Читать книгу Woodcarving Illustrated Issue 83 Summer 2018 - Группа авторов - Страница 12

Woodcarving Illustrated

|

FALL 2018

10

Decoding

Your Carving

Gloves

By Bob Duncan and Tom Borecki

TOP

TIP

✔

tips

and techniques

All carving gloves contain Kevlar, so they will all

slow down or stop a tool slip to some degree—but

evaluating that protection can be tricky. The late Rick

Ferry, owner of Little Shavers woodcarving supply

company, used to test gloves by trying to cut a thumb

off, and would only sell those that in his judgement

sufficiently resisted his slicing.

Is there any more accurate way to compare carving

gloves? Yes, but...it's complicated. There are two

organizations that set standards for cut resistance: the

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and

the European Committee for Standardization (CEN).

Their testing protocols vary slightly but ultimately do

the same thing: measure safety and durability of gloves

used in work environments.

Here's where it gets challenging: ANSI ratings are

voluntary

for gloves sold in America, and we could not

find it marked on a single one. You have to check the

manufacturer's website (or, more easily, just google

the glove) to get those ratings. But every glove sold in

Europe

must

be stamped with a CEN rating, and since

many of them are also sold in the United States, you

can often find those ratings on gloves bought here.

Thus, if a glove has no rating printed on it,

you have to google it for an evaluation.

What do the ANSI numbers mean?

Basically, the ANSI test measures

how much weight applied to a

blade is required to cut through the

material (see chart). Up until 2016,

the ratings went from 1 (lowest

resistance) to 5 (highest resistance). Since 2016, the

rating system now goes from a low of A1 to a high

of A9, allowing for more precise measurements,

particularly of heavier, more cut-resistant gloves (the

letter A simply indicates a new rating).

Most ANSI-rated gloves we found had only been

measured for cut resistance; a few had been tested for

abrasion resistance; and only one, Superior Glove’s

Action glove (which features a leather covering), had

been tested for puncture resistance. If you're curious

about a specific model, you'll find these details at the

ANSI website.

What rating is right for you? Much is based on

personal preference—how much protection you want

and how the glove feels while you're working. But at a

minimum, a good carving glove should have a rating

of no less than 2 (or A2); those rated at 5 (or A6 or

higher), while super-protective, may feel heavy and

stiff. In our shop, we like Cordova Power-Cor gloves,

which have an ANSI 3 rating for cut resistance.

Pre-2016 level

Post-2016 level

Weight in grams

1

A1

200-499

2

A2

500-999

3

A3

1000-1499

A4

1500-2199

4

1500-3499

A5

2200-2999

A6

3000-3999

5

3500+

A7

4000-4999

A8

5000-5999

A9

6000+

ANSI Ratings

A5

ASTM ANSI

CUT LEVEL

MINIMUM

PROTECTION