# Gloves



## Powder keg (Dec 11, 2007)

Last Thursday was the last day of class. We were supposed to meed at the shop where the head instructor works. He runs a shop that machines a lot of plastic. They had a new Hondia Kia (Spelling?) CNC lathe that he wanted to show off. He wasn't there when class was to start? We milled around and a while and he showed up a bit late. We went in the shop and he started warming up some of the machines. Before we started he called everyone together and told us a story.

He started by telling us of a guy that works for him. He is constantly telling this guy not to wear gloves when running powered equipment. He was getting better about not wearing them. But, earlier that day, he was using a powered saw. He had lost his concentration and the saw blade snatched hold of his glove that had wandered to close. The only problem with this is his hand was in the glove. He had to be driven to the hospital, and patched up. It was bad, but it could have been lots worse. The moral to this story is "Don't wear F---ing gloves when you are using power equipment!!!"

Another story happens at the shop where I work. There is a guy that runs some of the drill presses at work. He was wearing gloves. He was in the process of wiping some stringy chips off of the table wearing gloves with the chuck turning. The chips grabbed his gloves and wrapped his hand around the drill bit and chuck. Luckily it was a small drill press and it didn't tear his arm off. Unluckily the glove held fast and had captured his arm. This made it impossible for him to kill the drill press. He was trapped there for a bit until he was able to get someone's attention and have them shut the drill press off. The moral to this story is "Don't wear F---ing gloves when you are using power equipment!!!"

I have a couple more stories but the kiddies will have to leave the room. Please be safe

Wes


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## rake60 (Dec 12, 2007)

Good Point Wes!

Most shops enforce the no gloves around running machines, but there are always the random cases...

Several years ago a man was running a large face mill cutter on a horizontal boring mill where I work. He was wearing a glove and got too close to the cutter. It pulled his gloved hand into the cutter and it did 
exactly what it was designed to do. When another operator was cleaning up the area he picked up the glove and a chunk of flesh dropped out of it. That more or less ruined his day as well.

Rick


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## deere_x475guy (Dec 13, 2007)

Actually guys I would like to add the same warning about jewelery. I am missing my right ring finger from an accident I had 30 years ago. And my dad who was a machinist for National Waterlift had a similar accident but didn't loose his finger.


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## Powder keg (Jan 6, 2008)

Last week a guy I work with was drilling on a drill press at work. He was trying to get rid of a coupe of stringy chips. With Gloves on. He is now missing his thumb nail. The moral to this story is "Don't wear F---ing gloves when you are using power equipment!!!"

Please be safe people.....

Wes


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## Alistair Hosie (Jan 10, 2008)

Surely this makes the call generally that when working with any machines we should eventually all head towards a foot operated cut off switch.Alistair


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## Cedge (Jan 10, 2008)

Allister
Once you run out of hands, feet are all ya got left. Then the warning should read: "Don't wear F---ing socks when you are using power equipment!!!"... ;D

Steve


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## georgeseal (Jan 10, 2008)

While we are on the subject of chips.

Never pull long chips from a turning lathe

I keep a pair of side cutters ( dyke's ) on the lathe and clip the strands as the come off

Was turning some unattainable and the chips were coming off in long strings. One side was like a saw blade the other side was like a razor blade. Dyke's were very handy in converting these to manageable lengths.

George from Conyers Ga.


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## compound driver 2 (Jan 15, 2008)

Hi
Gloves are just simply bad news around any form of machine tool as are rings and bangles of any form.
Did i mention long hair? I wish I still had enough hair to be long but if i had id put a band round it.

As much as anything I go on the basis that my other half made teh effort to get me a ring (made the effort to live with me as well) so why risk damaging the ring she gave me. Mind you the ring was paid for from a joint account so did I pay for it??

Safety switches are a great idea nad no machine should be with out them. But i can promise you a machine will bite you faster than you can hit the button! play safe every time with any workshop tool its the only way to keep your fingers.

cheers kevin


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## Tin Falcon (Feb 7, 2008)

In the course of duties with my "Day Job" I work at a chemical plant from time to time . If I mentioned the company name you would recognize it. I was reading a safety posting on gloves. It is the plant policy that anyone working on the plant must wear leather gloves. If you are using any kind of knife or working with sharp edges Kevlar liners are required. The building I was working in had an electrical contractor working a couple months ago on the intercom system. The contractor was asked about Kevlar gloves. He did not have any . The contractor then asked the contract coordinator if he would provide some . The response was we are not obligated that is your responsibility but here is a pair to use. A couple hours later the contractor showed the CC a cut in the palm of the Kevlar gloves. The guys hand was saved from major injury from a utility knife.The contractor was stripping wire and slipped. 
Work safe 
Tin


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## rake60 (Feb 7, 2008)

Good points Tin.

A couple more thoughts....

Band saw blade manufactures recommend the wearing of gloves when removing and installing 
blades on the machine.

When you are installing an end mill , or even a drill bit in a collet holder, gloves are a viable
safety factor.

I restore old engines. I carry a lot of scares from solvent burns that could have been easily
prevented if I had thought to put on the neoprene gloves that I keep on my shop.

Gloves defiantly have their place in a home shop.
That place ENDS  when a machine tool is ready to run!
In that case, a glove is feelingless extention just asking to be sucked into harms way.

This is a great hobby!
A hobby that involves turning an idea on a plan into a running model engine.
It would be real challenging to dial in that finish cut setting with ones nose or
other appendage. 

There's MORE to be lost!
Could any of you type on a computer key board without fingers?
I paid out a good chunk of change to make this forum available.
In return I expect typing fingers!!!

OK so that's kind of a morbid suggestion to say:
*SAFETY FIRST!*

We want to see your best efforts.
AND, the better one that follows it! 

Rick


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## Tin Falcon (Feb 8, 2008)

As a follow up to my last post to this thread I am thinking of adding a pair of Kevlar cloves to the Home shop PPE drawer. 
10 plus years ago I was laying floor tile for a friend. The utility knife slipped up onto the square I was using as a straight edge and glided across my thumb. Thankfully the thumb Nail protected most of it. The following week I was working putting up a pole barn . That thumb acted like a magnet and seem to attract the hammer. The phrase sticking out like a sore thumb does have real meaning. 
thinking about the various hand work tasks about the home shop me thinks cut resistant gloves could save the precious Ten Digits. we do occasionally have to replace sharp saw blades etc. De burr and handle sheet metal, strip wires etc. 
Tin 
safety first safety always!!!!


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## Rog02 (Feb 8, 2008)

Kevlar gloves are great for many things. I happened upon a source of current issue "Tankers" gloves at a local Army/Navy surplus store which have become my favorite for TIG welding. The black ones are Kevlar while the grey "Aviators Glove" is Nomex. 

If you ever run into one of those utility knife intensive jobs a viable alternative to the Kevlar glove is available at the local fishing tackle shop. A "fileting glove" is a chain mail glove made for dressing fish and will prevent those unforeseen slips from becoming a "911 Moment".

The "mechanic's gloves" that are so popular these days have the added advantage of a "sticky" grip that makes handling sheet metal much easier especially when E-wheeling or running a power hammer. Some even have a gel pad in the palm that greatly reduces wrist trauma when shooting and bucking rivets.

I also keep a box of the blue nitrile handy for paint work and solvent cleaning jobs. They also come in handy when packing bearings or handling raw 4130 tubing. 



> Gloves defiantly have their place in a home shop.
> That place ENDS when a machine tool is ready to run!


Gloves should be used wherever needed and appropriate for protection. They are a safety device that may not be applicable in all situations.


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## BobWarfield (Feb 8, 2008)

Kevlar gloves are great for Tig, and great for handling things with nasty sharp edges. And yes, never wear gloves around rotating machinery!

Cheers,

BW


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## wareagle (Feb 10, 2008)

Gloves are an essential piece in the safety equation. As the other's have said, and with any other saftey device, they have their purposes and limitations. Understand the risks associated with any piece of safety equipment, and utilize the equipment to best mitigate the hazards associated with the task at hand. An example is latex gloves; great for solvents and cleaning, but not really the best option for welding! Use common sense in what you are doing!!!!

This is a little off topic, but it is in regards to gloves nonetheless. A guy that worked for me (electrician) was working in an energized panel with lineman's gloves on. No problem there, until I discovered that he had cut the tip of the thumb and index figers off of the gloves so he could have "a better feel" for the work he was doing. Hence the reason he "worked" for me. That common sense thing really works!!!!


