Gloves/Safety Practices?

Thanks, guys for the good counsel. We need to be very cautious about loose clothing, long hair, jewelry, watches, etc. around any rotating machinery. A few yrs. a go I saw a little girl in town who lost a big chunk of hair when she got too close to a revolving spindle in her dad's work shop. Luckily the hair was the only loss.

That's another point to consider: Kids in the shop. Our son stuck his finger into a disc sander that I'd turned off, and from which I'd turned my back, and his thumbnail is still messed up. Again, luckily that is all the damage he suffered, but it shook us all up. Keep an eye on those childern who pass through the shop.

I use gloves to grind almost every blade, unless it's a little mini, which is so small it gets lost in the leather. And I have callouses on the outside of my index fingers anyway. Those gloves tend to get holes in them somehow!

If this discussion can convince someone to use a respirator, a vaccuum system, (My Torit does a good job and keeps the shop cleaner, along with my lungs!), safety glasses, apron, etc., who hasn't done so before, it'll be great. I know I'm more aware of how safe I'm working since we started this thread. Thanks, again, for your help, everyone.

I use gloves for welding and forging, That's about it.
I have little feeling left in my hands.(spinal damage) Gloves reduce my performance greatly.
Often gloves make the job more dangerous.(for me)
I don't wear rings,(except wedding ring) my rubber watch will easily break away if need be, loose clothing should be tucked in.
Work safe! Work SMART! Have FUN!!!
...................................BE BLESSED!!!.............................

I just hope that we will consider how much work we have still to do, the families that we are responsible for, our wonderful wives, and they're wise counsel before we choose not to use the good safety measures and equipment that is available. So when we get lung cancer, or lose a hand or finger or our life, that we, or our survivors can say that he did all that he could and used every means available to stay healthy, and alive, in this occupation that he loves, as dangerous as it is at times.

I once heard Boyd K. Packer, a Mormon church leader say, "Brethren, your wife isn't always right. Only about 100 percent of the time!" And, the more I listen to my wife, even in shop procedures, the more I realize that he is right. She might can see things differently than we do, consider them from a different angle, perhaps. Just something to think serioiusly about.

Who, or what, is more important, a little retraining/practice with, or getting used to, some better safety procedures/equipment, maybe even suggested by our wives, or sticking to our old, unsafe practices. I'm not trying to offend anyone here, and please don't take it as such.

This is serious business and I hope we'll take it serously. We, us individual makers, aren't the only people to be concerned with. The family is just as important a consideration, or more so, as our comfort, convenience, resistance to change, etc. Wearing safety equipment just might be worth the effort. We can l learn to grind with gloves, we can't learn to replace a digit.

I just caught myself last night shaping guards on the grinder, getting VERY close to my trigger finger with a pretty sharp belt, w/o gloves....because it was more convenient. I did just as good a job after I put them on. Whether I was safer or not, I hink I was. Maybe that would not be the case in another situation.

I'm not a knifemaker nor do I play one on TV. I do however use mechanics gloves www.ringersgloves.com/ when performing my duties as a pit crew member. If you've ever had to handle a hot clutch after a race you know why. I've seen gloves cause the loss of 4 fingers off of a man's hand when the glove got grabbed by the drive belt and pulled his hands in between the gear and belt guard. So we're very very careful when using gloves at the track. Tthe gloves I gave the link to, have leather fronts (manmade) and cloth backs for ventilation. they might be worth looking at for knifemakers. They last very long and you clean them by washing your hands while wearing them until no more black comes out. they also make fingerless gloves and have gel packs in the gloves to limit the vibrations going into your hands.

Very interesting, Jerry. Looks like they run $25-30/pair. Wonder how they'd hold up to brushing against a grinding belt?

I would hope that everyone would be very careful in their use of gloves around equipment. They are definately unsafe in some situations!

We've gotta use our heads in every situation.
Tahnks again!

