Welding gloves from Torch Wear.

Blending the needs for safety and protection, comfort and the wish for personal always has been the challenge for manufacturers of personal gear.

Torch Wear (www.torchwear.com) has developed one of the toughest and most fireproof lines of personal protective gear designed to withstand extreme heat and abuse.

Torch Wear’s products are made from oxidized polyacrylonitrile fibers that are reinforced with Aramid fibers. The combination produces fibers that can be woven into textiles with extreme flame retardant qualities. A video from Torch Wear said the fibers in its products, which are marketed as CarbonX fibers, begin to break down at temperatures exceeding 2,600 degrees F., about 100 degrees higher than the melting point for low-carbon steel.

The woven products made from CarbonX fibers are soft and pliable, and are made into textiles that breathe and provide a high degree of dexterity.

The three-year-old company’s line includes overalls, jackets, gloves, sleeves, hoods, blankets and pads. Its newest welding glove is designed to provide all-around protection for MIG and TIG applications, and is made with top grain cowhide and fine goat suede. The new glove design includes an all cow-hide leather thumb and pinky finger tip, improving both protection and life expectancy. Leo Seitz, operations manager for Torch Wear, said the primary benefit of this new glove is the dexterity it provides the wearer.

“It allows the wearer to pick up small items, and the Kevlar threading provides excellent heat and abrasion resistance,” Seitz said. The Torch Wear TIG/MIG welding gloves are available in sizes small through 3XL.

Autodarkening filters and helmets

ArcOne Welding and Safety Products (www.arc1weldsafe.com) introduced its Python autodarkening welding helmets, that the company says offers welders style, function and performance.

The new Python helmets are available with numerous decals and painted finishes for a look that ArcOne president Edward Martin said is modeled after a race car design.

“We’ve shown the Python at three trade shows, and people want to touch it, put it on – they seem to have a natural attraction to this design,” Martin said. “We have quite a few helmet designs, but this is the first designed after a race car and we’ve never had this kind of immediate response.”

Martin said that comfort is a huge issue with welding helmets. ArcOne developed what the company calls the first durable and comfortable headgear made from two-piece construction to allow the headgear to be rigid in the ratchet area and soft on the forehead.

The helmets are made with reduced material content to produce a lighter weight headgear, and they feature adjustable forward and back positioning to allow easy sizing; a lower support for the back of the head; and an angled front for maximum comfort.

Auto-darkening lenses for helmets are critical to the safety of welders and to making good welds.

Sellstrom Manufacturing Company (www.sellstrom.com) said it has taken auto-darkening technology to a new level with its patented Impulse Mag-Sense welding helmet that features an optomagnetic detection system.

Rusty Franklin, vice president of sales and marketing for Sellstrom, said that the Impulse Mag-Sense product is designed primarily for applications in which there may be intermittent interference between a welder’s line of sight and the arc.

“When interfering with the line of sight, the filter will switch to the light state, which is a nuisance to welders. “A redundant magnetic arc detection system works with the optical sensors to ensure that the filter will stay dark as long as there is an arc present, even if the line of sight is interrupted. This patented technology improves efficiency and relieves the frustration of welders,” Franklin said.

The opto-magnetic sensing system is adjustable so that the system can be tuned to ambient conditions. The Impulse Mag-Sense helmet is designed for production environments in which lighting issues, proximity to other welders, smoke or reflections hamper the effectiveness of standard auto-darkening filters. The Impulse Mag-Sense will be available commercially in March.

3M Company’s new Speedglas SL (Super Light) Welding Helmet and Auto-Darkening Filter (ADF) recently was named a winner of an international Red Dot Design Award. The international red dot program is among the largest and most renowned design competitions in the world, and sees more than 7,000 submissions from 60 countries.

3M said its helmet is 25 percent lighter than the company’s current autodarkening filter products, and features a lighter autodarkening filter that is made with a new liquid crystal cell design and lighter-weight materials. The company said its autodarkening filter can be used with all arc-welding processes including MMAW, MIG/MAG, TIG and micro plasma. 3M also recently introduced several new models of its eyewear including its Classic protective eyewear that makes a variety of lenses available, its Plus protective eyewear; and new Pro eyewear that features full-view safety goggles (1623 AF) and a full range of Pro eyewear lenses that include mirrored and gold mirrored lenses.

North Safety Products (www.northsafety.com) recently introduced its Fibre-Metal SuperEight E1 Full Brim hard hats that the company said offers greater protection against rain, falling debris and UV rays from sunshine.

“The smooth crown design deflects falling objects while the technically advanced, eight point suspension offers the most sophisticated head protection system available,” the company said. Welding Gloves

Hobart Welding Products (www.HobartWelders.com) is offering two styles of form-fitted gloves that are designed for increased comfort to protective welding gear at a reasonable price.

The gloves are designed for durability, and are available either in natural-grain or split leather. They are made with an absorbent lining that insulates against heat while providing comfort, and have finger patches to protect knuckles and extra padding in the palm. Kevlar stitches keep the gloved together, resist heat, and prolong their life.

John Tillman Co. (www.jtillman.com) said it has developed tough and rugged gloves that are made with extra style.

The company’s Onyx gloves use top grain leathers and Westex Proban FR7A flame retardant cotton. The gloves are black, and are available in three styles:

• Stick- Model 875 has all top grain elk skin palm, back and cuffs that provide resistance to heat shrinkage, more comfort, longer wear, and better overall performance.
• MIG- Model 45- made from top grain pigskin, which the company said is one of the toughest hides available. The 45 features an unlined palm designed for MIG gun use and a cotton/foam lined back for added heat protection.
• TIG- Model 44 is new, and is made from supple kidskin, with a new top grain kidskin cuff for increased comfort and protection. This glove is unlined to provide maximum feel and dexterity.

Work boots

The next frontier for work boots is to have them provide an anti-fatigue platform that will eliminate the need for anti-fatigue mats for workers who are on their feet all day, Bob McCarthy, senior product manager for Timberland PRO, a manufacturer of protective boots, said.

Timberland PRO (www.timberland.com) began researching the role that boots play to help alleviate strain to backs and knees. Those strains often can result in high-cost medical claims.

“The answer has been to continue to invest in antifatigue mats, but also incorporate anti-fatigue features in our footwear. We tested a variety of materials by first testing anti-fatigue mats. We took four random mats in various thicknesses, and found that they performed at the low end of the scale,” McCarthy said.

The company then researched the geometry of the padding and found that an upside-down cone shape in foot wear helped to displace material and saved weight.