When it comes to welding jobs, there are various hazards associated. Meaning of these put the hands of the older specifically at risk. As per ANSI and OSHA guidelines, gloves that are supposed to be used for any kind of welding job must keep the hands safe from impact, scraps, cuts, ultraviolet radiation, fibers, burns, heat, and electric shock (with the use of non-conductive substances).
Gloves meant to be used for stick welding purposes must be flame resistant, dry, and well-maintained. The best stick welding gloves are also able to prevent the risks of electrocution from welding tools.
What kind of safety is required while you are welding?
In order to protect yourself as a welder, it is important to choose the right PPE kit for the task. Read and find out about the type of safety that you need at the time of handling welding jobs.
- Face and eye protection – You should wear face shield, safety glasses and even helmets (based on the project).
- Electrical shock protection – At the time of welding, you must where insulated clothing to keep yourself safe from electrocution.
- Fume protection – With the help of respirators and fume extraction systems, you can stay protected from exposure to damaging fumes.
- Ear protection – If your welding job leads to average noise readings of over 85 DB for 8 hours continuously, you need to use proper ear protection gear all through.
- Heat and radiation protection – If you are serious about keeping yourself protected from radiation and heat, you need to wear flame-resistant outerwear, goggles to protect your eyes, welding hoods for your head and the best stick welding gloves to keep the lower parts of your arms and the hands protected.
5 Best Stick Welding Gloves Review
1. Tillman Large Black Welders Gloves with(Carded)
These hybrid gloves are wonderful and can help with any type of welding job that one needs to deal with. These are slick in appearance and are really soft. These are also fantastic when it comes to helping with hand fatigue and can resist shrinkage.
Pros
- This pair of gloves stands out for its high dexterity.
- These can fit your hands very well and there are no risks of them slipping out.
- It is appreciable that the gloves are off proper length – they are neither too low nor too high.
- These gloves can resist heat quite well, and you can keep your hands comfortable for a long time.
- There is even more comfort due to the extreme softness.
- Although the gloves are not very thick, you can get effective protection from them.
- You do not even feel the inside seams of the gloves.
- Despite heavy usage, the inner lining stays okay.
- The gloves can last for a long time.
Cons
- The price is slightly on the higher end.
2. Miller Electric MIG Welding Gloves
This pair of gloves is ideal for people for starting with welding jobs and need to keep their hands protected from all the heat. While using an MIG gun, it is important to stay comfortable and have a perfect sized pair of gloves – which is what this one assures.
Pros
- The gloves fit hands quite well and are excellent to wear every day, before handling welding jobs.
- These are highly durable and comfortable and can flex properly. You will find the size to be perfect for your needs.
- Made of pig split leather, these gloves can resist moisture puncture and abrasion well enough.
- In order to ensure additional dexterity, the gloves come with a keystone thumb design.
- You can get optimal seam protection and strength due to the fact that the gloves are stitched with completely flame resistant Kevlar thread.
- The reinforcement patches of the gloves are wear-resistant and there is use of fleece – that soaks up moisture and keeps the hands comfortable.
Cons
- The colors might not be suitable for everybody.
3. Revco GM1611 Top Grain Leather Cowhide MIG Welding Gloves
This is a wonderful pair of gloves with soft and comfortable insides. You can get excellent dexterity and can use your fingers easily while keeping these gloves on. Whether you go for MIG welding, grinding, acetylene heat bending or steel sanding, you can do it all comfortably while wearing these gloves.
Pros
- There is excellent comfort due to the soft cotton lining, with no extra weight on the hands.
- You can get smooth reinforcement whenever you need.
- Across the gloves, you can get Kevlar stitching – which makes the pair hold up to heat very well.
- There is superior abrasion resistance which makes it a top choice for professional welders.
- There is a rest patch for the wrist and a proprietary drag patch for the sides.
Cons
- The dexterity of these gloves might be an issue for some people.
4. RAPICCA Leather Forge
Composed of thick cowhide leather of premium quality, these welding work gloves are extremely temperature resistant and you can get fantastic protection due to the reinforced shielding.
There is reinforced Kevlar padding on the five fingers, elbow and back. Its insulated liner is flame retardant and you get a long sleeve that can keep your arm safe from heat.
Pros
- You can expect excellent heat protection while building for doing other jobs that require you to work with very hot temperatures.
- It is possible to get excellent freedom of movement and a high level of comfort due to the soft interior lining of the gloves.
- This pair of gloves is longer in length and is composed of double layers of leather.
- You can get fantastic level of dexterity from these gloves, whether it comes to welding for dealing with barbecue or other “high-heat” cooking jobs.
- These have a reasonable price tag and almost anybody can afford it.
Cons
- None that deserve a mention.
5. Lincoln Electric Traditional MIG
This is a wonderful pair of heat-resistant gloves composed of premium quality leather. It has soft cotton liner that can keep your hands safe from high temperatures. This pair is ideal for handling flux core welding, MIG welding, stick welding and other applications that are associated to working with high temperatures.
Professional fabricators use this gloves model every day, to withstand exposure to flames, heat, sparks or spatter.
Pros
- There is a high level of fingertip sensitivity and comfort due to the straight thumb design and the soft cotton made hand liner.
- This best stick welding gloves pair has an interior cuff with a twill cotton lining that can soak up moisture during operations.
- There is Kevlar thread of superior strength as well as leather reinforced seams that can prevent ripping or tearing.
- These heat and flame resistant gloves can last for a long time due to the premium Kevlar construction and can offer a superior level of comfort in professional fabrication ambiences.
- With complete leather construction, these gloves are manufactured according to stringent quality standards – which can ensure your proper function and consistent fit.
