Shop Aprons

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I like to wear a shop apron when I'm building rifles. I've been constructing my own aprons from canvas since it's the only way I can get enough wrap-around, canvas seems to be wearing out in about a year. Sounds long but when you figure the price of canvas, to me it's a bad deal. So I was thinking of making a new apron using leather. Much more durable and also better looking. I won't look like a mad butcher when I go out for the mail.

My question is does anyone use a leather apron and how is the comfort factor?

[Kermit]

I wear a shop apron too. I've been tempted by leather, but never went for it. I used fabric aprons available from various woodworking supply businesses. They're not all created equal. Some have very uncomfortable strap designs, and many have poorly thought out pocket arrangements. I wore one for 40-50 hours a week in a furniture shop, and they usually lasted well beyond your one year experience. Good luck finding one that suits your needs. I sent back several. The last one I liked came from Duluth Trading, but of course they discontinued it. Should have ordered a half-dozen.

One bit of advice: If the straps are configured to hang on the back of your neck, you will not like the weight of it after wearing it a while. Look for straps that cross in the middle of your back. If you come up with a design that works, produce it or license the design!

[Thawk]

I've been constructing my own aprons from canvas since it's the only way I can get enough wrap-around,

Sorry can't help myself.....  But you could wear more than just the apron and not have to worry about having enough wrap-around...

Common joke around my place since I've been known to wander down to the shop less than fully dressed. 

[bama]

My wife got me an apron and it is the type that crosses in the back and does not hang on the neck. She got it at CHEFScatalog.com for 29.95.  The material is blue denim. It is very comfortable and it keeps me from messing up so many jeans.

[ironwolf]

  Leather aprons are hot, soak up sweat, always smell, and are hard to clean.

   KW

[Mark Elliott]

My overalls serve the same purpose as an apron, even though I have a denim one from Woodcraft.     The  problem is that they both will wear out in a year because I like to file on my knee.    It is just so convenient for that.    I had also been thinking about a leather apron.     Maybe leather patches on my knees are the way to go.

[PPatch]

I would go Denim, that is what I have and use when I get into the chemical end of the biz. Leather sounds nice but gets heavy after a while and smells nasty after a while.

dp

[P.W.Berkuta]

When I was doing a lot of bullet casting my machine shop buddy gave me a leather apron that was made out of leather "splits" nappy on both sides and not heavy. It was long enough to cover my knees and chest area so that when I sat down I had protection from lead splatter. It worked well - yes - it was a bit hot but I was working around a 20 pound propane tank going full blast with a 40+ pound pot of lead on it. Look at Tandy leather for a thin leather split that will fit your pattern. I don't know how you tie your straps but it starts at the top of the left and right shoulders then makes an "X"across the back then through two grommets in the waist then tied in the back with a shoe lace tie knot. The tie string does not go in the front of the apron to catch on stuff.

[Long Ears]

I made a leather apron. It is made from a commercial tanned Elk hide I had done. It is heavy but doesn't seem to bother me. I have slipped with SHARP tools and it never quite made it through. I also file on my knee as well as sand metal. Never hardly makes a mark on it. I made a pencil pocket for it and no large pockets to fill with shavings or metal chips from the lathe or mill. Yep it has glue, stain, cutting oil and stock finish all over it. Patina I call it. The wife however won't let me set at the supper table with  it on..... Bob

[Kermit]

http://www.google.com/search?q=woodworkers+shop+apron&client=safari&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=wuiEU-LNBsHcoASp5YLQBg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1024&bih=672#facrc=_&imgrc=pBzxByfVgofxSM%253A%3Ba839HUqi034ODM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Flh4.googleusercontent.com%252F-ywp7OZ921Ag%252FT0apeRiITPI%252FAAAAAAAAI9o%252FgDGUl-GtsQY%252Fs800%252FPamela-Love-main.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flizthayer.blogspot.com%252F2012_02_01_archive.html%3B533%3B800

Or you can go for practical:

http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/product/bib-apron-best-@!*%-shop-apron-96543.aspx

[Pete G.]

The one from Duluth Trading is the way to go.

[David R. Pennington]

I made one from home tanned buckskin. I made the waist tie long enough to wrap around and tie in the front. This keeps it supported above the hips and you don't notice the weight on your neck. The only problem is sometimes the strap around the neck rides up when you bend over. I don't wear it always in the shop, mostly when I am blacksmithing or some other task I want to protect my clothes from. To be HC I should take off the strap and make a buttonhole for my top waistcoat button. I just gave it a new rub down with neats foot oil the other day. I don't have any pockets in it.

[Habu]

 I figure aprons should be seen as a disposable item, not something that should last forever.  They should be comfortable, or they don't get worn.  Leather is out, unless I'm welding or doing forge work. 

