How to choose welding gloves

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The right welding gloves can make a significant difference in your welding speed, outcome, and safety. The key factor for getting a suitable welding glove is finding the right balance of dexterity and heat protection. Here is some general information you need to know before choosing the welding gloves that are right for you.


1. What type of common welding technique is used?

Before you choose a glove, you need to know what type of welding you will be doing. Different techniques have different requirements on the gloves and the protective properties the gloves should have. Here we describe the most common welding techniques.

Stick Welding

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Stick welding is one of the most popular and is used in the construction of heavy steel structures. This type of welding uses electricity to melt a metal filler electrode that melts both the metal joint and electrode all at once. Therefore, it fuses two pieces of metal together and fills the joint with filler metal at the same time. Like MIG welding, you will expect high heat and a lot of sparks.

Metal Inert Gas (MIG) Welding

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MIG welding uses electricity to join the metal by forming an arc between the electrode and the metal. When compared to Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding, this style of welding is less precise but works well for longer runs. There will be more sparks flying and splash on our hand. Therefore, it is recommended to wear a higher heat protection welding glove for this type of welding.

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding

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Tungsten Inert Gas welding is a highly technical style of welding requiring a lot of precision. It is a process that joins metals by heating them with an arc between a tungsten electrode (non-consumable) and the workpiece. While it requires high dexterity to maintain proper control, the type of welding glove you look out for is going to be different from MIG and stick welding.


2. What type of material should you be looking for?

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Leather is a natural material and adapts to the surrounding temperature and environment. It is a durable and flexible material created by tanning animal rawhide and skin, it is very durable, non-conductive and dissipates heat well. That’s why it is the most suitable material for welding protection. But just like there are options for the type of welding, each leather has its proper purpose:

cowhide_welding_1


Cowhide

Cowhide is the most popular leather due to its wide range of quality and uses. Durable and comfortable. Cowhide is typically used in Stick or MIG welding for the highest level of heat protection.

Goatskin

Goatskin is another type of leather commonly used as a replacement of cowhide as it offers great abrasion and tensile strength but remains soft and supple. Unlike cowhide, goatskin works great for TIG welding. It provides good dexterity and flexibility.

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Horse Hide

Tough and durable yet comfortable, this less-popular leather is preferred for TIG welding on its excellent dexterity.

Pigskin

A tough hide that performs well in wet and oily conditions, pigskin is great for TIG, MIG, and Stick welding but is not recommended for throwin’ around on break.

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Deerskin_welding_1

Deerskin

Deerskin is a soft, supple hide and provides good feel and nice dexterity because of that this leather is typically used in TIG welding gloves.

Elkskin

Elkskin won’t harden as fast as cowhide when exposed to high heat, which means less hand fatigue. This type of leather is typically used in stick or MIG welding due to the high heat that is used.

Elkskin_welding_1

3. What is EN12477:2001 + A1:2005 & why is this important?

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Like other certified gloves, it is important to make the right choice of gloves for the work you do. EN12477:2001 + A1:2005 standard is intended explicitly for gloves designed to be used during welding operations and allied processes. This standard consists of a combination of EN388, EN407, and EN420 tests. Welding gloves are required to withstand mechanical risk and heat resistant risk, particularly to small splashes of molten metal, short exposure to convective heat, to radiant heat, and to contact heat.


4. Hand movement – type A & type B

Other than that, EN12477:2001 + A1:2005 standard also assessed according to its design and purpose. It is clearly defined into two categories:

Type A refers to gloves with higher protection against heat but with lower flexibility and dexterity

Type B refers to gloves with lower protection against heat but with greater flexibility and dexterity

The table below showed how the type of welding glove is determined to refer to the requirements and standard 

Requirement Standard
Minimum performance required


Type A
Type B
Abrasion resistance
EN 388
Level 2
Level 1
Blade cut resistance
EN 388
Level 1
Level 1
Tear resistance
EN 388
Level 2
Level 1
Puncture resistance
EN 388
Level 2
Level 1
Burning behavior
EN 407
Level 3
Level 2
Contact heat resistance
EN 407
Level 1
Level 1
Convective heat resistance
EN 407
Level 2
-
Resistance to small splashes of molten metal
EN 407
Level 3
Level 2
Dexterity
EN 420:1998
Level 1
Level 4

Welding is a specialized work that needs specific requirements, particularly on heat protection and dexterity. However, you will need to understand what type of welding work you will be involved in to pick the right gloves for the task you do. For stick and MIG welding, higher heat protection is needed to lower the risk of getting heat related injuries. In contrast, TIG welding requires a higher level of dexterity to complete the task yet maintain a decent level of heat protection. The EN standard is essential as the test result guaranteed minimum heat protection. Therefore, you will be able to use the test result as a reference point to make informed decisions.


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