Thread: Gloves

I'm not a carver. What is the danger. Is it a stabbing injury or an inadvertent contact with the sharp edge that is the biggest risk.
Cut level 5 gloves from a work wear shop would be ok for sharp edge protection but may not protect against a stab.
8R020 - JB's Cut 5 Glove - Online Workwear
I've watched the safety guys do a demo with a stanley knife where they slice the blade across the glove with no damage to the glove.

Hi NCArcher,
The gloves are used when holding the job in one hand when attacking it with carving chisels and knives.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Regards

I'd rather carve away from myself with the work attached to the bench.
Kevlar carving gloves are available in several wood carving supply websites.

A whole lot closer to you will be the stainless steel chain mail fishmongers or butchers gloves.
You should be able to pick either thumb & two fingers or a whole hand glove.
You get what you pay for. Like your hands? Don't skimp.

I wore fish gloves part of a day, 6 days a week for nearly 5 months.
No, they do not protect you from sloppy stab cuts.
My arms should be shorter than Venus de Milo. Slicing cuts, no worries.
Hindsight?
Buy the whole hand glove. It will never wear out.

Using the crooked knives common to the carving style of the Pacific Northwest, my bigger concern is getting hit in the chest.
Had a XXX heavy canvas apron made up as wrecking shirts was getting expensive. Many visible "scratches!"

I only use knives nowadays (how I started out) nearly 40 years ago ,I went through a period of using palm gouges but have never used any protective glove .
The essential control & dexterity of the holding hand will never develop if you have a chainmail glove on ,the presentation angle of the piece & rotation will not be available .
You will feel protected & less vulnerable wearing a glove - I would advise riding bareback from the beginning your understanding & sensitivity will be 100% greater from the start,
you will never feel the sensitivity of carving wearing a glove . After the first year I haven't cut my self except when stropping !

Mike.

I can only imagine that it's a matter of preference which will never have a single answer.
This comes up about once a year in the Wood Carving Illustrated forums. A few testamonials and it goes torpid again.

I wear cloth-lined leather gloves for most gouge +/- mallet work and safety is the last thing in the list. Took a little getting used to.
My shop can be cold (15C), vibration from the tools, finger grime on the wood, slivers from western red cedar seem automatically infective,
better grip on tools than dry cold hands, bulk up skinny tool shanks and so on. When they are dirty enough to use as a strop, I wear a new pair.
The greatest risk to me is taking tools out of the rolls and putting them away at the end of a session. There are some slits in those gloves.
I got nicked once, before I had even started, right to the bone and I never felt it until I noticed that I had sprung a leak.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

I can only imagine that it's a matter of preference which will never have a single answer.
This comes up about once a year in the Wood Carving Illustrated forums. A few testamonials and it goes torpid again.

I wear cloth-lined leather gloves for most gouge +/- mallet work and safety is the last thing in the list. Took a little getting used to.
My shop can be cold (15C), vibration from the tools, finger grime on the wood, slivers from western red cedar seem automatically infective,
better grip on tools than dry cold hands, bulk up skinny tool shanks and so on. When they are dirty enough to use as a strop, I wear a new pair.
The greatest risk to me is taking tools out of the rolls and putting them away at the end of a session. There are some slits in those gloves.
I got nicked once, before I had even started, right to the bone and I never felt it until I noticed that I had sprung a leak.

No offence but most of the above is concerned with your adaptation to Canada's inclement climate rather than safety concerns !
I feel as a knife carver that there is no need for gloves to protect your hands if you have respect for a razor sharp edge & that forms the firm viewpoint of safety first. God knows 1940's 50's & 60's boy scouting books are full of the "whittling badge " & getting your first knife at the age of 12 etc. ! Suddenly it is so dangerous we need protective clothing that seriously inhibits the very process ? Hmmm.... yes you will have a few cuts to begin with but that will only serve to develop respect for your tool & an understanding of the dexterity required to use it.

Mallets gouges & vices - little fear of problems there outside of those stupid cuts that we all get picking up a tool while thinking of something else or similar - little problem really.

However palm gouges used in hand held work IS perhaps a serious safety concern , before flexcuts' popularisation of this tool these were known as "block cutters" - intended to cut flat printing blocks clamped to a table. BUT for hand held work the unrestrained pressure of the force of your whole arm is dangerous ! yet if you just use a wrist flick (which is safe) you cannot use gouges to anything near their full potential of long sweeping flowing cuts ! at best they are a occasionally used but very useful tool for a knife man, at worst they are a serious stab in the holding hand !
Mike

There's no single answer. I must reiterate that I do carve indoors. The chill is the least of my concerns.
I could carve outdoors, I do all the stone work outside. At this time of year, we have mosquitoes the size of bats.

Using Pacific Northwest native style carving tools introduces some novel risks.

>The only thing that can stop an adze is a bone in your leg. Striking accuracy is a needed skill for carving and safety.
Except for texturing surfaces, PacNW elbow adzes are used for rough stock removal = big strikes. A D adze can cut like a Stanley Bailey #5.

>The crooked knives are commonly used in pull strokes towards your chest. No gloves for those. Singular cause of sliced shirts and semicircular chest cuts.
I had a canvas apron made with hidden pockets, very happy with the armor coating! It's quite scratched now.

Hi
Thanks for all the replies, I bought one from Carbatec and it arrived today.
I do not know how I missed them, I thought I had checked all the usual suspects before I posted.
And thanks for the thoughts on the need for it, at least I will have it handy when I feel the need
Regards