Cut Resistant Gloves

[jseklund]

As many of you know, I have been on a tool purchasing spree for my woodworking hobby for quite some time now (if not my entire life!) My girlfriend, has also gotten the idea in her head to collect old windows and turn them into artistic mirrors. She has a friend who does this, and wanted to try. As luck would have it, we picked up about 20 windows from around the late 1800's, early 1900's.

The trick for her was to get the glass out without hurting the window AT ALL. I said, "Not too hard- get a glass cutter". I showed her how to trim around the glass and break it off- and then the pieces inside the groove are usually loose fitting and fall out, or you can remove them with a scraper. In doing this though, we obviously got a lot of broken glass, and I thought ...."Gloves". So I went to buy 2 pairs of "cut resistant gloves". To my suprise, they aren't that easy to find (at least in MA). I'd never seen them, but knew they would SAY cut resistant.

Finally, I bought a couple of pairs on Amazon (of course I should have a pair too!) I ordered them from a company called Palm Flex and they were a pair of Dyneema gloves for around $14. They weren't overly fast to ship, but they arrived in about 2 weeks. When I got them, I was a bit disappointed- they didn't look anything like the picture on Amazon. They seemed so thin, and looked as if they were made from regular old cloth. They've been sitting here for a couple of days, and I thought to myself today- "Maybe they're not cut resistant. I'd rather not find out when I cut myself."

Now, I know that they won't protect me from shoving my hand into a table saw. But I thought they'd be useful if they'd even reduce the severity of a slipped chissel or blade while doing something borderline. Let's face it, I'm going to do stupid things here and there, that's how I am. I won't take chances with a table saw, but I might with a screw driver......

Anyway, I decided to take a recently sharpened knife to the cuff of these gloves, which is by far the weakest looking part of the glove. I drew the knife across and thought, "A-Ha! Just as I expected, I can see the line where it cut right through. Glad I didn't wear these." Then I stretched the glove to look at the cut. NOTHING. The line dissappeared and there wasn't a mark on the material. I thought, "Maybe my sharpening of this knife wasn't up to par." I went and got a box cutter, with a brand new blade- sharp enough to cut into pine- and drew it across the cuff. Again- I saw a line form. Pulled it apart, and the line dissappeared and no cut at all. I wasn't putting all my weight on the blade to cut, but had reasonable force with a very sharp blade.

Needless to say, I am impressed. While I wouldn't try them against a moving blade with my hand in them, I am definately convinced they can and probably will save me from some injuries in the future. I will probably start wearing them when I use the table saw anyway- while they may not work, and I WILL not take any chances on something like this- why take a chance of not wearing the protection? They're flexible enough, and may just save me. If they don't- then I was in trouble anyway (hopefully I wont' be that stupid).

All in all, for around $18-19/pair for these things shipped- I'd recommend them. They are obviously not a substitute for safe practices, but they seem to be an additional layer of safety that could help.

Has anyone else had experiences with this kind of glove? (Maybe you all have already and I'm just slow to the trigger)

[Ken Massingale]

"I will probably start wearing them when I use the table saw anyway- while they may not work, and I WILL not take any chances on something like this- why take a chance of not wearing the protection?"

Personally, I wouldn't wear gloves around the TS or any rotating tool. Whether those will offer any protection or not, they will catch on the blade/bit/chuck, etc., and your hand/arm will be pulled into the sharp-cutting-spinnie-thing.
I've seen this too many times in factory envirnoments, and believe me, it's an ugly sight. Please reconsider.
ken

[Thom2]

I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Massingale.

[Tom Miller]

Ken pointed out the general consensus regarding glove-wearing and power tools. But we WW'ers are probably more likely to cut our hands with a chisel or knife, so your idea is definitely worth considering.

I've seen "carvers gloves" at Woodcraft -- have you seen these? Are they anything similar. How's the "gription"? I'd hate to trade finger safety for toe safety, if you know what I mean.

Regards,
Tom

[jseklund]

Ken and Thom- True. I had considered that....but wasn't really sure. I won't wear them on the power saws. I was thinking...even if they did keep you from getting cut- they would not protect against crushing.....Thanks for helping me think that one through!

