I started wearing an apron a few years ago, Tony, and it has made me much more efficient as I work. In my apron I carry a six inch rule, multiple pencils, my dust collector remote, a 12 foot tape measure, a utility knife, and a construction calculator so I can add and subtract fractional measurements easily. Being able to have those at your fingertips without having to search around on the bench top for them makes life much easier.

 

Keeps your clothes cleaner too --- especially if you wear black.

 

All I can say is ... YUP ...

Mine is a very light suede...no, I'm not snooty - it happened to be there when I was looking for one...my last one was heavy cloth/light canvas type.

The new one has pockets in the side...don't think I like that as much as chest pockets. My old one had 4 pockets chest high with two thin ones in the middle...pencils, rule, etc...

 

Hmmm. Don't gots no apron. Pants pocket has flashlight, knife. Shirt pockets has pens, pencils, sometimes a knife and/or flashlight, magic markers. Got an aluminum yardstick hanging close to the center of the ceiling, easily reached sitting. Got a ruler or two stuck in a shelf, easily pulled out. Pretty well covers it for what I do. Oh yeah, got 2 or three hammers floating around, sometimes those take some looking for before I can use them.

If I need more handy, I wear my vest, handkerchief, 2-3 sets of car keys (lock yourself out once and you'll get some spares too, especially when it costs $85 to have a locksmith open it), knife, I think two flashlights, Bersa, 4 magazines, $2200. Set for almost anything with that.
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If I need more handy, I wear my vest, handkerchief, 2-3 sets of car keys (lock yourself out once and you'll get some spares too, especially when it costs $85 to have a locksmith open it), knife, I think two flashlights, Bersa, 4 magazines, $2200. Set for almost anything with that.
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Okay, I had no idea what a Bersa was so...I was thinking that 4 magazines was excessive,--but it's good to have a choice of reading material handy. All makes sense to me now!!:nerd:

earl

 

well my little basement woodworking shop don't see much action besides the saw dust I create so there is no need for me to carry a gun!

 

Well you just never know! Never, say never!

Although I occasionally forget, that, my LCP is in my pocket when I'm doing a project, and I do have a Smith Airweight 38 in one of the workbench drawers. Oh, and the gun safe it right next to the bench. So, it is just a few steps away. Oh, well, my space is limited. Trust me, it isn't paranoia.

In addition, the next time that the neighbors Pit Bull shows up and tries to take ownership of my workspace, I'm gonna drop him. I've refrained on three separate occasions, but after I watched him attack and tear up another Pit Bull, I made up my mind, that, the next time I'll be showing him who the real Alpha is in MY shop.

 

I have a Steinway & Sons service technician's apron that I wear at the table saw since it seems to want me to share in the chips and dust it throws my way. An old piano repairman got this for me about 30 years ago and it does the job of keeping me clean(er). I don't typically use the pocket for anything, though.

David

 

I kept ruining my clothes with glue & such. Plus, I was always looking for a pencil ... and my apron solved both problems. I carry a couple of pencils, Sharpie, 6" steel rule, tape measure & utility knife.

My innovation is that I didn't like how my lower pockets always filled with sawdust when I was at the table saw or router table, so now I have a seamstress buddy of mine sew a flap over the lower pockets. The flap has lead weights to keep it in place. There is no longer a dust accumulation problem in those pockets. I buy the aprons a couple at a time, have her do the flaps, and then toss them when the canvas wears through.

Not that they see significant use or anything.

 

I've seen some good apron ideas here that I will use. An "improvement" I made on mine is to use a short light duty bungee cord to replace the strings. Makes it much easier to put on and take off the apron. Just make loops out of the string ends and connect them with the cord.

 

California gun laws make it almost impossible to get a CC permit. And if you shoot a dog, you get charged for discharging a weapon inside city limits. Unless, of course, you manage to plant a saturday night special on the dog. My neighbor has a doberman, and is very poor at socializing her. So I bring her dog biscuits and have trained her to be pretty docile. For some reason we had a plague of pit bulls in our neighborhood a few years, but they're all gone now. I guess their owners wised up. I hate to see critters put down when it's the owners who are the real problem, but a few years ago, an old lady got torn to pieces by a pit. Theoretically at least, a pit will violate home insurance terms, which might be one way to encourage a change of breed.

 

I discussed this with animal control already, perfectly legal here if the dog is on you property and is being aggressive. She's already had two hauled off after both cornered, and one bit my mother last year while she was at the mailbox. I, too, blame the owners and not the dogs. You have to socialize them. Some Pits really are nice dogs, but I still don't trust the breed.

Home owners insurance; I don't know about here in Florida, but in Louisiana it was Pits, Dobermans, Rottweilers, and believe it or not Dalmatians. You hardly ever hear of Dalmatians being aggressive, but when they are it's apparently bad. If I had my way I would add; Akitas and Chows to the list. They are very protective and not people friendly, as a rule.

The neighbors mother has a Dobie. He is as big as a Great Dane and his back must be at least 34" off of the ground. BUTTERCUP is so vicious that he comes running to have his head scratch every time he hears me in the back yard.

 

As a pressman I've worn a shop apron for years. It seemed perfectly natural to put one on in the workshop.

 

In the school woodshop we had aprons to use so we did not carry dust and chips with us when we left for another class. I have 2 aprons and don't use either one but I wore an apron when I was doing metal work for my father and found it real handy to carry different tools around for quick use and helped keep my clothes cleaner.

Henry I like the idea of flaps over the lower pockets so when I get to the point I want to use an apron in my shop I'll have my wife add flaps for me. They do help keep the dust off your clothes so you don't carry it into the house where your wife will catch you.

 

After reading all the posts, you guys have me rethinking the idea of wearing an apron. Especially around the table saw when ripping a lot of material and when routing. Sure, I have dust collection, but that only does part of the job.

I am hot natured so I figured an apron would be uncomfortable and somewhat confining. Maybe I am just an uneducated fool when it comes to aprons. I thought that is what grandma wore in the kitchen.

 

As I mentioned my father wore one and I didn't go for it....didn't give it a chance either mind you....until I did I wore it for a few days and one day forgot to put it on and I was walking around aimlessly looking for a pencil....grabbed the apron and never thought I would get used toio it so fast.....wear it always now....

 

I have been swearing that I am going to get one. I suffer, like everyone here, from tool hunt-itis! I just don't know if I want a heavy cloth or a leather one. Flaps on the pockets in my opinion are a necessity to keep the debris out of the pockets.

So, anyone have any pros or cons on cloth/canvas vs. leather?

 

I guess the advantage to leather is that it is less easily pierced by kick back on the table saw, exploding router bits, and loss of carbide teeth on saw blades. When my son took a woodworking class in college, he had a thin strip of maple kick back from a table saw. He happened to be wearing a leather apron, and that may have kept the strip from piercing the apron and impaling him. He still got a nasty bruise.

 

I wear one half the time., especially when generating a lot of dust. Should wear it more. Got the Rockler cross back when it was on sale. Not hot, but very convenient.



Rockler Broad Shoulder Apron | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware
Rockler Cross-Back Shop Apron | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware

 

I got an apron a few years ago made from hemp. When I retire I'll probably roll it up and smoke it.

 

Bib overalls solve all those problems. :smile: