Cut Resistant Gloves

[WilkoJay]

Hello

After a lovely chisel shaped hole appeared in the back my hand the other week I thought it might be a good idea to invest in some cut resistant gloves for further chisel work. I've seen quite a few, but a lot of them appear to only protect the palm and fingers where I'm after something that will cover all my hands and ideally wrists as well. Does anyone have any recommendations please? Other than learn how to use a chisel properly and not be so clumsy!

Thanks

 

[marcros]

I would promote the safe working practice first rather than rely on the gloves. That way if it slips there cannot be any injury.

 

[AJB Temple]

Gloves safe enough to stop penetration (eg metal mesh gloves used by fish gutters working at speed) will be a hazard in the workshop as grip and feeling is compromised. I cannot imagine how you managed to get a chisel in the back of your hand!

 

[MikeG.]

Yeah, sorry to be boring, but avoiding slashing yourself open is a matter of technique and discipline, and not of protective gear. If you never ever have any flesh anywhere in front of a sharpened edge, the chances of cutting yourself are very small.

 

[WilkoJay]

Yes I really don't know how I did it either. Thankfully it wasn't a hammer blow on the chisel, I just moved my hand into the blade, that was static at the time. I'm usually a really careful person so I was a bit surprised.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Our green wood working group got in some kevlar cut resistant gloves. One of the more experienced guys took one, put it on a block, and sliced one on the fingers off with ease using a spoon carving knife, and declared them worse than useless.

Interesting isn't it, that here we are all saying technique, care, discipline are the answer, not protective gear. We don't take the same line with table saws, planers, chainsaws ... Watch this for a toe curler ! Spotted this morning - interesting that he finds a dangerous way to use almost every power tool in a single video. To make an outdoor table that will self-destruct almost immediately.

 

[mynamehere]

I've worn HyFlex cut resistant gloves for work on occasion (not woodwork).
Pretty comfortable and the same cut resistant material for the whole glove, palm and fingers are rubber(or something) coated for grip, not the cheapest option though...

Cheers!

Ferenc

 

[sunnybob]

Taught to me many years ago;
KEEP YOUR FLESH AWAY FROM THE BLADE,
AND YOU WILL NEVER NEED FIRST AID.

I know, I'm on a H&S jag again, sorry Chris.

 

[MikeG.]

.....KEEP YOUR FLESH AWAY FROM THE BLADE,
AND YOU WILL NEVER NEED FIRST AID.

You didn't learn the second verse, then?

Destroy a blade, and you definitely will. Eventually.

 

[sunnybob]

Nope, never needed to. learnt my lesson, let the blade take the punishment. not my baby smooth epidermis.

 

[Hornbeam]

I work with sheet steel and steel cladding and company policy is to wear cat 5 cut resistant gloves at all times. But cut resistant cuts will not stop a slicing cut. The most important t6hing is to learn how to hold the work so if it does slip it doesnt cut you. tDressing up in ppe like spacement doesnt solve the problem. Learn and understand the risk and then work to avoid them. PPE should be the last line of defence. I cannot mark things out with a scriber while wearing thick cut resistant gloves as you just lose so much feeling. Develope a safe way of working and stick to it dont get distracted
Ian

 

[Sean Hellman]

Our green wood working group got in some kevlar cut resistant gloves. One of the more experienced guys took one, put it on a block, and sliced one on the fingers off with ease using a spoon carving knife, and declared them worse than useless.

I have done similar, but they do offer protection, just imagine the 2 scenarios with and without gloves, I would rather be wearing these gloves than nothing.

 

[Sideways]

I would find them too awkward for woodwork but I have 3M kevlar type cut resistant gloves that are tight fitting and useful. I tried a full pressure cut with a stanley knife across a pair of gloves on a chopping board when first bought. Yes maybe 20% of fibres were cut but the fabric was not cut through and they would have reduced a disabling injury vs unprotected flesh.

