Show me your Blacksmith's Apron

[Frazer]

They can be long or short; clean or dirty; old or new; leather, cotton or wool. I'm curious what style of apron you folks are wearing out there in your shops.

Whether yours have them or not, are there any particular features that you like or dislike in an apron? Why? What do you usually keep in there and where the heck did it go when you need it??? (Okay, you can ignore that last one )

This is the place for forge-wear discussion and your reasoning.

[Jobtiel1]

I have a leather apron, it was a birthday gift from my grandmother, and it's from Etsy. It has split legs, and a chest pocket as wel as a pocket on the side. Straps go around the back and not the neck. My favourite feature is a small on the leg straps so that they can easily and quickly be undone. The split legs are really useful for grabbing stuff between your legs when forging.

What I keep in it; a metal folding ruler, it has metric as well as inches, so I can easily reference those weird measurements you all use here without having to convert ;), soapstone marker, and a center punch, which I always seem to misplace. I often put punches in the pockets when I need them for projects. 

~Jobtiel

[George N. M.]

Interestingly enough I tend to bounce between using imperial and metric units.  If I am doing something where I have to divide into equal incriments I use milimeters because the divison is easier than to deal with fractions.  I'm comfortable using metric to distance, weight, and volume but I can never get my head easily around the celsius temoerature scale.  If someone says it is going to be X degrees C outside today I don't know whether to wear a parka or cut offs and tee shirt.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[M.J.Lampert]

25 minutes ago, George N. M. said:

Interestingly enough I tend to bounce between using imperial and metric units.  I can never get my head easily around the celsius temoerature scale.  If someone says it is going to be X degrees C outside today I don't know whether to wear a parka or cut offs and tee shirt.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

negative(-) means its cold 0(32F) to 9(48F) is chilly 10(50F) to 25(77F) is nice and 30(86F) plus is to hot 

negative 40 both ways is the same (too flipping cold) farhenhite i need to convert to understand so i get where your coming from

i personally wear a t-shirt year round a long-sleeve just goes on top for a cold day and shorts come out after 25C 

i use yards feet and inches steady and precision work i do is usually in .001"

Edited May 27, 2022 by M.J.Lampert

[Jobtiel1]

George, it's funny you say that, as for me it's exactly the same with Fahrenheit. Maybe because its so common to use the temperature scale for small talk and stuff like that that  using a different unit for that becomes so confusing.

As a chemist, for me it is useful that going from Celsius to Kelvin is not much of a problem.

~Jobtiel

 

[Frosty]

This is mine. It's split moose died black, smooth out. It has more pockets than show but not nearly enough, my soapstone fits the small one in the center of my chest and a long pocket for a scale or chipping hammer under my right hand. My favorite feature is the straps, they are sewn and riveted top front they cross over my back and go through a ring on the opposite side then once around the waist and buckle in front. I've never worn an apron or anything that hangs from my shoulders as comfortable as this belt arrangement. I can wear it high or low, the shoulder straps keep it snug against my chest and the weight is carried on my hips while kept snug. Except for getting kind of warm it's easy to forget you're wearing it. 

It's also pretty bulletproof (figuratively speaking, please don't test me on that!) I've had 9" Milwaukie grinding disk break and hit me square in the chest without mark or bruise.

Frosty The Lucky.

     

[M.J.Lampert]

mines just a 30$ welding apron from Princess Auto (Canadas version of harbor freight) cowhide with Kevlar stitching and plastic buckles

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Mine is the same as M.J. but from HF the one I really liked was similar to the one Frazer made but the mice and pack rats ate a large portion of it. Here is a casual Friday shot of the one I use now, actually a welders apron.

[M.J.Lampert]

3 minutes ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

Mine is the same as M.J. but from HF  

nope  

mine has just one strap around the neck and one at the waist 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I have one like that too but don't wear it a lot.

[George N. M.]

Mine is almost the same as Irondragon's but without the split and the leg attachments.  I like it much better than my old one which just had a leather thong around the neck and one around the waist.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[ThomasPowers]

All the curmudgeons have heard this before; but my favorite smithing apron was a wrap around suede miniskirt from the late 1960's...

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning,

I have one like Frosty's, made out of tanned Moose Hide, VERY pliable (Yes, I shot the Moose, dragged the hide out of the bush and tanned it too. The Moose went into the Freezer before it landed on the Dinner Table). I have a shorter Apron made from Cow Hide. I like pockets in the front and center. I find them both heavy, I wear a Denim Bar-B-Que Apron mostly (can be made from the backs of the Legs, your old Blue Jeans). I also have light leather welding Apron. I prefer the Denim!! Lots of pockets, hate bending over to pick-up off the floor. I never wear gloves unless I am working the Kuhn, I want to feel if there is a problem.

Another fine Summer Sunny Day, regardless what the Weather wants to do. Above the Clouds it is SUNNY!! 24 Hours a Day, ALL YEAR!!

Neil

[bluerooster]

Gloves do not reduce the feel if you know what you're feeling for.  IOW; If you learned with gloves on, gloves will not be a detriment. And your tactile sense  will become  more sensitive.  I work for a guy who insists that no-one wear gloves, even in winter. He allows that you can't feel when things are in proper alignment. Mabe he can't, but without gloves in winter, I can't feel anything except pain.   My fingers go numb, at about 40 degrees, at about 38 degrees I'm in severe pain. I can feel to within .03125" with gloves on in winter. Close enough for framing.

[M.J.Lampert]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:01 AM, swedefiddle said:

Good Morning,

 I wear a Denim Bar-B-Que Apron mostly (can be made from the backs of the Legs, your old Blue Jeans).

Neil

Neil is that cause the fronts been shredded by barbwire fence?? that's my problem good idea to reuse them mine end up as patches for other pants

[Frazer]

Frosty, I like that shoulder strap arrangement.. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time/future improvements.

I have already shared these in more detail here, but I'll add my apron to the mix as well. 

Nifty features include 2 hammer loops, 8 pockets of various size, straps across the lower pockets to hang tongs from/reinforce the pockets themselves and cargo pants pocket access.

One oversight in my initial design was the omission of a shallower pocket for smaller items like tong clips. I will add one (maybe two for the sake of symmetry) later on after I've had more time with it. Then I can decide where I want to put them and what size they should be.

As far as keeping the rodents away I made a hanger for it so it lives inside under the constant vigilance of two felines.

[JHCC]

On 5/28/2022 at 9:21 PM, bluerooster said:

My fingers go numb, at about 40 degrees, at about 38 degrees I'm in severe pain.

This may not be the case for you, but several years ago, I spoke with a neurologist when I was having a similar problem  (cold-induced numbness and pain in the fingers). He had me take a blood test that revealed a vitamin B-12 deficiency; after I started taking a daily over-the-counter supplement on his recommendation, the problem went away completely. Might be worth checking into.

[bluerooster]

I'll give it a go. Thanx for the info.