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## doubleboost (Feb 24, 2008)

Hi This is my first post hear.
A friend and i were working in my garage last nite.i was using the lathe whilst he was cutting some 1nch bar by hand. 
My friend has worked with machine tools for 40 years with no more than the usuall cuts and bruses that are part of every day life. 
He is a very clean and safe worker often complaining at me for not wearing gloves when welding tacking jobs up with no screen ,holding jobs by hand in the drill press (you no the sort of thing you do). 
Back to last nite he was wearing kevlar gloves whilst using the hand saw he then went to our new mill drill machine to drill some 1/4 holes ,all i heard was (john take me to hospitall ), i turned around to see blood all over his hand his right index finger having no nail or skin left on above the first nuckle ,the glove was rapped tight around the drill the mangled finger end still inside it . 
All he could say was how stupid he was for this moment of not thinking ,as i write this he is having plastic surgery to tidy his finger . 
It just goes to show how easy it is for this splendid hobby to bite back 
Regards 
John


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## Powder keg (Feb 24, 2008)

John, I hope your friend will be OK. Thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully we will all take heed and learn from his mistake.


Later, Wes


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## doubleboost (Mar 1, 2008)

Hi 

I am posting these pictures of my friends hand to show how easy it is to spoil your day 
He was drilling a 6 mill hole when his glove was pulled in to the chuck ,













This could have been much worse 
Regards
John


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## rake60 (Mar 1, 2008)

For anyone who has never witnessed an accident like that it's
impossible to explain.

The first machine shop I worked was a production shop manufacturing
threaded ferules for gas meters. A coworker was running a vertical column
threading machine. The die head snapped open and started it's upward 
travel to clear the part. There were a few long stringers still sticking to the
chasers. He reached in with a scale to knock them off. He had a glove on and
one of the stringers caught him.
I saw his arm jerk forward and back. Just that quick.
Two fingers were still in the glove that then laying on the machine table... 

It happens too quickly.


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## tattoomike68 (Mar 1, 2008)

I have an accident prone friend with a few short fingers. I tease him by saying "some guys will do anything to get out of work"

He started out by grinding one short with a bench grinder in high school and continued the trend into his adult life.


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## lathe nut (Apr 30, 2008)

I had an old friend of mine who was in his 70's, he made a large homemade compressor with a double belt pulley, put a wall switch on it, well he moved it and forgot to up plug well when his fingers made the round on the pulley cut off all four fingers on one hand between the nails and the next joint, he was not good over that when his lawnmower deck got caught in the drain in the yard, got off the mower reached under the deck and cut the other finger same length on the other hand, well I cut his grass and hid a lot for him until he pass on, I told him one day that I was sorry that those things happened to him, he always saw the good in everything, his reply, "at least I don't have to cut finger nails on 8 fingers like you do", I will cut finger nails, lathe nut


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## Mcgyver (Apr 30, 2008)

what was he doing wearing gloves? Too bad he had to learn the hard way. Obviously one should never wear gloves around machine tools, rule one, or is safety glasses rule one?

i grew up on a farm so you're not going to bother me, but it would be far more appropriate to post links prefixed with a warning than to just open the thread and be presented with your friend's fresh a half a finger so people could decide if that is how they wanted to spend their evening.


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## Bogstandard (May 1, 2008)

I personally like the shock treatment.

OK it might upset a few peoples dinners for a while, but I bet they sure got the point.

When I was in the services they used these sort of shock pictures all over the place, all relevent to the area you were working in. A picture of a persons imprint in a ceiling when the wheel he was working on came apart, sure got the point over, not to stand over a wheel while inflating it. I still stand back when doing the tyres on my car.

Shock works.

John


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## DickDastardly40 (May 1, 2008)

The de-gloved finger from wearing a ring peeling the skin off is a 'shocker' which makes people re-think their jewelery habits.

An unfortunate aspect of the glove accident is that some operations which might require a glove for safety in one instance say can cause a snagging hazard in another.

One can easily pontificate on hazards etc and Health and Safety legislation and how it is implemented but it is important I feel that anybody carrying out any process know the risk of 'what's the worst that can happen' and any hazard which can't be avoided is mitigated, i.e. keep your fingers well clear or don't get between the load and the ship.

In the home shop where we generally work on our own and there is no-one else to switch off the machine which is flailing around a severed hand and administer first aid we must be especially careful. A good first aid kit is a must have. Though they may not be sterile, I tear open the ends of a few choice size sticking plasters and have them out of the box ready in the lid of the kit as if I'm bleeding I don't want to rummage through to find what I want and then attempt to open it one handed. Fortunately no need to prove this method yet! 

I would ask if the gent injured in the pics posted, knew there was a snag hazard from his wearing gloves but wore them anyway. If he had been told to wear them then the liability is a completely different kettle of fish.

I hope he recovers fully.

Al


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## doubleboost (May 1, 2008)

Hi
By posting these pictures i did not want to cause distress to anyone do you want me to remove them and post a link . It has now healed up nicely and causes him little problem.
Regards
John


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## 1Kenny (May 1, 2008)

Hi John,

My feeling is, the pictures are just fine. Safety in our shops is very important and if the images prevent one person to stop, think and not lose a finger, they have done the job. 

