# Gloves



## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

I know that generally speaking, wearing gloves is NOT a good idea when working with power tools, such as a table saw.

But I've been working with some pre-finished birch plywood lately, and the cut edges are sharp, and it's also very easy to get splinters in my hands. So I've been using some tight fitting gloves as much as I can, and NOT using them much when actually using the table saw.

Also, sometimes there are cuts where my hands are pretty far from the blade. For example, using a crosscut sled. Or ripping wide boards or panels. Of course I use push blocks and shoes when possible.

Is there in fact any gloves that are considered safe to use with a table saw?

Or should I just accept the fact that before I turn the saw on, I need to pull the gloves off.


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## conifur (Apr 1, 2015)

I only work with gloves on most of the time. Light and tight fitting, they can save you, just as you feel the glove getting cut it gives you a chance to correct your action. 2 examples, I had my own hands on residential remodeling company,one day no gloves on, on and install of a post light with a self tapping screw to mount the light base on the pole, Phillips head, slipped off and nailed my thumb with the Phillips head drive, nasty.
Other time cutting sheet flooring on a straight edge with a razor knife, left hand holding the straight , index finger hanging over the edge, bad positioning in the first place, no glove on, sliced the meat on it along the finger nail about a 1/2"', If I had my gloves on I would have felt the blade hit the glove and retreated. Gloves are your friend, once you get comfortable using them!!!!! 
I have a pair with the sticky spots on them when doing small things on the router table.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I'd say get used to taking them on and off. I've used gloves
for several years in handling material and working on machinery
and it's made a big difference in the general condition of
my hands. That said, I don't generally wear gloves when
making cuts. I won't say I have never done it though. While
wearing gloves is generally considered totally dumb and
unsafe in woodworking, lets consider the hungry chainsaw
and ask if you think its a tool to wear gloves when using.

Of course I have often worn gloves when using a chain saw
and the reason is that if my hands get anywhere near the
running cutterhead and I have much larger safety issue
than whether or not I am wearing a glove.

Note however that I also use the guard whenever possible
with the table saw and consider the argument that
the cut needs to be visible malarkey. I set up the cut
with the saw off and there's no reason to deviate, 
and thus no reason to 'watch' the cut.

Properly you shouldn't be wearing a glove anywhere 
near a spinning motorized tool head, even the 
innocent-looking belt sander (I'm way not recommending 
wearing a glove with a belt sander, btw), but as
a practical matter you might see that the chain saw
argument and make some adjustments accordingly
as you gain insight and experience.


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## RRBOU (Feb 15, 2012)

I wear gloves all the time when it is cold. My rule is if i an whiten 2" of any rotating steel I do not make the cut.


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## Yonak (Mar 27, 2014)

This one of those on-going issues people have strong opinions about and often don't agree with each other. I'm in the camp of those who use gloves for almost every operation in the shop .. normally tight-fitting nimble gloves unless rough lumber is involved. Indeed, I have a different style pair for each type of operation.

Clearly it's personal preference and a comfortability issue. If one doesn't feel safe or doesn't feel like they can safely operate with gloves on then gloves are not the answer for them. I suggest trying it both ways for awhile to determine your preference.

I feel that gloves have saved my fingers at the table saw and belt sander from nicks and scrapes more than once but I wouldn't wear them if I wasn't completely comfortable with my ability and dexterity with them on.

My favorite go-to gloves are Terminator gloves by Banom (a rather unfortunate name), which I got after a tip from another woodworker at this site, or another. Their grip tends to go away a bit after some use but they have good resistance to splinters.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

I use gloves when it's needed rough sawn Douglas fir and Western red Cedar splinters are nasty.And hard to get out.


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## Yonak (Mar 27, 2014)

> I have a pair with the sticky spots on them when doing small things on the router table.
> 
> - conifur


conifur, which gloves to you use at the router table ? I'm in the market for a glove with good grip.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I will say for sure that you could get real messed up
wearing gloves while operating a drill press. The 
tool looks real innocent and runs quiet but it could
break your hand or worse real quick if a glove got
caught.

A university student was killed a few years
back when hair got caught in a small laboratory 
lathe.


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## lateralus819 (Mar 24, 2013)

Guy at work was clearing a chip off a Drill press and it tangled his hand up good. Luckily he got it out before it did any real damage. He was bleeding and sore for a while.


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## cracknpop (Dec 20, 2011)

I agree, clothing/hair near spinning objects can lead to significant injuries real quick. With that being said…

I frequently wear gloves in the shop. Currently I am wearing a pair of Majestic Cut-Less, seamless knit dipped in HPPE that a friend gave me (he works at local car assembly factory) They are snug fitting and the coating keeps them from snagging/protects from splinters. The palm coating softened up very quickly and allows decent tactile sensitivity. So far, I like them a lot better than the leather palm 'Mechanix type' gloves I typically use.

Extra care is necessary, but hey, aren't we supposed to be EXTRA careful anytime we are using sharp/spinning tools?


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## conifur (Apr 1, 2015)

Yonak
they are a cotton type that have the little rubber dots on them, some have lines of rubber, but on the router table with a smooth piece of wood they work nice for me.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

> This one of those on-going issues people have strong opinions about and often don t agree with each other.
> 
> - Yonak


I'd phrase that a bit differently. For use with machines with spinning blades, the vast majority of experienced woodworkers never use gloves, and a small minority believe they can do so safely b/c of the type of glove they use, or how close they get to the blade, or haw safe they are, etc.

The above has nothing to do with folks who wear gloves to move rough lumber, plywood, etc. Lots of good reasons to wear gloves when there's no spinning blades around. All you need is one solid cotton thread to get wrapped on a router blade.

I have heard of folks who where heavy nitrile gloves or the like. They'll just shred on contact. I would think the cut-less gloves would be particularly dangerous because they're made to resist the cutting of the glove. The great danger with gloves is that the fabric or leather is strong enough not to snap or cut but do pull your hand into the blade. The coating could mitigate that to a point.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I always think that if I could make gloves work the way chainsaw chaps work I could make a million dollars. But table saws aren't chainsaws so I guess I will stay poor.

Maybe Sawstop will come out with a jointer and DP and circular saw and pneumatic nail guns and we can all feel safe all the time.

Maybe those gloves that look like they were dipped in rubber would be safe.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

I think of the tear-away jersey analogy. Remember back a few decades when college football teams used tear-away jerseys for their running backs and wide receivers? When defensive player would grab the jersey, they'd be left with a handful of jersey, watching the player run down the field. Weaker fabric was better in that case.

When hands/gloves get around spinning blades, you don't want strength-better a nick on the skin than a hand pulled in by the glove.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

There have been a number of post that talk about a persons glove getting caught in the table saw blade and pulling their hands into the blade,one person was a surgeon and said after the fact he felt before the accident his hands would never get that close to the blade.
It's only common sense to use gloves where you need them but take them off when operating machinery.


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## nick_name (Oct 4, 2015)

I have been wearing CLC gloves for years. The flex grip Workright style is lightweight and perfectly fits my hand to the point that I feel like it's an extra layer of tough skin. For a $12 pair of gloves, it's hard to find a better value.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00495ZFDE

As I get older I am much more tuned for shop safety and these thin gloves provide the right level of protection without introducing a safety issue.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

Those CLC gloves look to me to be exactly the kind of gloves that will lower your chance of getting nicks and cuts and increase the chance that you'll lose a finger or mangle a hand.


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## nick_name (Oct 4, 2015)

Thanks. Happy New Year to you as well.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=201798774

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=201167707

If you have a saw stop gloves negate the safety technology that works off the electrical impulses in your skin.

why gamble with* any* glove,whether gloves are form fitting or not ,what might have been just a nick can turn into an amputation once the saw blade grabs glove material,look at what a table saw accident did to this guy,even though he didn't mention gloves the accident changed his life.

http://www.fairwarning.org/2013/05/tom-corbett-within-a-second-my-fingers-were-on-the-ground/


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

> Thanks. Happy New Year to you as well.
> 
> - nick_name


I'm not trying to be funny. I used to wear gloves almost exactly like those until I learned that my attempt at safety made me less safe.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

It seems pretty clear that any type of glove is going to increase the chance of getting tangle in moving machinery.

Just found some OSHA reports on drill press accidents. I quickly looked at 10 of the reports. 8 of ten involved wearing gloves (mostly amputations) and the glove was cited as pulling the hand into the machine in every case. Of the other two, one was a robot drilling machine that hit a worker in the head and the other was some combination drilling stamping machine and it seemed the accident had more to do with stamping than drilling.

Bottom line drill press and gloves is a bad mix. But all rotating machinery is going to be dangerous with gloves.

In my case, my hands are just taking a beating from the pre-finished plywood. In part because this is a southeast Asian import version with the thinnest veneer layer humanly possible. Lot's of very fine splinters.

I did just start trying some tight fitting gloves and trying to get a feel for them. I've made a few cuts with them on, trying to see if there is a balance. FYI, my TS is a SawStop. But I prefer to not rely on the tech.

At this point I'm just going to keep an eye out and see if I find the perfect glove that fits snug and provides a good grip., And only use them with the TS if the material is causing a lot of splinters, if I can be assured my hands will be well away from the blade or when using the blade guard.

By the way, I really, really would never use them with the drill press. I find it pretty common my hand will touch the chuck. I can't see any way the chuck could grab my fingers, but with a glove on, I can see how things could get very ugly very fast. It turns pretty slow, but is relentless.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

I have issues with splinters and plywood when I'm handling large sheets. Generally with large sheets your hands shouldn't be anywhere near the blade. I don't use a push block when the cut is larger than 12" since my hands are so far from the blade.


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## OggieOglethorpe (Aug 15, 2012)

I like carver's tape on my thumb and forefinger when ripping.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=31213&cat=1,43332

Hockey tape works in a pinch, too..


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

> I have issues with splinters and plywood when I m handling large sheets. Generally with large sheets your hands shouldn t be anywhere near the blade. I don t use a push block when the cut is larger than 12" since my hands are so far from the blade.
> 
> - CharlesA


I'm cutiing both large panels for cabinets as well as ripping roughly 3" wide french cleats. I also believe I can use gloves safely with the large panels because my hands are well away from the blade.

The narrower pieces are trickier. Push blocks aren't working well due to the 8 ft cuts. Dust builds up half way through the cut and they start slipping. I end up having to apply a death grip to the wood, out in front of the table. Of course once I get near the end of the cut, I can use a shoe to catch the end of the material and grip is no longer an issue.


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## BigYin (Oct 14, 2011)

first day at work age 16 I was told, no sleeves below elbow, no gloves, no watches or no rings. no long hair unless its up under a hat no beard longer than an inch and no gold chains hanging out of ya shirt. You dont get little injuries in an engineering shop, you lose fingers hands arms and so on. 
To this day, I still dont wear gloves or sleeves or jewelry, I have scars on hands and arms but I can still count to eleven without taking off my steel cap boots.

if you must cover sharp edges use a wad of paper towel which can be released without snagging you.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

A number of years ago, Charles Neil turned me onto fingerless workout gloves. I have two pair and wear them when I am handling rough stock. It is surprising how much protection they afford. And as others have said, I only wear them when I need them … most of the time they are in a drawer in my bench.


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## conifur (Apr 1, 2015)

I think you have to analyze the situation, a drill press and lathe turning there is nothing to stop your hand if some how gets tangled on the spinning device. A saw blade is different, there is only a partial exposure to the rotating blade, so the table would act as stop from the continual rotation. I hope that made sense.


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## daddywoofdawg (Feb 1, 2014)

the mechix or whatever the name sold at sears and K mart,are really nice spandex with rubber palm and fingers. Helps keeping the blood of the wood. ha ha.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

> I think you have to analyze the situation, a drill press and lathe turning there is nothing to stop your hand if some how gets tangled on the spinning device. A saw blade is different, there is only a partial exposure to the rotating blade, so the table would act as stop from the continual rotation. I hope that made sense.
> 
> - conifur


yes, when the table stops the rotation, the blade has something solid to cut against, and the pulling in motion will definitely stop, and whatever is in the saw blades way will definitely be cut away from what it is connected to.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

I agree. While all of the rotating machines can grab a glove and pull your hand into it. A table saw blade is not going to pull the glove or your hand below the the table surface. It will just start cutting through glove and fingers.

Drill press or similar is going to try to wrap you around it. Something is going to give. Possibly the tool will stall, but also possibly it will rip your finger off.


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