StoneBreaker MasterSmith Medium Work Glove, Black

So far these have lasted through 6 months of hard use. I go through a lot of gloves and these are lasting longer than other well known brands I have bought.

I'm a steel worker, these started falling apart on day one consistent with a 8 month old review by another Blacksmith (rubber fell off near immediately, tearing in fingertips on day two)... quality hasn't been addressed, and am expecting them to fail by the end of the week. The fit for me was tight around the entrance and tight in the webbing in between the fingers, oddly loose on the thumbs length by a half inch or so. Will be trying other gloves and reading reviews next time. Though I can say they are comfortable once they're on, and they do provide good coverage and protection while they last.

They fit a little snug, but not to bad. Been using them for a week now for about 2 hours a day playing tug a war with my dogs. They help keep my hands from getting rope burn. They have been holding up pretty good even with the puppy trying to chew on them lol.

I am a professional blacksmith, and these gloves were purchased for the beginning of my weekend demo season. This is very hard use, and destroys gloves in short order. My last pair of Mastersmith gloves lasted most of a year before the leather finally started cracking and tearing. Due for replacement, I bought the same model. These are the best smithing gloves I have ever found, but still only gets 3 of 5 stars for the purpose. All of the other alternatives I've tried are far worse. Sturdier gloves are too stiff to let me work effectively, whereas the Mastersmith gloves are so dexterous that I can type while wearing them. I put the new gloves through their paces and took photographs of any new damage at the end of each weekend. Pictures after each update. 12 man-hours: Adhesive begins failing on all glued rubber pads. Not one glued component failed on my previous pair (same model) during a year of similar use, so I assume StoneBreaker changed adhesive or process. The new adhesive is grossly inadequate. ​ 24 man-hours: Heavy wear at all fingertips; first small holes in the (right) thumb. ​ 32 man-hours: More glue failures. The small red hex is gone, the velcro strip is coming off, and the left thumb hole is rapidly creeping. ​ 48 man-hours: Thumb failure is now at the dangerous stage, where I can accidentally touch hot steel with my thumb. The velcro strip detached completely. I re-glued with cyanoacrylate, which has held up without issue. ​ 72 man-hours: Both thumbs have completely failed. Once wear holes begin, the seams fail fairly rapidly. The velcro which I repaired is holding well; the other velcro strip no longer sticks – but the adhesive is still holding on it. The gloves are no longer safe. ​ My assessment, starting with the CONS and ending with the PROS: The line of hard rubber knuckle pads along the forefinger are a waste, stiffening the glove (making it harder to grip), and falling off quickly. These should be discarded from the design in a smithing application. (I'm sure they're useful in an automotive/mechanic application.) The presumed adhesive process change is a disaster for StoneBreaker's marketing department – I've seen the other reviews. I hope it gets reverted ASAP. The finger and thumb terminals need a design overhaul. The leather needs to come up and around the end of the digit, or these seams will always fail very quickly. For blacksmithing, synthetic materials are a very bad choice. It takes very little heat to damage the back of the glove, whereas the leather can handle a light brush even against 1000 F steel. StoneBreaker has most of a solid trade-off here: the synthetic is needed for flexibility but isn't very durable, so it's kept on the back of the hand. With a fingertip redesign, it'll be fine. The integral pads on the back of the thumb are a great feature. This is where a sloppy hammer blow is most likely to land when holding a punch or other tool. You shouldn't ever need these, but it's great to have them when things don't go right. The palm pads are excellent shock absorbers, and I didn't get even one blister. (Ungloved, rubbing from my hammer handles give me a blister within 2 man-hours.) While it's disappointing to have total failure in 72 man-hours, these are still the best blacksmithing gloves I've found. Next time I'll try “The Demo,” which is all leather. It will be stiffer, but the lack of durability in the Mastersmith is a problem in such a hard-use application.

As for the sewing and leather they are already starting to wear through. They are holding up okay so far at 4 days, not very satisfied. I'm a signal technician for a railroad and I use my gloves about 90% of the day. The little rubber deals along the index finger and the red sproket lookin thing are all glued not sewn. First day using the glove they started to come off. For the price of the glove for it to have glued pieces shows poor, cheap craftsmanship. And at 3 weeks, which is 15 days of use I now have a hole on the tip of my left index finger. Garbage.

First, these gloves look great and fit good...BUT they fell apart on the first day on the job. In a matter of 8 hours of hoist operation and minor Carpentry the foam parts peeled off. Now I dont know if these have been sitting in some warehouse forever or QC is out the window. There is too much competition to produce a product this poor. Now that actual construction of the glove if fine so far although there is some fraying beginning to happen at the fingers. Shame all the bells and whistles are falling of as I type this...

My husband has been working the gloves hard all summer on our property with landscaping. I've had to patch the thumb, but they've held up ok otherwise. He says these are the most comfortable work gloves he has had. He's a physical therapist so hand protection is important.

The fit is somewhat good. The pinky part has an odd design, kinda twisted and oversized. The one thing I dislike the most is the wrist strap. It's too hard, long and doesn't even stick. The Velcro part on the wrist strap began to peel off within a week or two. So did the index finger external padding. The glove is overdesigned with good ideas in hand but poorly executed as far as materials or finishing touches. I wouldn't buy them especially for the price. Cheers