Which power tools should you wear gloves when using?
September 30, 2015 6:06 AM Subscribe
Which power tools should you wear gloves when using and which should you not?
Yes, anytime your hands will be near rapidly and forcefully moving parts, gloves are a very bad idea. Wear gloves when running a chainsaw or jackhammer, but with typical portable and stationary woodworking tools, generally no.
posted by jon1270 at 6:18 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by jon1270 at 6:18 AM on September 30, 2015
Worth noting that long hair and any loose clothing can be a serious hazard near parts that have a fair bit of mass and are spinning thousands of times per minute. Nobody has the strength or reaction time to resist that sort of pull.
posted by jon1270 at 6:27 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jon1270 at 6:27 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I worked in the student machine shop in college. We did not use gloves for most tools - lathes, milling machines, drills, anything else with rotating parts that could grab the gloves. Band saws were on a case-by-case basis; I usually didn't use them if I was cutting softer materials, but cutting steel takes more effort (and more time on the blade) so the stock tended to get hot and I would wear gloves.
I would wear gloves while using buffing wheels (the one exception to "no rotating machinery"), while sand blasting, and while welding. When I occasionally needed to use hand power tools (hand drills and Sawzalls, usually) I would wear gloves.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:32 AM on September 30, 2015
I would wear gloves while using buffing wheels (the one exception to "no rotating machinery"), while sand blasting, and while welding. When I occasionally needed to use hand power tools (hand drills and Sawzalls, usually) I would wear gloves.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:32 AM on September 30, 2015
it's been some time since i worked in a real workshop, but if you wanted to protect your hands (and make cleaning them easier), barrier cream used to be the best solution.
posted by andrewcooke at 6:36 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by andrewcooke at 6:36 AM on September 30, 2015
Jewelry is the other thing, beyond loose hair and clothing we police people for. No arm jewelry, big rings or necklaces near rotating or oscillating equipment.
We do explicitly require gloves near high-speed equipment for chemical exposure reasons, we're a chemistry lab, but those are low mechanical strength nitrile gloves, the blue type you see medical people wearing too. They are skin-tight and will shred if caught in something. But nothing heavier.
posted by bonehead at 6:54 AM on September 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
We do explicitly require gloves near high-speed equipment for chemical exposure reasons, we're a chemistry lab, but those are low mechanical strength nitrile gloves, the blue type you see medical people wearing too. They are skin-tight and will shred if caught in something. But nothing heavier.
posted by bonehead at 6:54 AM on September 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I wear chainsaw gloves (the sort with the ballistic nylon padding) and a helmet/face guard when I'm cutting logs, and a thin pair of leather gardening gloves when using a hedge trimmer (mainly for allergies when handling the trimmings). I can't think of a single workshop tool, apart from welding gear, where I'd want gloves. Gloves will not protect you from a router or saw accident; they'll only make it more likely that you'll fumble something.
posted by pipeski at 7:18 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by pipeski at 7:18 AM on September 30, 2015
Avoid wearing gloves when using any tools with spinning parts
This is true. But, there are exceptions. For example, wear gloves when using an angle grinder.
Also, I will wear gloves when drilling or machining metal. Those little slivers are sharp as hell and a real bitch to remove.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:47 AM on September 30, 2015
This is true. But, there are exceptions. For example, wear gloves when using an angle grinder.
Also, I will wear gloves when drilling or machining metal. Those little slivers are sharp as hell and a real bitch to remove.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:47 AM on September 30, 2015
I have an orbital sander that vibrates a lot; I find that wearing thick canvas gardening gloves helps prevent my hands from aching after using it.
That said, the orbital sander is not that great at actually sanding things. I suspect that a disc sander would be more effective and would vibrate less.
Where you really want gloves is with applying finish or other chemicals -- different gloves, though.
posted by amtho at 8:04 AM on September 30, 2015
That said, the orbital sander is not that great at actually sanding things. I suspect that a disc sander would be more effective and would vibrate less.
Where you really want gloves is with applying finish or other chemicals -- different gloves, though.
posted by amtho at 8:04 AM on September 30, 2015
Also, I will wear gloves when drilling or machining metal. Those little slivers are sharp as hell and a real bitch to remove.
This is another case where thin, fragile gloves like latex or nitrile are the only smart choice. Fabric or leather gloves around such machines are very dangerous.
posted by jon1270 at 8:40 AM on September 30, 2015
This is another case where thin, fragile gloves like latex or nitrile are the only smart choice. Fabric or leather gloves around such machines are very dangerous.
posted by jon1270 at 8:40 AM on September 30, 2015
I don't wear gloves when using any power tools. It would feel very awkward to me. YMMV.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:26 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by humboldt32 at 9:26 AM on September 30, 2015
Gloves don't generally protect you from machine you're using (shock absorption when using a jackhammer or something is the exception). In fact, in almost all cases, gloves are to a greater or lesser extent a hazard when using machinery. Gloves are for protection from the material you're handling. In situations like backseatpilot mentions with hot steel on a band saw, you have to weigh the tradeoff yourself between protection from hot steel and its hot steel shavings and the risk of having your whole hand pulled into a fast blade instead of just your fingertip.
I'll wear gloves when wielding a sawzall or something while doing demo because rusty nails and splinters are a much more likely hazard than getting caught in the blade, but anything that I'm actually working with my hands near to the moving parts, no gloves ever. The other downside is that it's harder to tell where your actual meat parts are when you wear gloves.
