[jps4ever]

I have been tig welding a lot of small parts (T-304 stainless) that I can not use my gloves on. The heat is not a problem unless of course I grab the wrong place. I am just wondering how safe this is. Should I be worried about what this is or could be doing to my skin? I have been doing this for a while with no burning or redness of my hands but I still wonder about it. Thanks for any insight.

 

[Jim_Lou]

Occasionally I do that also. I've never seen any adverse affect either, but I figure that it's certainly not good for the unprotected skin, and may be bad, so I keep it to a minimum.

 

[barfnick]

Mechanics Wear Gloves come to mind. They are extremely thin, but would still block some of the UV rays from causing skin cancer quite as quickly.

 

[Jim_Lou]

Barfnick makes a good point. What kind of gloves do you have?

I use Tillman 24CLs that I get from my welding supplier. They're white to reflect the heat, have a relatively small cuff, and fit . . . well, like a glove. They're thin and flexible enough that I can pick a 1/16" filler off the bench, and when they're well broken in, I can even pick up .040 tungsten.

I haven't bought a new pair for several years, but my feeble memory says that they're around $30.

There is no TIG welding I can't do with them, but sometimes I take them off to do some fit-up and make a couple of tacks. Then I usually put them back on, but sometimes am lazy or in a hurry and don't.

 

[barfnick]

I have the standard Mechanix Wear Gloves. I get them at Autozone for $18.00 or so. Here is a link to their website.

MECHANIX