to turn a piece NOW?? Peace and be safe.

 

[john lucas]

I appreciate all the warnings and I'd love to heat my shop more. It isn't possible at this time. So I have the option of not turning or wearing gloves. I do try not to wear them anymore than I necessary and do my very best to wear snug fitting gloves and keep my hands away from the spinning piece. I realize it is a risk but so is driving my car and commuting to work on my bicycle. I look at the dangers and assume the risk but I do try to keep it at a minimum.
I'm certainly not trying to attack anyone on this, your advice is sound and greatly appreciated. Turning keeps me sane so I choose to stand in a freezing shop and do it, but doing so means I have to make choices.

 

[Ron Sardo]

So what do you all think about cutting the tips of fingers from the glove off?


Edit In:
-------
This is the first time this Yankee used "you all" in a sentence"

 

[Joe Greiner]

I usually don't wear gloves while turning. If the tool is getting too hot, so is the wood, and it's time to give both of them a rest.

I recently turned some things from a Christmas tree. I wore disposable latex gloves, as well as full body coverage, for protection from the sap, which flies everywhere. I also wear disposable gloves when finishing with CA or similar finishes. I don't mind getting my hands dirty, but I find that frequent washing dries my old skin too much, and also requires extra towels for drying my hands after washing.

Joe

 

[Paul Engle]

Being a machinist, mechanic, woodworker , now wood turner.... never ever worn golves, still have all 10 digits, both eyes, one nose, two ears, and my sanity. I take off my wedding band and watch, wear eye protection, no loose clothes and no long hair, has served me well for 38 years. The conservitive approach is " SAFTEY FIRST " . If your shop is very cold I recommend you save up to get some heat as cold can be dangerous by it self. In the Army we had a saying" nothing we do in peace time is worth a life lost" , and nothing you do in the shop is worth loosing any of the above.

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

Yes I know its a bad idea but I wear a golf glove on my left hand almost always while turning, cheap Walmart model $6. Before I was a turner I was a carver and I ran a skew gouge through my left index finger, it works but there is nerve damage and chips from turning feel like lighting bolts on the side of that finger. Between that and the arthristis in my index fingers I wish I could get them replaced, but at 46 years old I better wait a few years.

Frank

 

[Mr. Don]

Gloves???????

Thanks to all you that tried to warn the "It cannot happen to me" crowd. Guess they are going to do dumb stuff NO MATTER WHAT!!! I will just wait...some day they will check in with "guess what happened in my shop today???" Oh well,,,,we tried..... :mad: :mad:

 

[Vince Welch]

No glove used here!!

Vince

 

[KEW]

Perhaps, if there were stories of people losing a finger from wearing gloves on the wood lathe showing up on forums from time to time, there would be less people who would wear gloves while turning.
Just like leaving the guard off of a table saw (which does have occasional stories of people losing a finger or two), the best you can expect of people is that they be aware of the danger and then let them make their own decision. Upon rereading these posts, it is good to see that no one seems to think "It cannot happen to me". That would be scarey, indeed!

 

[jcooper]

from some of the replies, it sounds as if spindlework poses a bigger threat. is this true?

 

[Steve Worcester]

from some of the replies, it sounds as if spindle work poses a bigger threat. is this true?

Either probably. Spindle work is usually higher RPMs, so the force would be greater and quicker. As far as the dangers, once the blank is round, there are fewer places to catch the glove on. For square turning, that all gets thrown out the window.

I do know of injuries with about everything mentioned, rings, hair, shirts, gloves, and certainly injuries where none of these were involved. Woodturning is inherently dangerous, whether you are spinning a pen blank or a 500 lb burl. You have to weigh the options of comfort/safety and decide for yourself.

In fact I know of a kid that fell of a roof and caught his ring on nail from the gutter. Lost that finger. Had he not been wearing a ring, who knows?

 

[Donna Banfield]

Wearing Gloves

I wear a glove, on the left hand only. This is a glove that I have already worn working outdoors, and one or more of the fingers has been worn throughwith use.

When relegated to a turning glove, I cut the fingers off, down to the first knuckle, so that the protection I seek and need is at the top of the hand when turning hot, dry wood; or when roughing, very wet wood (not so bad). I usually go through about 3-4 pairs of gloves working outdoors each year, so have plenty of 'turning glove' stock.