Someone else mentions wearing gloves while on a buffer. This is sort of an exception, except they make special flimsy cotton gloves for this purpose that, should they get caught, will tear away rather than wrapping up in the wheel and turning your hand into a sack of gravel.
posted by cmoj at 9:42 AM on September 30, 2015
I'll wear gloves when wielding a sawzall or something while doing demo because rusty nails and splinters are a much more likely hazard than getting caught in the blade, but anything that I'm actually working with my hands near to the moving parts, no gloves ever. The other downside is that it's harder to tell where your actual meat parts are when you wear gloves.
Someone else mentions wearing gloves while on a buffer. This is sort of an exception, except they make special flimsy cotton gloves for this purpose that, should they get caught, will tear away rather than wrapping up in the wheel and turning your hand into a sack of gravel.
posted by cmoj at 9:42 AM on September 30, 2015
It depends a little bit on the gloves. I wear gloves both to protect my hands from splinters and minor cuts and scrapes and so my sweaty palms don't slip on the plastic handles. If I have to get my hand close to any spinning bits that might catch a thread and rip off a finger, I'll take the glove off of that hand but I mostly just make sure I can accomplish my task while keeping my hands as far from the tool as I can. The ones I have fit...well...like a glove and don't have loose bits dangling out to get caught on stuff like these which I think are safer (and work better) but when these ones wear out I will spend a bit more to get ones with better padding/armor over the knuckles.
At the car dealerships where I've worked (in sales) I usually see the mechanics in the shop wearing latex or nitril gloves that are thicker and more durable than what a doctor would use. Something like that might be a good compromise.
posted by VTX at 11:20 AM on September 30, 2015
At the car dealerships where I've worked (in sales) I usually see the mechanics in the shop wearing latex or nitril gloves that are thicker and more durable than what a doctor would use. Something like that might be a good compromise.
posted by VTX at 11:20 AM on September 30, 2015
We use light palm-coated gloves like this for fieldwork. They reduce sensation and dexterity a little, but provide decent grip, even when wet, and some abrasion resistance. The fabric backs allow them to breathe much better than the solid nitrile gloves.
They're made of a light nylon/poly blend, dipped in nitrile or polyurethane. They're cheap enough to be semi-disposable. The light fabric means that they do tend to shred if caught. They are not flame or or spark resistant (not for welding, probably not great for grinding), but they are impermeable on the fingers. They will protect against splinters and metal shavings. I've seen metal workers wearing these as well, though I doubt you would want to near a lathe or a mill, for example.
posted by bonehead at 12:12 PM on September 30, 2015
They're made of a light nylon/poly blend, dipped in nitrile or polyurethane. They're cheap enough to be semi-disposable. The light fabric means that they do tend to shred if caught. They are not flame or or spark resistant (not for welding, probably not great for grinding), but they are impermeable on the fingers. They will protect against splinters and metal shavings. I've seen metal workers wearing these as well, though I doubt you would want to near a lathe or a mill, for example.
posted by bonehead at 12:12 PM on September 30, 2015
Avoid wearing gloves when using any tools with spinning parts (ex. drill press, router).
This advice will lead to dismemberment for general operation of power saws of any type.
Do not wear gloves when brief contact with the working tool will at most cut or tear your skin a little, since any powerful moving part can pull excess glove fabric in and tear off a finger. Skin < Finger
DO WEAR GLOVES when brief contact with the working tool can cause arterial bleeding or severing a finger. The likelihood of having a finger pulled into a drill and ripped off is considerably lower than that of even a small handheld power saw slicing through.
posted by IAmBroom at 4:51 PM on September 30, 2015
This advice will lead to dismemberment for general operation of power saws of any type.
Do not wear gloves when brief contact with the working tool will at most cut or tear your skin a little, since any powerful moving part can pull excess glove fabric in and tear off a finger. Skin < Finger
DO WEAR GLOVES when brief contact with the working tool can cause arterial bleeding or severing a finger. The likelihood of having a finger pulled into a drill and ripped off is considerably lower than that of even a small handheld power saw slicing through.
posted by IAmBroom at 4:51 PM on September 30, 2015
This advice will lead to dismemberment for general operation of power saws of any type... DO WEAR GLOVES when brief contact with the working tool can cause arterial bleeding or severing a finger.
This is bad advice, because it implies that the glove can somehow save you from contact with a rapidly moving blade. Unless the glove is a heat-treated plate mail gauntlet, it just isn't so. Gloves can be useful for improving grip, dealing with cold weather conditions, preventing blisters, etc. and sometimes it's possible to use them for such purposes safely, but no commonly available work glove is both tough enough to meaningfully slow down a powered saw *and* somehow able to avoid catching on the teeth and pulling the hand further in.
posted by jon1270 at 4:40 AM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is bad advice, because it implies that the glove can somehow save you from contact with a rapidly moving blade. Unless the glove is a heat-treated plate mail gauntlet, it just isn't so. Gloves can be useful for improving grip, dealing with cold weather conditions, preventing blisters, etc. and sometimes it's possible to use them for such purposes safely, but no commonly available work glove is both tough enough to meaningfully slow down a powered saw *and* somehow able to avoid catching on the teeth and pulling the hand further in.
posted by jon1270 at 4:40 AM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
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