I had one of the Duluth aprons.  It was great, except for sagging, and being hotter-than-blazes, and getting in the way.  Managed to snag it once on a big square-head jointer I was repairing, and nearly got killed before I got the machine shut off--but the apron was still usable!  Since there was no wearing it out, I gave it to a guy I really didn't like. 

Any more, I've gone back to the old-style denim machinists' apron, about like the second from the left here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#shop-aprons/=s5ixu6 but without the waist pockets.  Depending on what I'm doing, the bib pocket holds my 0-1" micrometer, 6" scale, small square, etc. 

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

Lots of good suggestions here. I don't use pockets on the apron they just fill up with debris, and get caught on things. I think they do serve a purpose, especially when I look at the "patina" on my old apron.

[Bob Roller]

I dropped my shop apron and it broke.Now have three new ones with the Marriot logo on them that were a gift from a woman my wife works with. Dark green with a big pocket.

Bob Roller

[Tim Crosby]

 Leather aprons are hard to clean.

   KW

 I didn't know you were suppose to clean them, this one is leather and about 25 years old, gets used every day.

     Tim C.

 

[PPatch]

I dropped my shop apron and it broke.Now have three new ones with the Marriot logo on them that were a gift from a woman my wife works with. Dark green with a big pocket.

Bob Roller

Put some rebar in the next apron Bob...

Dave

[t.caster]

I don't use them very often, but I have a canvas one and a deerhide split one. The leather one I mainly use for what little welding I do.

[Jerry V Lape]

I have one that is going to last for several generations.  A friend who works in a military related industry gave me a piece of kevlar cloth.  I used part of it to make chaps for hunting and the rest to make a shop apron.  It doesn't cut very easily, cholla cactus  doesn't penetrate the chaps (or not much) which makes it tougher than leather.   I haven't tested the chaps on rattlesnakes yet but suspect the snakes may be disappointed. It is easy to wash.  I know the stuff is commercially available - just figure out how to cut it is the biggest issue.  Normal shears won't.  I finally cut it with a razor blade on a plastic cutting board with considerable effort. Sews okay though but use kevlar thread if you want the thread to last as long as the cloth. 

[Marcruger]

I had a man buy a beautiful suede ladies floor-length western skirt from me at a show.  I asked if his wife fit it, and he said, "No, I am going to make a shop apron out of it."  You may want to haunt thrift stores for soft leather women's skirts to use as material for an apron.  It's cheaper that way.  :-)  Best wishes,  Marc

[flehto]

When I was tool and diemaking always wore a white apron made out of denim or linen because it served a purpose....had pockets for a mike , scale. some other small tools and pencils.  When called out to troubleshoot various dies, machines and molds could at least measure something and perhaps make a repair.

In the shop making LRs, don't see the need for an apron...everything is close at hand..... I do use an apron, though.....when cooking.....Fred

[WadePatton]

I wear an old Midway canvas apron in cooler weather.

Here's an idea I didn't see above: find a canvas apron that suits you, wear it until it gets serious wear/holes, then leather patch those areas.  This should provide comforts of canvas with durability of leather.  Add or delete pockets to suit yourself.

Production stuff all needs to be modified for optimum performance for our own individual needs/desires.


Also as I generally wear out the frontside of my denim breeches long before the rest of the pants are worn out, I have begun only buying double-fronted jeans.  Find them at logger supply houses.  They don't sell a shorts version, so...I cut off brand new pants.  MOF i think that's my current patching material!  Two brands are made in the US as well.

[JB2]

I also have a heavy sueded leather apron that I only wear for welding and grinding.  Just too heavy and hot.  Like Wade, I've got 4 or 5 pairs of jeans that have the fronts of the legs worn thru.  Since our neighbor just tuned up and oiled the wifes sewing machine, I'm gonna try to make a denim shop apron from the back half of a pairs of jeans.  The back pockets will make nice big debris catchers, I mean, chest pockets. 

Don't know if having the butt-part of my old jeans right under my face will bother me or not. 

Oh, and does everyone here wear out the right thigh area first? 

[Hungry Horse]

 I use a leather apron, and have for years. I do a lot of forging, welding, grinding, and soldering, and am not fast enough anymore to get out of an apron that is on fire. Finishes, with linseed oil as an ingredient, are susceptible to spontaneous combustion, but not when on a leather apron. And as for hot, where I live summer temperatures of 110 are not unheard of.

               Hungry Horse

[omark]

I also have a heavy sueded leather apron that I only wear for welding and grinding.  Just too heavy and hot.  Like Wade, I've got 4 or 5 pairs of jeans that have the fronts of the legs worn thru.  Since our neighbor just tuned up and oiled the wifes sewing machine, I'm gonna try to make a denim shop apron from the back half of a pairs of jeans.  The back pockets will make nice big debris catchers, I mean, chest pockets. 

Don't know if having the butt-part of my old jeans right under my face will bother me or not. 

Oh, and does everyone here wear out the right thigh area first? 

I wear out the butt first, guessing you all can figger out why.    Mark