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I'm wondering about others' preferences if and when you wear gloves while using a bench grinder. I am aware that gloves are not always a good idea since glove material can get caught in the works and pull in one's hand. But there are times when, in order to hold the material to be ground in the needed position, one hand or the other will find itself in the path of the hot "sparks" being thrown off the grinding wheel. I have been using garden variety (hardware store) leather gloves for this. But have discovered these do not afford consistent protection from the hot "sparks. I don't think they penetrate the leather of the gloves, but it often feels almost as if they do, which is quite uncomfortable (if not potentially injurious). I've found that if I wet the gloves with water just before use, this problem does not occur. But I'd much rather use a glove made of more suitably heat resistant material, if there is one. I do have a pair of leather welding gloves which I've tried. And these do afford much better protection. But I paid quite a bit for these and the cumulative thermal protection they provide is inversely proportional to the life of the glove. I'm thinking there should be a non-leather glove material meant for specifically this kind of situation, maybe composed of tightly woven glass fibers, say. But I don't know where to shop for such a product. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice, experience, or other feedback in this matter.

OmarScherzi88
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    Hrm... do we close this because it doesn't ask a question, because it's looking for opinions, or for shopping advice... Please take the [tour] to see how this site is different than others you may be used to, then feel free to [edit] to ask a specific, answerable question. Asking for opinions or discussion are strictly off-topic. – FreeMan Apr 26 '22 at 18:29
  • The work should be clamped to something solid and both hands on the grinder when grinding. If using gloves, they should be tight fitting and give good handling touch. Most good working gloves will be pricely. – crip659 Apr 26 '22 at 18:29
  • @crip659 Its a bench grinder, no hands need to be on it. – Glen Yates Apr 26 '22 at 18:52
  • My mistake, I missed that. There are gloves made for almost any condition, but might find your welding gloves just as good and near the same price. As long as they fit good and give good control holding the work. – crip659 Apr 26 '22 at 19:02

2 Answers2

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Do not use gloves while holding work to a fixed grinder.

Because if a tool head or other moving part managed to snag the glove (or long sleeve, or hair), it would pull your arm or whole body into the machine before you could even react to it. This results in a serious maiming instead of the nick or cut you usually get.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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  • 1000x this, I saw a guy get his hand ground to 50 thou once on a face grinder, it was bloody and ugly (though the grind wheel did cauterize it as it ground) – GOATNine Apr 26 '22 at 20:08
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I don't recall using gloves with a bench grinder. Nearly all debris is in the plane of the wheel, so I keep hands to the side, out of the wheel plane. Also debris is mostly directed down and back, sometimes requiring moving any flammable material away from debris path.(My grinder is near a radial arm saw so there may be sawdust around.)

blacksmith37
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