Do you have large hands or small hands? Relation of the size of your hands to mechanical work

[Kurtatron]

I am in the bottom 5% percentile for average male height in the country. I have tiny hands, but they have come in handy.

I remember people always saying the Mazda Miata oil filter was a huge pain to change. For my tiny hands and thin arms, I could contort it right behind the air intake and unscrew it like any other oil filter. It was one of the few things I could brag about being small.

 

[CR94]

For mechanical work, one needs hands that are small but very strong, very flexible, and stain-resistant. Mine don't conform with any of that.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Large hands for me. Long slinky fingers. My parents tell me I have piano fingers, lol. I am an XL glove size. More than one person has called me over to see if i could get something that their big ham sized hands couldn’t lol.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Large / long fingers. Yes the smaller hands work well in places. When you have larger hands and you happen to be a mechanic
as I was.... you find ways to get the job done. You also go home with lots of busted knuckles, bleeding fingers etc.... One of my
F-150 trucks in the late 80s had a plug to the front that was "the challenge." I used to do all the others. Take a nice long break
and then endure. I had to get on a board across the engine and twist my wrist in the most awkward angle and jam it in between
stuff to get to it. Only did that one a couple times. I have had my fingers (thank God) inside thick leather work gloves jammed
between a flange on a giant metal vessel cover and was afraid to take that glove off thinking the finger tip was severed. Thank
goodness the glove and my quick yank back reaction just got it pinched as I reacted. Finger nail got black for a year and hurt..
Actually must admit , doing that kind of work, so many years and that near miss was not the only one.

 

[dlundblad]

“My hands are small I know, but they're not yours they are my own.”

I listen to a guy on the radio who used to prank call gas stations and convenience stores 20-30 years ago and sing this to them.

 

[Skippy722]

I think I have “normal” sized hands, my wife says they’re big…. Though more people than just my wife have told me I make my iPhone 13 Pro Max look like a regular smaller 13 pro

 

[AdmiralYoda]

I've got super thick muscular meat hooks for hands and forearms like Popeye. Size 14 ring lol. But being 5'7 my fingers are relatively stubby compared to how thick my hands are. I need XL or XXL gloves just to get my paws in there...but my fingers don't reach the end so I look like a kid wearing gloves that are too big.

Anytime I have to wrench I come out looking like I got in a fight with a cat. I get them in tight places...but they don't like to come out!

 

[repairman54]

Wide palms and not long enough fingers to fully get to the ends of gloves. In between X and XL glove size. Gloves are a hassle.
Decades of major appliance repair, gearhead also.
Working on appliances with sheet metal engineered by Mr. Gillette and Mr. Wilkerson sure beat up my hands and forearms reaching in tight spots. Lucky to have skin on the knuckles, forget about hair. Bruises and blood from wedging in to get the job done were daily and I still do it today. Acquired subconscious pain blocking.
But it gave me technicians gorilla grip turning screw and nut drivers before the advent of battery power drivers.
I curse myself taking off ''hand tight'' oil filters that I've installed to this day.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Wide palms and not long enough fingers to fully get to the ends of gloves. In between X and XL glove size. Gloves are a hassle.
Decades of major appliance repair, gearhead also.
Working on appliances with sheet metal engineered by Mr. Gillette and Mr. Wilkerson sure beat up my hands and forearms reaching in tight spots. Lucky to have skin on the knuckles, forget about hair. Bruises and blood from wedging in to get the job done were daily and I still do it today. Acquired subconscious pain blocking.
But it gave me technicians gorilla grip turning screw and nut drivers before the advent of battery power drivers.
I curse myself taking off ''hand tight'' oil filters that I've installed to this day.

Tough sometimes. So many people end up having to fight filters due to the installers using a wrench to put them on. Similar to the tire shop "younguns" or newbies who right away fall in love with the impact wrenches and get on it hard especially if not trained to tourque their work.

 

[paulo57509]

I have small hands. When I do wear gloves (Maxi-Flex Ultimate) it's a medium size.

Small hands are good for working under dashboards (which I hate) or getting in between engine/firewalls. Usually, I work bare handed. Unless it's around lumber.

 

[SaberOne]

I have relatively small hands. All I need is a long gray tail and leathery ears and I would look like a rat.

 

[repairman54]

When I do wear gloves (Maxi-Flex Ultimate) it's a medium size.

The Maxi-Flex Ultimate are my favorite gloves also, nice stretch fit for odd sized hands.

 

[paulo57509]

The Maxi-Flex Ultimate are my favorite gloves also, nice stretch fit for odd sized hands.

I started wearing them when I engineered in a custom/production cabinet shop. The only disappintment with the gloves is there's really no insulation protection. My hands still froze in the winter months.

 

[Jay73]

Small hands which is the reason I always preferred cheaper craftsman tools when I was a mechanic over buying from the snap-on guy etc... as the good stuff is made larger which I don't prefer. I've been asked multiple times to come help someone in a tight spot as they can't get their hands in places.

 

[DGXR]

I am tall so my hands are slightly larger than average. Only had a couple situations over the years where my hand size was a problem when wrenching, usually reaching into small openings or around tight corners. Otherwise they work well I guess? Interesting question.

 

[hardcore302]

Not large but bigger than average. PiTA when it comes to working on cars.

 

[CanAmAndMore]

My hands are XXL.
Really are a PITA.

 

[tbm3fan]

Small to average hands which are perfect for what I do as cars are just a hobby. Yet when I am wielding a pointy instrument around your cornea then my very steady average sized hands come in very handy.

 

[andrew_j]

Wear size L glove guessing average size.

They look normal for 5’8” slender build.