- This pair looks stylish due to the red flame pattern on the surface.
Cons
- If you buy 2 pairs of these heatproof gloves, you might notice some differences in quality.
What are the Materials used in Welding Gloves?
Welding gloves, whether for stick welding or other welding purposes, are composed of leather and other materials of similar type – that can offer the kind of production that welders require.
Leather
These types of gloves are more appropriate for welding jobs because these can offer the best protection to your hands and also let you move them freely. Leather is extremely heat resistant and can with stand up to 400 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, before it starts burning. If leather is tanned with chromium oxide, it is possible to have leather stick welding gloves that can survive up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures.
Most of the leather gloves today are chromium oxide tend and you can be able to handle anything which is twice as hot as water of boiling temperature. Even if hot debris or molten steel is splattered on your leather gloves, you can keep your hands well protected.
Leather welding gloves are of two types –
- Top Grain Leather Gloves and
- Split Leather Gloves.
Leather gloves can be made of cowhide leather, pigskin leather, deer skin leather, elk skin leather or goat skin leather – to name a few.
Welder gloves are also composed of various other materials, such as:
- Rubber – You can get excellent protection from moisture and electric shocks with rubber welding gloves.
- Cotton – These make flexible and lightweight gloves which can be worn on the hands and used for a long time. You can stay comfortable and get a good level of dexterity for your fingers while doing welding jobs, and also manage to stay protected from high temperatures.
Aluminized welding gloves are also another option which makes use of materials like elk skin or cowhide, with an aluminum layer atop – which can reflect heat radiation and keep your hands cooler. You can get good protection for your hands from extreme heat.
There are also some other leather gloves available, which are composed of PVC, polyurethane, synthetic leather and other types of plastic. However, upon exposure to open flames, these best stick welding gloves can ignite or melt.
The interior lining of the welding gloves can be made of materials like Cotton, Pile, Jersey, DuPont Kevlar and foam.
How To Buy Stick Welding Gloves
When it comes to choosing welding gloves, the primary factor that you should consider is the kind of welding job that you do most frequently. In case you are into diverse types of welding, it might be a good idea to buy several pairs – which is important for the success of your welding jobs and forwarding off injuries.
However, not depending on the type of welding that you do, these are some important qualities that you should look for in the welding gloves that you go for:
Protection from heat
Heat resistance is the biggest priority for any pair of gloves that is supposed to keep your hands protected during high-heat jobs. The protection level is determined by the kind of job that you have to deal with. However, the more the amount of protection that you can get from your gloves, the better it will be for you. For most welding gloves out there, 500 ° Centigrade or 932 ° Fahrenheit is a perfect standard.
Lightweight construction
In some kinds of applications, you need plenty of heat-proof lining in your gloves, but in most cases a balance must be there – between comfort and protection. In case you use too bulky gloves, you will be unable to keep a proper grip on your equipments and tools. Due to your natural body heat, your hands may also get extremely hot – which can lead to a lot of inconvenience while working.
Dexterity
In case of many applications, the flexibility of motion is not the primary priority – although it is still important to have some level of dexterity for your hands. In order to determine the level of flexibility you will require, you have to consider the kind of hand maneuvers that you have to do.
Durability
The materials used in the welder gloves must be tear and wear resistant, including the stitched-in threads. It is best to go for 100 percent Kevlar stitching – which is heat resistant and can last for a long, long time to come.
Puncture and cut protection
It is also important to note whether you are buying gloves that can keep you protected from potential damage from metal debris. Generally, abrasive materials and sharp metal parts are all over the place and you need to keep your hands safe from high heat as well as these components.
When you consider all these factors, apart from the type of welding that you handle most frequently, you can get the perfect protective welding gloves pair for your own requirements.
Related Questions
Are your stick welding gloves giving you proper safety?
It is important to ensure this before you buy welding gloves for your stick welding purposes. Keep in mind that according to standards and legislation in place the globes of your choice should be certified and tested for every to protect your hands from heat, puncture, abrasion, impact, cuts, shocks, electrical energy and ultraviolet radiation as well as other environmental issues.
What to look for in welding gloves?
While buying welding gloves make sure that it has a good lining as well as proper construction, with the use of a premium material like leather. You should also check whether it is a good fit for your hands and does not threaten to slip out at the time of working.
Make sure that the gloves are light in weight, so that you do not have to experience discomfort while working for long hours.
Why do most welding gloves have a cuff?
These are supposed to provide your protect for arm with protection and easily accommodate extra gear such as welders jackets and fire resistant sleeves. Wrists that are elastic sewn can make sure that the gloves stay in place security at the time of working.
Are welding gloves water-resistant?
These kinds of gloves are designed to be able to resist fire as well as offer protection from water. Synthetic and leather are two materials that are used commonly for the construction of these types of gloves. Leather is the more popular one and is ideal for heat dispersion as well as offering water resistance toughness and flexibility.
Can MIG gloves be used for stick welding purposes?
Some of the welding gloves out there can be used for various kinds of welding purposes. However that being said, TIG gloves are not appropriate for stick welding whereas some types of MIG gloves may not offer the kind of flexibility that is needed for an effective handling of TIG welding jobs. You need a good pair of gloves that are designed exclusively for stick welding jobs, to get perfect guarantee of protection.
Final Words
Stick welding gloves are an important item in the box of any professional stick welder. With the right pair of gloves in your kit, it can be much easier for you to handle your welding jobs and stay safe from potential risks.
When you choose the best stick welding gloves with all the necessary features, such as proper fit, temperature resistance, comfort lightweight, etc – you can negate some of the problems associated with working at high temperatures.