Still don't wear gloves. Nanny state has not reached that far. Having done Willie Manson's paperweight course, we didn't have gloves. The rod does not get hot at the point it is held - as that is 2 feet from the glass. Even when shaping the weight with the wood gloves aren't used. A canister of spray on burn relief is close by though.
Each to his own. Different people have different heat thresholds. All our students are issued with heat resistant kevlar sleeves and safety glasses, and gloves are available if required.
It depends on the type of work you are doing. Quite a lot of the time I use a kevlar glove since some of my work requires it. These gloves weren't available when these photos were taken.
While I understand that some people have had bad experiences with Health and Safety regulations, many of these are common sense and I always approach it from the point of view that it is my own health and safety that needs protecting and then extending that protection to others as well!
Btw all our courses start with a simple safety briefing without which students are unable to proceed, and because people are likely to forget between courses they have to go through the same briefing each time. The briefing takes place sitting down away from the distractions of the hot shop.
Handling the glass can be so exciting for most people that it is very easy to forget that while the iron is cool 2ft away from the glass, it is very hot 2ft 6in away from the glass!!
Topic: Whitefriars factory photograph................... (Read 8171 times)
