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A couple of weeks ago, I narrowly missed chopping off a finger with a baby chain saw. I’ve had a few other near misses with various power tools, over the past decades, and this latest one scared me into thinking harder about safety. I was wondering if protective gloves would be a good idea. I have read warnings about loose-fitting gloves getting caught in rotating machinery; makes sense. But I can imagine close-fitting gloves reinforced with Kevlar, or metal plates, or even chain-mail gloves as worn by medieval knights, modern-day butchers, and people who feed sharks.

Is there anything y’all would recommend?

I expect some of the answers will say “just be more careful”. Vigilance is good, for sure, but it seems to me that vigilance plus protection is even better.

bubba
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  • Along with the boots, trousers, head protection. – Solar Mike Jun 13 '23 at 05:16
  • Yeah, head and eye protection are pretty obvious. The mixed opinions about gloves are what’s got me puzzled. Thanks. – bubba Jun 13 '23 at 05:31
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    It's going to depend on the tool. – whatsisname Jun 13 '23 at 07:06
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    Tools like chainsaws depend on you having total control. Protective gloves that reduce your control can be more dangerous than just bare hands. I have seen chainsaws take decent chunks out of steel(hidden). – crip659 Jun 13 '23 at 10:42
  • Seen injuries from chainsaws that are due to crushing as compared to cutting. – Solar Mike Jun 13 '23 at 11:59
  • duplicate: https://diy.stackexchange.com/q/11880/155907 – Tiger Guy Jun 13 '23 at 13:55
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    Not judging but what are you doing that your hands get close to a spinning chainsaw blade? – aquaticapetheory Jun 13 '23 at 14:59
  • mesh or mail gloves would stop a "baby chainsaw" – dandavis Jun 13 '23 at 21:29
  • @crip659: but do protective gloves necessarily reduce control? Why? Reduced sense of touch? It’s easy to imagine a tight-fitting glove that has thin fabric on the fingertips and steel mesh or embedded metal plates elsewhere. I don’t know if such things exist, but it seems that they could, and they’d provide some protection. – bubba Jun 14 '23 at 08:45
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    @dandavis: yes, that’s what I thought, too. Maybe I’ll buy a pair, and do some experiments with my chain saw and some hot dogs. – bubba Jun 14 '23 at 08:49
  • imo, the main thing with a chainsaw is to make sure not to push, bend, or twist the blade while cutting, which will make it dig in and move in ways you don't expect, and chainsaw surprises are rarely good... – dandavis Jun 14 '23 at 17:00

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