Kenny


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## SmoggyTurnip (May 1, 2008)

I have been wondering lately - if we are not to wear gloves or long sleaves how do we protect our arms and hands from flying hot chips? I get little burns on my arms alot - Not a very big deal but it is anoying.


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## Bogstandard (May 1, 2008)

Smog,

I think a lot of it is common sense. I put up with the hot chips on bare skin. Mainly because the other option is no skin at all.

You can buy disposable paper type oversleeves, that if caught in a machine will strip straight off without pulling your arm in. 
Here is a link to sew your own up, a tiny bit of velco in the right places will ensure it rips straight off.

http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/a/sleeveprotecotr.htm

John


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## Alphawolf45 (May 1, 2008)

I just been out in the shop turning stainless steel with lathe...Long strings of razor wire being sent off in my direction...This type work has always scared me into highly alert state, dont need a gory picture to remind me to be careful...Lathe particularly dangerous in my opinion....With the milling machine I try to feed the work from direction that sends chips away from me, that works some of the time., I often set power feed and step away from the mill when its munching metal and throwing bluehot chips to skittering ten foot across the shop floor...But too, I always have 5 to 10 little burn wounds on each hand, cant entirely avoid it,- damn right wear safety glasses and often full face shield..


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## alan2525 (May 1, 2008)

Did anyone see that article on BBC news last night? It was a bout a magic powder made from an extract of pigs bladder that enables fingers to regrow.

Apparently rather than growing scar tissue which stops the bodypart growing back it enables the cells to regrow.

Here's an article, bit out of date though. The guy on the news sliced his finger off with the Prop of an R/C model plane - he didn't ever find the part that was sliced off! Applied the powder everyday from a little salt shaker and 4 weeks later he had the expected number of digits again. Was a little dent in the end of his finger like he had pressed on a ball point pen a little hard after writing a lot. 

After another week or so I'd have thought there would be no sign atall of it being cut off. He called it "Magic Moon Dust"

http://www.livescience.com/health/070219_regrow_fingers.html

Obviously not wanting to undermine the severity of loosing fingers, but it does show what wonders modern pioneering surgical practice can achieve!


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## Twmaster (Dec 20, 2009)

Gloves, loose clothing, long hair, jewelry... All bad news around spinning things.

My uncle is a retired machinist from Bethlehem Steel. One nice day he was grabbed by his jacket sleeve while operating a 20" lathe. It snatched him up and spun him round and round until the jacket tore. Meanwhile it tore his sholder out of it's socket and broke his forearm.

A friend of mine worked with my uncle. He said the whole thing happened in a flash. Once the machine let him go he managed to reach up and shut the machine off... He was off work for 5 months because of that.


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## 1hand (Dec 20, 2009)

Notice something? GLOVES...............Enough SAID.


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## Powder keg (Dec 20, 2009)

Man, That's a tough picture to look at. I yell at guys all the time at work to take their gloves off running equipment. I'll show them this. Maybe they'll wake up.

I hope people pay attention to this. Thanks for sharing that.


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## rake60 (Dec 20, 2009)

1hand, I know there is a story behind that picture.
I won't try to force it. It is up to you to share the story or not.

*It IS that serious people!*

Rick


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## Captain Jerry (Dec 20, 2009)

I just re-read this thread from the start. I'm going to make myself do it again once in a while. Thanks to all who contributed.

Jerry


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## 1hand (Dec 21, 2009)

Well once a upon a time there was this little feller who was doing his job of taking pieces of steel re-bar out of a surge bin after concrete had been threw a primary jaw crusher. The piece of re-bar that he grabbed became intangled in a head pulley of the conveyor and hooked this little fellers glove cuff and pulled him into a rotating
2 15/16" shaft. The shaft reeled him and the 8' re-bar in a split second. Took his arm around the shaft to his arm pit. Though gloves are required for this job and the result of the accident was because of a unguarded pulley Assembly from the manufacturer. Moral of the story is, things can happen faster than you can react to. Try to put yourself in the safest possible position for the task you are proforming. And if you do, you can live happily ever after. The end.

AND that's my story

Matt aka 1 hand.


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## steamer (Dec 21, 2009)

Thank you 1hand... 


We NEED to hear that.  I got bit by a bandsaw at age 12, but luckily for me they sewed it all back together .......

Did get my attention though....and perhaps thankfully, makes me safer minded now 30+ years later.



Dave


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