Turning with Gloves On

[Bryan Milham]

On Page 63 (says 95 in the index) of the latest Woodturning mag there are 5 pairs of gloves to be won.

Now I was always taught that you should not turn with gloves, but there are times I do...

...I wear a glove on my left hand when I have a big rough (bark on) piece of wood or and when I'm turning something with a thin wall that wants to vibrate. I use my palm to dampen the vibrations.

My preference is for sailing gloves (left over from when I used to race Army yachts for my corps). Snug fit and velcro fastening at the wrist. All finger covers end before the middle knuckle (not just 2 finger tips) and they have Kevlar palms, great for wear and abrasion.

What does everyone else do?

Gloves Yes or No?

[Andy Coates]

Same as you. And almost the same glove. Left hand only, and only as a last resort to save skin. AND EVER SO CAREFULLY!

[woodndesign]

Hi Bryan, This could be the great debate .. I have in the past wore rigger gloves as it had been a habit with work, handling cold greasy steel and other things ... the pairs I have remaining I use with rough work in the garden, after all it classed work gloves.

There has been a big debate on WOW about the subject with no real result, maybe 50/50 .. top turners there are seen wearing them, if it's down to gloves, the most say golf glove, much like your own and agree the reason for them rough turning hard burrs the chips cut even gloves.

Bottom line, as with anything worn for turning it shouldn't be loose fitting, as with fingers, it goes for gloves, they're on the hand after all, you keep to the rule reasoning of the hand/fingers will remain .. if they remain on the outer face of the tool rest, not over it at any time.

Then as with most anythings in Life, any part of turning has it's risks, the wearing of glove only if one is sensible.

Cheers   David

[John]

I use a left hand glove when turning big and rough blanks, I have had an injury to my small left finger this gets quite painful when chips keep hitting it.
I use leather gardening gloves. (the left hand one does not have the wear of the right when used for the allotment).
John

[Paul Hannaby]

I would never wear gloves when turning. I like all my fingers where they are!

One solution to the chips hitting your little finger is to use a small plaster applied to the area on your finger where this happens but make sure the plaster is only a small one and not one that is large enough to be wrapped all the way round your finger. That way, if it ever did catch on something, it would just be ripped off.

[bodrighywood]

I must admit that I agree with Paul. Anything that can potentially be caught in the chuck or wood be it gloves, loose clothing or, in my case hair, should be avoided, is dangerous and IMHO should be avoided. Maybe I have thick skin but I have never found that the flying chips are of big enough a problem to bother me that much on my hands, I find that when bowl turning they can be nasty flying up into my face but that isn't a problem with a visor.

Pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

It should be remembered that you should not use any machinery if you are unwell or injured, but we all know that goes out of the window as far as woodturning is concerned. After a lifetime in woodworking I could fill this website with horror stories of accidents, many caused by people wearing gloves.
If you have shavings hitting your fingers painfully there are things you can do or try first.
Reduce the lathe speed as this will reduce the momentum of the flying shavings. Try to re-direct the shavings by rotating the chisel to a slightly different angle. Try turning palm away instead of palm down and that may be a less painful way to deflect the chippings. You may also consider regrinding your chisel to a different angle as that will change the presentation and may also help re-direct the chippings.
If after all that you still feel the need for some sort of Armour I like Paul's suggestion about the sticking plaster. I would consider using a correctly fitted finger stall to protect an individual finger rather than a full glove that stands more chance of being grabbed.
You should all be risk assessing each operation you carry out on the lathe, or other machines, and that should include the negligent use of a glove.
Regards
John BHT

[Eric Harvey]

I use fingerless weightlifting gloves in the winter when it gets cold to stop the semi arthritic fingers seizing up,as I only have a small oilfilled electric rad and seized finger are more dangerous than gloved ones in experience,they are close fitting with re-inforced leather palms and they end at the 1st joint(nearest the palm),

Eric.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Eric I hate to argue with you but as the H&S rep I feel I must(even though I prefer a colder workshop)
If the workshop temperature is such that it is uncomfortable to work, albeit through arthritis, just being cold or any other reason the advice is not to work until the workshop is brought up to a comfortable working temperature. Off the top of my head I think the recommended minimum is 13 degrees.
   I hate to appear to be a killjoy but none of the excuses mentioned here are sufficient reason to wear gloves whilst working on a machine. Bryan,if it is to dampen vibration the wood should be worked another way first to reduce the vibration.John, if you have an injury you should not be operating machinery. As I said before every time you enter your workshop you should be risk assessing constantly, just think like an employer, what would you say to an employee who did not adhere to your Health and safety policy?And I know that this sounds extreme, and it probably is to a point, but now think how fast you lathe is running and how quick your injurynegligent injury could happen.
regards
John BHT

[woodndesign]

Sanding Gloves ... How is it on H&S ..

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Hi David,
         I for one would never use them. The reasons are this, if you wear gloves to sand you stand the chance of warming up your work and having it cause heat shakes.
From a H&S point of view there is a very real risk of a torsion injury, especially if using a finger with abrasive fitted to it. As an experiment try rolling up a bit of abrasive paper around you finger and then twist it to see how tight it goes. Imagine this happen at the speed of a lathe, you would never get your finger out in time.
 Hope this helps.
regards
John BHT

[hughie]

Yep lboth hands, when turning very hard wood the chips tend to come off very hot, both hands because I turn with both.

[Mark Sanger]

Those that rough turn thousands of bowls a year may disagree that wearing safety gloves during turning is dangerous. I am personally undecided either way.

I have been trying to find where in the advert where it says the gloves being given away are for use in turning anyhow.But then I see you have not said it does Bryan so I am assuming ( that dangerous past time)  that you are just musing the subject.

If we are just assuming it is the representation of the gloves being shown in a woodturning magazine alone that implies they are for use when turning, do I also assume the skill saw on the opposite page is the latest in woodturning gouges.

[john taylor]

You mean like this Mark, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unmYI5ruEeY I am not endorsing this behaviour and strongly advise against it.

As for wearing gloves I do it quite often for various reasons the main ones being I have suffered from dermatitis for many years which has left me with very sensitive/thin skin on my hands so at times I need to protect them from flying chips otherwise there would be blood everywhere.   The other main reason is that I have arthritis and sometimes I need vibration dampening gloves otherwise I cant turn.

In all cases I am aware of the risks and take precautions to minimise them.

john

[Bryan Milham]

Guy's, (sorry been away for a few days on business),

this has turned into quite a lively debate, thank you for your participation. Somehow I think it may still have a way to go and H&S/cold/med conditions not withstanding, there will always be someone that disagrees or supports the various ideas.

Another glove I use (but not yet mentioned) are vinyl or latex gloves for applying finish, and yes sometimes to a rotating piece of work, albeit probably not as fast as when I am turning.

John, you are quite correct Risk Assessments are important and a necessary part of what we do, even if it is a subconscious thought. Experience is a great lesson giver and hopefully we all learn quite quickly the not so safe things we should avoid or better, the safer ways we should be doing things.

Mark, I've no idea if the advert is for them to be used as turning gloves, but they are in a magazine dedicated to woodturning - maybe other woodwork/craft magazines also carry similar opportunities to win pairs, can anyone answer this?