Gloves in the shop

I'd love it to be 45 in the shop, I'd be out there in shorts and T-shirt, basking in the warmth :) I've been down to 10F in the garage before, but then it starts to get painful as anything metal you pick up hurts. There's no point heating it either - big open space with no insulation. On the flipside, in summer it gets up to 110F in there, so I end up getting hot chips hitting my chest and stuck between my toes. When I get my own place, an insulated and heated workshop/ garage will be near the top of the list!
 
Gloves are not the problem, it's whomever is using them incorrectly that creates any physical dilemma. If a machine is cutting or turning, your hands
shouldn't be directly in the tool cutting path to begin with.
 
I am sorry but the idea of not wearing gloves that will protect your hands so that you can do stupid things like put your hands near moving or rotating tooling is sort of counter productive. It's akin to the argument I have heard where someone refuses to wear a seat belt because someone that slammed into a wall at 70 MPH had a seat belt cut into them and kill them. Never mind hitting the windshield or steering column would have made them just as dead. I have worked wood, metal, plastics, wrenched on cars and many other hands on things. I wear gloves. I also don't put my hands in places that they can get caught. If it's moving, it gets a wide berth of at least 6 inches. No matter if it's a piece of work in a lathe, a cutter in a mill or a saw blade on a table saw. I even go as far as setting circular and table saw blades to only cut 1/8 inch over the thickness of the material being cut. It is too easy to take the time to work safely and not expose myself to dangerous situations that can be avoided by taking a minute or two of additional time to setup a saw or clamp something or shut off a piece of equipment to clean swarf or sawdust or whatever.
 
Some months back I attended a lecture in which the speaker stated that "In the Glasgow area all the turners on big machines wore ties"-- Really? I have been around that area for most of my past working life, (Before the present crazy economics shut 90% of them down, from the 1980/s on wards) And cannot remember these guys having ties on when operating machine tools, The only exceptions I do recall were some of the old toolmakers who looked a million dollars , wore a nice blue shirt , white collar & tie and frequently a smart grey warehouse coat which kept them safe by keeping their tie prisoner.
Some years back (about 20 years ago) an unfortunate turner was killed in Scotland by a rag on his overall sleeve which became entangled with a large steel cutting dragging him into the machine.

Guys have fun, enjoy your machine tools, Without mine, I would be lost, But keep alert to the split second accident which can occur, "Care and Caution + Common Sense",
and life should be a beach.
 
One of the first things I was taught was no gloves, no jewelry or watches, keep your shirt tucked in and roll up your sleeves and check yourself to make sure there is nothing on your body that could get pulled into a machine including hair.
 
, keep your shirt tucked in and roll up your sleeves

I'm glad to hear that, our old friend Arthritis has made it so I can no longer easily button cuff buttons. I roll my sleeves up when I put on a shirt and live that way. I do, occasionally, realize they need re-rolling and do so, but still am a bit concerned. I am aware when working on the lathe that I need to have care, so I guess I do.
 
The ONLY time I wear gloves is using air tools, grinders, cut off and the like, I like the plain white leather ones best. Those air tools get AWFULLY cold fast in the winter.
 
I was a Manufacturing Engineer in a few places and NEVER wore a tie and no boss ever said anything about it. I was out in all sorts of machinery, up close and personal like, and I wasn't gonna let a rag around my neck get me hurt. I used to shake my heads at those that wore ties.....then again, they didn't spend much time on the floor.
 
I am sorry but the idea of not wearing gloves that will protect your hands so that you can do stupid things like put your hands near moving or rotating tooling is sort of counter productive. It's akin to the argument I have heard where someone refuses to wear a seat belt because someone that slammed into a wall at 70 MPH had a seat belt cut into them and kill them. Never mind hitting the windshield or steering column would have made them just as dead. I have worked wood, metal, plastics, wrenched on cars and many other hands on things. I wear gloves. I also don't put my hands in places that they can get caught. If it's moving, it gets a wide berth of at least 6 inches. No matter if it's a piece of work in a lathe, a cutter in a mill or a saw blade on a table saw. I even go as far as setting circular and table saw blades to only cut 1/8 inch over the thickness of the material being cut. It is too easy to take the time to work safely and not expose myself to dangerous situations that can be avoided by taking a minute or two of additional time to setup a saw or clamp something or shut off a piece of equipment to clean swarf or sawdust or whatever.

I get what you are saying, but the concept of no gloves is pretty well established. No matter how careful you are there will come an opportunity for your gloved hand to get caught by a machine tool an pull you in. That is different that a seat belt which is shown to statistically reduce injury. Earlier in the thread I commented on a guy who got cut by an industrial bandsaw. He was wearing gloves. He got pulled into the blade and cut his hand off. I have been cut by my bandsaw (just two fingers.) Thank God I was not wearing gloves.
Having said that, I think gloves are essential for some tools. Angle grinders and torches come to mind. The bottom line is I think you need to be aware of the risks and evaluate each unique situation rather than always wear gloves.
I hope I am not being too argumentative.
R
 
Back
Top