Recommend a carving glove !

[mikehill]

Owwwwwww ! I did it again !

Seriously, is there a decent glove that will just prevent the odd little nick, but give some feel ? The missus is starting to think I'm not suited to carving, while I "know" I will eventually get good at it
Mike.

 

[wattsy]

you don't need one get some zinc oxide tape for the most vulnerable bits, the most important thing is to keep thinking 'if this knife slips, where is it going to end up' and adjust accordingly

 

[Robson Valley]

Well, if you insist on carving towards yourself. . . . . . .
Carving Supply Outlets usually carry some sorts of Kevlar gloves.

Commercial meat cutters and fish processors often wear stainless steel mesh gloves.
You can get full hand or just thumb&two fingers. Not heavy at all, a bit slack/sloppy and COLD.

I'm in some other wood carving forums and eveyone agrees that none of these things can
protect you from a stab cut.

I wear $7.99 leather palm work gloves with cloth linings. My shop and my tools are cold.
Lots of mallet and gouge carving, they soak up vibration and I don't get hand grime on the wood.

 

[humdrum_hostage]

I have had the same trouble today. Received a mora 106 and it is razor sharp (I have a bald hand). I thought I would try it out and its the first time I have cut two fingers in one stroke!

Chain mail gloves are stab proof but depending how pointed the blade is, the tip my penetrate the skin slightly.

I usually catch myself on the first finger with a push cut from my thumb.

 

[Robson Valley]

Congratulations, HH. But did you get any blood on the carving? Bad form.

Much of my carving is done with Pacific Northwest design crooked knives.
Fist grip and pull strokes towards myself. If and when the blade pops out of the wood,
the only thing to stop it is my chest. OOOOPS! It stings a little.
Cut me once and cut 3 nice shirts, too.
So, I've made a heavy canvas bib-front carving apron.
Ironically, I haven't hit myself since.

 

[mikehill]

Cheers, will nip to Axminsters and look for a Kevlar one. I was actually cutting away from myself, just keep on popping my index finger in the way as I'm holding the piece. I suppose it's a habit I'll have to get out of

 

[ozzy1977]

Plenty of slash proof gloves on ebay for not much

 

[Tiley]

I don't wish to be a heretic here but it sounds as though your technique needs tweaking. If you rely on kevlar gloves to prevent cuts, you will delay the improvement in your carving technique. Each nick is instructive: work out why you ended up bleeding all over the floor and modify your practice accordingly. If you don't, the minute you're carving and don't have your kevlar gloves with you, you'll find yourself bleeding again; good technique will go a long way to prevent quite so many bloody accidents!

 

[mrcharly]

what Tiley said.

 

[didicoy]

When I teach groups to carve wood in the field. I do make available a chainmail glove, especially for the younger carvers. Having run classes 3x days per week for 12 months. I had no injuries to hands but two nasty cuts to the inside legs (knee area) on two students. I personally prefer students to not wear the glove and instead learn to respect the tools in hand. However for peace of mind. I have been more than happy to provide the glove to a few new members of the groups. This is also written into my risk assessment that cloves are made available to use. I have a selection of size gloves. All have been bought second hand over the years. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professio...3?pt=UK_BOI_Restaurant_RL&hash=item418b3e7eb5 I can strongly recommend a good leather apron or leather horse riding chaps for safety.

 

[Harvestman]

My cut rate has gone down as my skill (practice) level increases. I wish my woodcarving had improved in line with that!

 

[John Fenna]

Scar tissue is tougher than normal skin ... keep cutting yourself and eventually you will develop a cut resistant scar!

 

[Paulm]

Scar tissue is tougher than normal skin ... keep cutting yourself and eventually you will develop a cut resistant scar!

or your finger/thumb will drop off first and won't be in the way !

Cheers, Paul

 

[rancid badger]

I never used to wear gloves when carving or using edged tools full stop to be honest.

Then my employer introduced a mandatory requirement for wearing cut resistant gloves for a lot of the everyday tasks we carry out.

They trialled a few different makes and amazingly, went with the best of the bunch-as opposed to the cheapest!!!

Anyway, I now spend the majority of my 12 hour shift wearing these:
http://www.skytecgloves.com/skytec-ninja-silver#.VHb1o8mmWN0

These are a level 5 cut resistant glove and as long as you get the right size, are superb for any situation where you might suffer from slashes or lacerating type wounding.

I usually wear the green trimmed, "8/m" size, which are quite close fitting and offer excellent feel, grip and dexterity.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-pairs-o...=UK_BOI_ProtectiveGear_RL&hash=item3f409fc076

£5.49 inc postage from the above seller

They are truly excellent at preventing cuts, lacerations, nicks and any other injury you might pick up from an exposed sharp edge. I now use these for most activities involving metal tools, whether edged or not as they also offer a modicum of both impact and nip protection. It takes a little while to get used to wearing gloves for carving and other tasks where you need a feel for the job but once you've got it, you wonder how you managed not to cut yourself before.

I've not so far (taps head while saying: "touch wood") managed to cut myself while carving spoons, except for a few nicks from having a go with a frosts crook knife and never wore gloves when carving etc but do now.


They are however, useless for puncture protection and not so good for things like pallet wood splinters, So if you have a tendency to stab your hands, these wont do you much good.

Very highly recommended indeed.

Steve

 

[British Red]

I think RB is on the money - get good ones. There is nothing wrong with wearing safety equipment whether carving, using a chainsaw or canoeing. Indeed we preach it in most activities so lets be consistent and agree its wise for carving too.

 

[Fraxinus]

After 30 odd years as a carpenter/joiner and practiced a bit of carving, woodturning and olive tree maintenance I can count the hand tool injuries on one hand.



My left.

I would need more than two to add them all up!
Most were superficial, a few left little scars; of those the the culprit was mostly due to the tool being less than sharp requiring extra force that led to spilt claret, some robust language and feeling a complete twit.
I struggle to use hand tools while wearing gloves, possibly due to not learning while wearing them, I need that skin on tool tactility. That said, for anyone starting out gloves like RB mentioned look a good solution for safety and dexterity until you get "the feel" for the tool. Feel for the material takes longer and will possibly require casting the gloves aside but by then self harming hopefully is going to be a rare thing.
Rob.

 

[mountainm]

All the cuts I've had a can attribute to being lazy, trying to achieve a cut that I should've really have secured the piece for. Will I stop being Lazy - not completely I guess. So maybe I should invest in one glove. I only need a left hand - anyone want to go halves and claim the right?

 

[TarHeelBrit]

Scar tissue is tougher than normal skin ... keep cutting yourself and eventually you will develop a cut resistant scar!

Or you'll end up with septicemia and they'll have to chop you hand off. Of course that would end the problem of cuts on yout holding hand....also put an end to carving.

Anyway joking aside I'm watching with interest as I want to have a go at carving but ever concerned wifey doesn't want me to bleed for my new hobby.

 

[mikehill]

Thanks for all the replies I reckon I'll go with wearing gloves for the first six months or so. Have bought a pair of Kevlar today from ToolStation that have a cut protection of 2 but after reading this thread have ordered a pair of Skytec Ninja Silver ones for the extra protection. Must admit I do sometimes get distracted while whittling ... not a good idea
Mike.

 

[Mike313]

Hi Mikehill, I started a thread on this subject a while ago. Have a look, hope it's useful.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125186

ATB.