 

[Alpha-Dave]

Cuts and scrapes certainly happen to me, but I like to think that they don’t repeat; if they do, then something is very wrong. Workholding, vices and jigs are key for me to stop my hands bring cut.

Looking at the extremes of ‘green woodwork’ to ‘machining’:

Green woodwork often involves holding the workpiece in one hand, and a very sharp thing in the other, and so cut resistant PPE is sensible, especially when starting out, but is no substitute for using cuts, actions and body positions that don’t allow the blade to contact flesh on the through-stroke.

Machine work should always involve jigs or workholding; sometimes this is built into the machine, sometimes needs to be added. E.g. the flat top and fence of a table saw or router table are part of the workholding for those machines, but more can be added, especially garding.

The case of hand-tool work as in WilkoJay’s case is interesting because you can either: go down the route of the sharp edge not being near flesh when moving, and made safe (on a surface) when not; or use vices, jigs etc to ensure that the tool-use will never contact anything sensitive/precious (this includes other tools and pieces of work).
Specific recommendations:
1) look at your work area; if you can cut yourself on a stationary chisel, the I suspect it was overhanging the bench, or was left on the work. Knock up a ‘tool tray’ to keep them in when not stored away.
2) consider the area you are working in; does it need a tidy up? If you have piles of tools, half finished work, and things that should be stored somewhere else, then you are more likely to misjudged things.
3) how are you holding the work? Could a vice/clamp/holdfast make it easier and safer? If so buy/make one.
4) Buy PPE; some is vital e.g. eye and ear protection where appropriate (I don’t wear safety glasses when chiseling or green wood carving, but any time a machine is used I do). Face shields and cut-resistant gloves should be used when you have eliminated all other forms of protection (guarding, not touching the blade etc.).

Good luck and stay safe.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I imagine gloves would protect against minor nicks and cuts through lapses in care handling tools. I have list count of the number of times I've nicked a finger on the corner of a shoulder plane through lack of care handling. I guess it would reduce bloodshed when beginners are using knives. Bigger injuries when actually using hand tools are better addressed by proper use. After a few learning experiences I now make a mini mental risk assessment when using tools - of the form "what will stop this blade if it slips / the work splits / it bounces / I miss". If the answer is a body part, find another way. If I had started this earlier - before cutting towards a finger, using an angle grinder in a way that if it snatched it would hit my ankle, or leaving that axe balanced precariously on the block, I'd have 3 scars less !

 

[MikeG.]

My worst cut was from catching a chisel that I clumsily flipped off the bench. I'll take a couple of days of wearing a plaster over having to regrind a good chisel any day of the week! I don't think I've ever cut myself with an edge tool whilst I was actually using it.

 

[NickM]

When I started out at the beginning of this year, I was regularly nicking myself with chisels. It wasn't so much when using the tool to make the cut, but carelessness when picking the tools up, or picking something else up whilst still holding the chisel. For a while I had a stock of plasters in the workshop to save me going back into the house, and I often had to remove blood stains from my work!

I haven't done it for a while now so practice definitely helps.

 

[thick_mike]

I bought some Kevlar gloves after my first couple of bloody attempts at spoon carving using knives. Not going to stop you amputating a finger if you are particularly determined, but will definitely make it more difficult. Never use gloves with spinning tools.

 

[Boxer]

After starting to take blood thinning meds and then bleeding for ten minutes from a minor graze that i wouldnt have even noticed before, I decided it might be a good idea to get some cut resistant gloves. Went to Screwfix in June and bought a couple of different pairs of what they had and have been quite impressed by them. I tested them (without my hand inside) by slashing them with snap off knives and a sharp chisel .... and they held up well and would definately have either reduced or prevented injury..
I still forget to wear them a lot of the time but for higher risk jobs such as hand sharpening and knife work, I put them on and its a reassurance. Not sure about wearing gloves near spinning power tools though !

 

[Racers]

I use some of the orange ones as under gloves on my motorbike, the are warm and protective.

Good for spoon carvingas well.

Pete