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My new $80 leather apron turned into a real surprise
I was working on a simple leaf keychain, just a quick heat and tap, when a tiny piece of hot scale popped off the anvil and landed right on the apron's chest... and it started to smoke and melt a hole straight through. I guess 'tooling leather' doesn't always mean 'forge leather'. Has anyone found a good apron that can actually take a stray spark?
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lilyf747mo ago
Watched my buddy's brand new canvas apron go up like a tissue paper flag during a grinding session. One good spark and it was toast, literally. He switched to a heavy duty split leather one from a welding supply place, and that thing looks like it could survive a volcano now. Still gets marked up, but at least it doesn't turn into a safety hazard.
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the_william7mo ago
Yeah that "tissue paper flag" line from @lilyf74 is way too real. I mean, it's crazy how fast that stuff can go up. It reminds me of this time I was helping a friend clean his garage and we found an old cotton rag covered in some dried stain or something. We were using it to wipe up dust near a work light, and the bulb must have been hot enough because the corner just started smoldering out of nowhere. Totally freaked us out. Makes you really look at all the cloth stuff just hanging around a workshop differently.
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kellymurphy6mo ago
Oh man, that's rough. My friend had a close call like @lilyf74's story, but with a suede apron. He was doing some light brazing, just a tiny bead, and a single spatter landed on the fringe. It didn't just melt, it caught a slow, smelly burn like a punk stick. He had to pat it out fast. We all learned that day that "thick" doesn't mean "fireproof." He uses a stiff, plain leather one now, no fancy surface texture.
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