Tom- I hadn't seen the gloves at Woodcraft. The woodcraft gloves actually look heavier duty- but so did these when they were just a pic on the internet. It's hard to say, I would guess that both pair would be good....The gloves I got were entirely Dyneema, which is something like 50X stronger than steel. I couldn't tell- it's flexible as anything. They are coated around the palm and fingers with something (nitrile?), and are not really slipper at all. They probably don't have quite the same grip as skin though...I think, at this point- without having tried- that they would grip plenty for chisel work/hand tools. I could be wrong....I will give more feedback. Also- they are not puncture resistant, I would guess. A chisel wouldn't go through, but a needle or something MAY make it through....again, I could be wrong.

Thanks for the heads up guys. Like I said, these are only going to be for hand tools/glass handling, etc. now that you mentioned that. I can't believe I was being stupid enough to not think of the glove getting caught....esp. since I thought of it's lack of crush protection.....what was I thinking? Thanks.

[Luckbox]

As Tom said. You are more likely to cut your self with a chisel. I was lucky enough to just last week put a 1.5 inch gouge in my left hand just about my thumb with a chisel when it slipped out of a mortise I was cleaning out. It was totally my mistake and if I was paying more attention it would not have happened. I am always very careful with power tools but seem to relax around hand tools. Worst part about it was 20 mins after, with band-ade on, I flip the same chisel in my hand real quick to get it in another position and inserted sharp end half and inch below the original cut.

[whitecobra]

We have used these "thin cut resistant" gloves for years in the catering business
They work as described but I can't see for the life of me what place they have in a workshop (short of the removing glass project you originally described)

The gloves work REALLY well for slicing accidents but not so well for poking accidents. Take the glove and try to run a awl tip into it; in that case it will NOT protect you so it has limited value from incidents in the shop since most shop injuries are "poke" type problems. Even a table saw is a series of repetitive pokes the flats on a saw are not all that sharp but the points are sharp enough to poke small pieces of flesh off

Same for a bandsaw and drill press and even a jointer

The issue of wearing gloves with rotary tools is far greater then protection from laceration. The greater issue is entrapment. We even teach our classes not to use shop towels in the workshop but to use papertowels

Paper towels will self destruct where shop towels will wrap around a shaft pulling you in with them

The gloves DO work for the project they were intended to and that is slicing fish or pork or beef

Doc

[scorrpio]

What you want are puncture resistant gloves - something like TurtleSkin. I know that DEA investigators use them all the time when doing searches of suspicious places cause you never know where you may find needles (potentially infected).

[jseklund]

I agree with everyone. I think it was just my initial amazement that something so normal looking could resist such sharp objects....

I can see that a thin, needle-like object may get through the fibers of these gloves, but I think for chisels, screw drivers, etc- they would hold up. Again, you're still going to have a blunt force to deal with and could still get hurt....but it could help. I think the instance described by luckbox is a good example. If he had a pair of these gloves....the cut may not have been as bad. Could a corner of the chisel puncture through? Maybe, but it wouldn't be free to open a larger wound.

I saw the turtle skin puncture resistant gloves too- a little more expensive, but they say they WILL resist needles, etc.

I think the bottom line is- these are just like any other tool. You get it, you're amazed at how well it works for what it does, and you think, "I could use this on all kinds of things!" And then you realize- they're not really designed for that breadth of use.

I will be using these gloves whenever I:

1. Use a box cutter
2. Handle glass
3. Chisel small pieces that require some stabilization with one hand. (One glove on that hand, and the other hand holding the chisel with no glove)
4. Maybe even any car repairs I do where I think there is a chance of slipping and catching a not so smooth edge. Again, it may not be a cure here, but it may be a reduction tool.


I wouldn't use them on power tools- table saw, jointer, bandsaw, drill press, etc.

I also wouldn't use these as a replacement for safe practices- just as an added precaution. If I want to point a chisel at the palm of my hand and use all the force I have to push the blade forward- I wouldn't expect these to be much use. haha.

[thiggy]

Cut resistant gloves are sold in sporting goods stores for fileting fish.