I live in New England. I may not have been born a Yankee, but have adapted their frugal ways

 

[Bill Siler]

Gloves

I rarely wear a glove when turning. It has never seemed all that risky to me, but it is rarely helpful either. I do like to wear a cloth glove on my left hand when I'm trying to dampen chatter in a thin-walled vessel or a very thin spindle. I don't think such fragile items could do much damage even if one of them somehow grabbed the glove. Come to think of it, I also sometimes wear cloth gloves when buffing a finished piece. The cloth gloves make it easier to allow the piece to slowly rotate in my grip as I press it into the buffing wheel.

 

[KEW]

from some of the replies, it sounds as if spindlework poses a bigger threat. is this true?

I'm not sure what you are inferring this from, but I think it is a good statement that your hand doesn't take as much abuse from hot chips while spindle turning. I think the benefit of wearing a glove is generally higher for faceplate turning because the chips don't commonly eject into the back of your hand.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Spindles are dangerous basically in one dimension, faceplates in two. RPM is a consideration only as it relates to velocity, which is measured in FPM. It's lifting the hand to move back and recommence a pass that would seem to be the most dangerous maneuver, because your attention is still on the business end of the tool, not the leading edge of the movement, which is your expanded hand.

Just that moment of inattention, even when single-tasking, is all it takes. Show of hands, how many have taken a hack out of the inside of a piece by leaving the tool on the rest and leaning for the ON/OFF switch?

Could as easily been a glove caught, carried and jammed. Sometimes even a friction catch is sufficient, rather than the form catch we normally think about. I have a bad habit of braking my lathe with the handwheel, which, even though smooth, sometimes pushes my hand around a bit. A glove ... nah.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Inattention: Although deliberate action is necessary when bringing the tool to the work, it's just as important when moving away from the work. I've had some magnificent crashes by forgetting this.

Joe

 

[gsieracki]

I never wear a glove while turning. Just too risky for my taste.

The closest I ever come is wearing a latex glove when applying a friction polish, with the lathe not turning. It comes off to burn in the polish with a paper towel though, right before turning the lathe on. I just don't like getting that stuff on my fingers.

Gerry

 

[Michael Matthews]

Let me help you

I'm an anesthesiologist when I'm not a wood turner. If you prefer to wear gloves when you turn it allowes me to make a better living so I can buy all the turning tools I want and send all my kids to college. I have been practicing medicine for 35 years and can't remember how many hand cases I have done because guys were caught in rotating, cutting, sawing, lathe type machines while wearing gloves, long loose sleeves, or just looking somewhere else for a second. If you do wear gloves make sure your health insurance is current. I prefer you be extra carefull! Good safe turning to you!

 

[Fog Tanner]

I wear one glove on my left hard part of the time. Its a leather glove with the fingers and thumb cut off half way up. I use for all my bowl turning when getting rid of the outside and coring the inside. I also use it when roughing spindle work. The main reason is to keep the chips from pelting my left hand. As I don't grab the work with it, I don't have any problems in using it. It has on occaasion kept my hand from the chuck jaws when I brushed them when turning very close to them. I also use it for some stages of my spindle work as a brake pad. I like to stop the piece very quickly using the hand wheel and its easier on my hand.

But, when making boxes and some other spindle items I never wear a glove. It takes away from the feel of the more delicate tools and cuts. And as I use my hand to steady the piece for some cuts, I don't want the leather abraiding the surface either. But, along with all that I don't wear any rings or watchs - something I have seen a number of other turners do that run if you mention wearing a glove.

 

[Claude]

I always wear leather gloves when I turn but when I do some miniatures.
In such a case the chips are so small that it's not owrth wearing them.

 

[raisinsawdust]

Gloves

I wear gloves on both hands - I only wear athletic style gloves with leather palms, nylon backs and make sure they fit super tight!

Ray

 

[GeorgeH]

My rule has ALWAYS been to rid myself of neck ties, lose fitting clothing, rings, watches, etc. when working around machinery. With thirty years of experience in emergency response, and a few close calls of my own, I'm not about to change that rule. It's possible to get away with risky practices for a very long time; but it only takes once to destroy a perfectly good hand. If cold hands are a problem, I simply use a space heater positioned to provide warm air in the area where the hands are working.