Let’s Get One Thing Straight
The Kevlar gloves below are bulky but protective, with no guarantee against slicing.
Angle grinders cut cement, so we can expect that kitchen gloves are not going to stop an angle grinder blade.
Angle grinders are dangerous. Kevlar sharp gloves protect against knife cuts.
They do not protect against punctures (think steel wire brushes) and spinning blades.
How Dangerous?
Some believe that angle grinders are as dangerous a tool as you can use in the garage: Angle Grinder Safety (formerly on the ProChoice Australia site but now off the air). But even that article’s publisher is not selling angle grinder safety gloves. That article takes you to “cut-resistant” gloves which are not angle grinder safe.
Brave Ape
Here’s a guy who brags that he doesn’t use safety equipment when using the angle grinder. I’ll say before you read it, I think he’s stupid.
Question: Default What Kind of Gloves and Apron for Angle Grinder Safety?
“I’ve been reading about the horrors of angle grinder accidents, and I learned that the fragments can go through clothes and welding gloves. Here’s what I’m wondering: what are you supposed to wear on your hands and body, if welding gloves won’t do it? I was thinking I might get a kevlar cut-resistant apron and some kevlar fillet gloves.”
Answer:
“I typically wear a short-sleeve t-shirt with a couple of holes in it, and do my best to look away if the sparks start to hit my face directly.”
How stupid is he: very stupid? Or extremely stupid?
What About Dexterity?
There is a dexterity argument against gloves. Some want to feel what they’re doing at the wheel, and be able to move in accordance with their perception. OK, I can understand this argument. It’s one thing for a professional to make a safety choice using thought and logic. It’s another thing for an ape to brag about being tougher than a spinning cut blade. And it’s a third thing for an occasional angle grinder user to pretend that angle grinders are no big deal.
What’s the Answer?
Protect yourself as well as possible, use the machine correctly, and don’t assume your gear is slice proof.
The Best Safety Goggles
I chose the DeWalt safety goggles for their quality materials, ventilation channels, soft rubber, and tough lenses.
The ventilation gives your eyes some fresh air while protecting them from sparks, flying debris, and dust.
The ventilation also reduces lens fog.
The rubber does a good job comfortably conforming to your face, so nothing gets in, but the goggles don’t pinch you either.
The anti-fog and anti-scratch lenses stay clear enough for you to see over time.
If you need your regular glasses, you can put these goggles on right over them.
These are the goggles that are ANSI and OSHA-approved.
Check them out on Amazon:
Best Spark and Sharp Protection Gloves
One glove can protect you from both sparks and cuts.
So I thought, what do blacksmiths wear for gloves? What about mechanics and welders?
The Rapicca are crazy good Kevlar and fire-retardant gloves.
They go all the way up the arm, because forearms are flammable, too.
What Rapicca calls “extremely heat resistant” is a modest description of the 932 deg. F. protection. Check them out below.
See the Rapicca Fire-Retardant Gloves on Amazon.