Safety in the shop is a big concern of mine - I did an independant study in Health and Safety in the Metals shop in Art school. The injurious hazards get me a little as I have taken the tips out of three fingers on the table saw, but the things that most concern me are the cumulative dangers.

I try to collect as much dust as possible; both at the source and ambient. During any wood finishing or metal grinding I wear a respirator. We work with carcinogenic woods like cocobolo, rosewood and purpleheart - nevermind the synthetics. Some of these materials are as bad as asbestos, IMHO. If you forge get the didymium glasses! They filter nearly all of the UV -and- IR. I wear ear protection when forging or grinding. I use rubber gloves when using acid or cleaning blades prior to. Many people don't know that a constant exposure of skin to thinners can destroy your skin's immune system and make you more prone to sickness.

A note on gloves- I use the kevlar gloves from MSC; they cost about 6 bucks a pair and they are -excellent- for handling hot material. On the down side they are only a bit cut-resistant and not too grind-resistant. I don't wear gloves when grinding ( I prefer to feel the temp before I burn stuff...) and... well... I'm careful around sharp objects!

No jewelery.no gloves except for heattreating or forging,full face mask, and leather apron.For those of you who still have lungs wear a respirator.My lungs are gone from years of welding and smoking and I have a full beard so I just wear adust mask.I once heattreated a knife without an apron on and somehow lost my grip on it on the way to quench.1500 degree's of blade right into my knee.Five stitches,$300,ruined levi's,bent knife,and mad wife.Guess when I got my leather apron.Dave

I couldn't agree more on the subject of airborn hazards. When just geting started a while back, I learned an important lession about dust.

I had just ground a bunch of antler, horn and bone and it sensitized my siness so much that I couldn't stop snezing any time I went outside and took almost a month to recover.
:x

I have tried gloves, push sticks, and taped fingers for grinding and the only thing I use is a grinding magnet for heavy removal and bare hands for any fine tuneing.

I have been grinding a batch of my little keychain knives and the little buggers are tearing up my fingers 4 inches of steel gets hot quick no matter what you do with it. They are too small to use gloves with so I just have to suck it up.

Sounds like we're getting the point across. One of which is LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE!

Of course, sometimes gloves won't work, but I, generally use them.

Thanks, guys for your information and for sharing your experience.

I see some interesting gloves in MSC's last flyer/cat that might be worth investigating. Kind of along the line of those that Jerry O. talks about earlier in thei thread. They're about $19.

They also had a special on the usual glove we use at about $1.40 , or something like that. Can't find the catalogue now.

Steve,

Just read this post for the first time today. Did you ever call and check on the leather and chain apron made by Morty the knife man? I am curious how heavy they are also. As a beginner I thought it might be a sound investment.

Thanks,

Shawn

Here's his address again:

Morty The Knife Man,Inc.,PO box 630007,Little Neck,NY,11363-0007.Ph#516/491-5764 or1-800-247-2511.

I called and chatted with Morty Parnell and had a nice visit. Seems like a very nice guy who sells knives, indstrial-meat cutters types, and also deals in custom knives as a"...side hobby."

Anyway... he no longer deals in the gloves as they got up to $120 for each hand . He does have an apron, made up of aluminum disks, sort of like an armor, that he sells for $100. It's used in the meat-cutting industry and saves lives there as cutters do a certain procedure in cutting meat while it's hanging up.

Sorry it took so long to get this info. My fault.

I just ordered one of these aprons so I will keep you posted. They are made of 1 inch overlaping aluminum discs. I bought the longest one they make (30 Inches). They are $140 in this length. The 22 inch long model is $110 and the 27 inch is $126.

Shawn

Thank you, Shawn.

Please let us know how you like it. Is it hot, convenient, noisy (guess that's only a concern if you try to sneak out of the shop to goof off, without the Mrs. finding out) heavy, etc?

Any info. you can give us will be appreciated. Maybe even post a digital photo, if possible?

Stay away from bare electrical wires!!