[TheForge] Re: Protective gear

[Mike Spencer]

> I am curious what kind of gloves, glasses and aprons different folks
> use and where they get them.

Soft, light (Mig weldor's?) gauntleted leather glove, left hand only,
for forging.  Heavier gauntleted leather gloves for stuff that might
chew up the softer ones.  Former from Welding supplier, latter from
fire & safety store.

Apron: An attractive green suede apron, made by cutting the skirt from
a small woman's leather coat retrieved from the "free box" on a visit
to Cambridge, Mass.  Has a nice patch pocket, had to add a draw-string
to hold it up.  Sometimes a leather bib apron somebody brought me from
Mexico if I want above-the-waist protection.

zOh, yeah.  The hot-carving glove.  A couple of times I blistered my
hand right through a heavy leather glove when holding various chisels,
punches etc. close to 2" dia. that I was hot carving.  I saw some
light-weight gloves at the ABANA conference in '82 that you were
supposed to be able to hold red-hot iron with.  Couldn't afford them
then and a few years later I couldn't find anybody who had ever heard
of them.

So recently I took an old left-hand gauntlet glove and applied about
1/2" or 3/4" of ceramic fiber batt over the area where I was getting
burned, covered it with some soft garment leather contact-cemented down
around the edge.  Looks clunky, works great.  Did up a little gargoyle
head on the end of 1-1/2"  and never felt the heat. Single-purpose
item though.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                 (902) 543-8375            /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^