MIG, stick, and flux core: the gloves each process actually needs

Why process drives glove selection more than leather grade

The amount of heat, spatter, and ultraviolet exposure your hand absorbs during welding varies by process by an order of magnitude. A cowhide gauntlet that handles 40 hours per week of MIG welding will burn through in days under heavy stick work. A glove engineered for stick will be unusable for TIG. The leather grade matters, but the welding process is what determines whether a glove fails by burn-through, abrasion, dexterity loss, or thermal cycling.

The American Welding Society defines four arc welding processes that dominate fabrication: GMAW (MIG), SMAW (stick), FCAW (flux core), and GTAW (TIG). Each has a distinct hand-exposure profile that drives a different glove specification.

MIG (GMAW): the workhorse process for general fabrication

MIG welding uses a continuous wire electrode fed through a gun, with shielding gas (typically 75/25 argon-CO2 or 100% CO2 for carbon steel). Filler metals are governed by AWS A5.18 for carbon steel. Typical amperage runs from 50-200A in short-circuit mode for thin material to 200-500A in spray transfer for heavy plate.

Spatter is moderate. Heat exposure at the glove is medium because the welder's grip sits 6-10 inches from the arc with the gun handle absorbing some thermal load. The dominant failure mode is abrasion at the palm and thumb from gripping the gun and handling consumables, not burn-through.

What to specify for MIG:

• Material: Grain-leather cowhide, 1.0-1.4mm thickness
• Cuff length: 14 inches handles spatter ricochet without binding at the elbow
• Liner: Sewn-in cotton or fleece, not glued
• Contact heat (ASTM F1060): 500°F minimum
• Cut resistance (ANSI/ISEA 105): A3 minimum, A4+ if handling rebar or rough plate

Most production shops doing primarily MIG standardize on a single mid-tier cowhide gauntlet model and reorder by case. Switching glove models mid-cycle introduces inconsistency in PPE documentation that auditors flag.

Stick welding (SMAW): the highest hand-exposure process

SMAW uses a flux-coated consumable electrode (the "stick" or "rod"). Typical amperage runs from 40A for thin sheet to 250A+ for heavy structural work. Common rod sizes are 1/8" and 5/32" for general fabrication; 3/32" for thin material and 3/16"+ for heavy plate.

Stick produces significantly more spatter than MIG, longer continuous arc time per rod, and higher radiated heat. In vertical-up and overhead positions, spatter falls toward the welder's hand and forearm, which is why 16-inch gauntlets are standard for structural stick work. The failure mode is burn-through, especially at the palm where hot spatter accumulates, and at the cuff seam where overhead welding deposits spatter directly.

What to specify for stick:

• Material: Heavier-weight grain cowhide, 1.2-1.6mm thickness, or split-grain for cost-sensitive bulk programs
• Cuff length: 14 inches for flat and horizontal work, 16 inches for vertical and overhead
• Construction: Double-row palm stitching with Kevlar thread; the cotton thread used on lower-cost pairs is the first thing that burns through at the cuff seam
• Contact heat (ASTM F1060): 500°F minimum, 700°F preferred for sustained overhead work
• Cut resistance: A3 minimum

Stick welders go through gloves faster than MIG welders. Programs that buy a single glove model for both processes end up with stick welders complaining about burn-through while MIG welders complain about bulk. Two SKUs is the standard answer in any shop running both.

Flux core (FCAW): the underestimated wear category

Flux core sits between MIG and stick in heat and spatter. It uses a tubular wire electrode with flux in the core, governed by AWS A5.20 for carbon steel. Two variants: self-shielded (FCAW-S) for outdoor or windy conditions, and dual-shield (FCAW-G) using external shielding gas like MIG.

Self-shielded flux core produces more spatter and smoke than dual-shield because the flux is doing all the shielding work. Outdoor stick welders moving to self-shielded flux core often overlook the increased hand exposure and stick with their MIG gloves, then wonder why they're replacing them weekly.

What to specify for flux core:

• Material: Grain-leather cowhide, 1.2mm minimum for dual-shield; 1.4mm+ for self-shielded
• Cuff length: 14 inches for dual-shield indoor work; 16 inches for self-shielded outdoor
• Contact heat (ASTM F1060): 500°F minimum
• Cut and abrasion: ANSI/ISEA 105 Level 3 minimum on both

Replacement frequency on self-shielded flux core in outdoor pipeline or construction work typically matches stick frequency, not MIG. Budget accordingly.

TIG (GTAW): why thick gloves fail this process

TIG welds with a non-consumable tungsten electrode, separate filler rod fed by hand, and shielding gas (argon for most carbon steel, helium for aluminum). Amperage ranges from 5A for thin foil to 300A for heavy material. There is almost no spatter, and heat at the hand is low because the welder's torch hand sits further from the arc and the filler hand is feeding into a controlled puddle.

TIG welders need to feel the filler rod with their fingertips and control the torch arc length within fractions of an inch. A 1.2mm cowhide gauntlet makes this impossible. TIG welders use thin pigskin or goatskin gloves, usually short-cuff or knit-cuff, typically rated to lower heat exposure because the use case does not require 500°F protection.

What to specify for TIG (which uSetGo does not make):

• Material: Pigskin or goatskin, 0.5-0.8mm thickness
• Cuff length: Short cuff (knit cuff or 4-6 inch leather cuff)
• Construction: Single-stitch palm; minimum thread count
• Contact heat: 350°F is typical; F1060 testing is rare for TIG gloves because the use case does not require it

If your shop runs TIG, source these from a TIG-specific supplier. Do not buy a cowhide MIG glove and try to use it on TIG; the dexterity loss makes the operator slow and the welds suffer.

Process-to-glove summary

Replacement frequencies in this table are industry-typical ranges for production-level use (6+ hours of welding per day). Hobby use multiplies these intervals by 10 or more. Get the supplier's documented mean service life under your specified use conditions for procurement planning.

Where uSetGo fits

Our cowhide welding gloves cover the three highest-volume processes in general fabrication: MIG, stick, and flux core. 1.2mm grain-leather cowhide, 14-inch gauntlet, sewn-in liner, ASTM F1060 contact heat tested to 500°F. The Brown Cowhide Welding Gloves and Gray Cowhide variant share the same spec sheet, so a single model handles a multi-process shop.

For shops running heavy overhead stick or sustained self-shielded flux core, the 14-inch cuff may not be enough; you will want to source a 16-inch model from a supplier focused on structural welding. We do not make a 16-inch gauntlet today.

For TIG work, we do not make a TIG-rated glove. Buy a dedicated TIG pair from a TIG-specific supplier. Trying to do TIG work in a cowhide MIG glove is the most common mistake new shops make.

The mistake almost every multi-process shop makes

Shops running two or three processes try to standardize on one glove SKU to simplify procurement. The math is rarely in favor of one SKU. Saving administrative overhead on one model rarely offsets the cost of burned-through stick welder gloves or the productivity loss from frustrated TIG welders. Two SKUs is the standard answer for any shop running MIG plus stick. Three SKUs if you also run TIG. The procurement overhead is small. The cost of the wrong glove on the wrong process is large.