Leather Shop Apron

[DonkeyHody]

Folks, I have come to preach to you the gospel of the leather shop apron.

All my life, I've been searching; not always sure what I was searching for. Sometimes it was my pencil, other times it was my tape. Lately, I've spent a lot of time searching for my bifocal safety glasses too.

Then, before Christmas, I posted a "What to Ask for Christmas" question; and some benevolent soul suggested a leather shop apron. I asked for (and got) the one from Rockler with flaps over the pockets to keep the sawdust out. It has a place for my pencil, another for my 6" engineer's rule. A nice big pocket on the chest for my glasses and two pockets down low for my tape and whatever else. The chest pockets are made so that they stay open and I don't have to fumble with both hands to get things back in them.

After just a week of using my new apron, my hands have learned where to find the items I need without distraction. And they learned to put things back in their places without being told. My apron goes on when I walk in the door, and comes off when I turn off the lights.

Now I've found happiness and my clothes are cleaner too. All those wasted years I spent searching, when the answer was there all the time. Friend, don't waste your life like I did. Come to Jesus. Buy an apron.

DonkeyHody "If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

[CW]

Been wearing one for twenty years. I have taken to making my own as. when they wear out, you can never find one quite like it.

[jo4hn]

When I retired, I had a lot more shop time. I typically wore t-shirts or sweat shirts and generally got them stained with all sorts of non-removable stuff. Maggy would get tired of seeing me head off to town for the mail or a meeting of the OFC with a soiled shirt (note: it may well have been just out of the washer, but ...). So she "suggested" that I get a shop apron. Rockler had a nice canvas/denim one on sale so I bought that one. Like you, I suddenly had a place for a pencil, straight edge, tape, a few screws, etc. But best of all, my t/sweat shirts didn't get stained. Maggy thought it looked great and said, "Now don't get it dirty". (!)

BUT, BUt, But, but, bu, b ... jo4hn

[hammerhands]

"DonkeyHody" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

A lot of people must have taken the advice and bought one. They are out of stock until the 23rd.

[Robatoy]

They're a safety item as well. Protecting the 'nads from flying debris of a broken routerbit has always been high on my list.

[David]

Since my wife found me a leather apron to fit my tall frame, I'm never in the shop without it. I cringed when I heard what she paid for it, but I'm over that now, esp. now that wood chips don't get imbedded in my shirts anymore.

Dave

[jo4hn]

p.s. OFC is the Old Farts Club.

[Dave Jackson]

[David]

took me a while to find it, but here it is:

cheap, but fantastic quality! The pockets aren't very big, but I'm not much for loading myself up like a pack mule anyway so I wear mine sans "stuff".

Dave

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 16:27:34 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, [e-mail] quickly quoth:

aMEN, brother!

That's "JAYZUSS", sir.

Get thee to the local HF store. Leather welder's aprons are only $8.

?itemnumber=45194I hadn't seen the 194 lined version. (Smell it before purchase.)

These aprons are thick and will absorb much of the energy of the many kickbacks you might receive on a daily basis, too. (K: DTTAH.)

BTW, don't get the straight canvas welder's apron. Open the package and you'll find out why in one whiff. The stench of the flame retardant is downright ILLEGAL.

-- "Not always right, but never uncertain." --Heinlein -=-=-

Wondrous Website Design

[Lobby Dosser]

At HF, that's not flame retardant. That's Chinese Cat Pee!

[DonkeyHody]

I always said, "Honey that's nothing but good clean sawdust." Didn't matter if it was sticking to my shirt, coming out of my pockets, or tracked in on her clean floor. I still get just a little in my pockets, but not nearly as much. The stuff that gets on my shirt now brushes right off, not impedded like before. Well, two out of three ain't bad.

DonkeyHody "A poor workman quarrels with his tools." - American Indian Proverb

[DonkeyHody]

I always said, "Honey that's nothing but good clean sawdust." Didn't matter if it was sticking to my shirt, coming out of my pockets, or tracked in on her clean floor. I still get just a little in my pockets, but not nearly as much. The stuff that gets on my shirt now brushes right off, not impedded like before. Well, two out of three ain't bad.

DonkeyHody "A poor workman quarrels with his tools." - American Indian Proverb

[Ba r r y]

Really bad visual...

[Andy Dingley]

I'm a shortarse, but I made my apron myself. At any of the summer medieval / re-enactor / LARP fairs there are a bunch of leather traders there selling beautiful quality leather at prices much lower than anywhere else I can get it. Mine cost me £20 for something about 1 1/2 aprons in area in a beautiful quality soft suede that drapes nicely when kneeling. Any comparable apron would be about £50, and not such good material. The ties on mine are tablet-woven braid I did myself (in case I ever need to dress up as a Viking in it), but you can buy cotton webbing easily enough. If you're just sewing tapes on, then sewing by hand with a thimble or sailmaker's palm (made from the same leather) is easy. If you want a pocket or the ever-so-useful bottom edge gusset, then just sew it on a good domestic sewing machine with a leather needle

- you _don't_ need a huge powerful machine to sew leather, but you only get one shot at sewing each seam.

[Never Enough Money]

Lie-Nielsen also makes a good leather apron.

-- click on accessories which is under "Other items".

D> Folks, I have come to preach to you the gospel of the leather shop > apron. >

[Never Enough Money]

Lie-Nielsen has a good one, too.

-- click on "Accessories."

[Never Enough Money]

[Never Enough Money]

Lie-Nielsen also makes a nice leather apron. See

-- click on accessories which is under "other items."

D> Folks, I have come to preach to you the gospel of the leather shop > apron. >

[Dave Jackson]

Thanks for the idea! The missus like to sew, maybe I can get her to custom make one. I would just like a leather one that stops above the knee with a few pockets for the stuff I use the most. The last two I tried on didn't even go far enough down to cover some body parts that should be protected! --dave