Carpenters Apron - new design - feedback desired

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rafezetter

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I have spent the last 6 weeks or so working on a design (with a seamstress) that takes what I hope are the most useful parts of various aprons aimed at woodworkers and have come up with what I hope to be a good design of my own.

Before it gets made (and then becomes available for others to order after) I thought I'd ask for feedback on this design to see if there's any glaring things I've missed. I'm not looking for comments like "needs a hammer loop" or other things you think would be good for the way you work personally - I'm thinking more along the line of ideas that would suit the majority I may have overlooked.

Edit: I'm not personally bringing this to market - the seamstress who's making mine for ME would utilize the design (with any customizes additions requested by you) for her Etsy shop as I have neither the desire nor finances to embark on such an endeavour, and there will be no financial gain for me for providing this design.

Here's a photo and design sketch to show the various parts of it.

The top set of pockets are pretty self explanetory, designed with try square / small ruler / marking knife / pencil 1 / pencil 2 in mind.

The lower sets have what I hope to be handy modifications from the aprons elsewhere. The whole lower set will sit under a flap that covers the whole lot - so shavings of various types don't get into the pockets, and the flap itself will incorporate rare earth magnets into it's hem so it can be stowed open for regular access when shavings aren't flying.

The lower pockets comprise of:

2x large deep rears, large enough for notebooks, calculators, gloves etc
3x smaller concertina pockets for tape measures, screws, router bits etc.
2x shallow but wide "row pockets" for hot swapping your drillbits / screwdriver tips / spadebits in and out of - for those people not lucky enough to have 2 or three dedicated cordless drills.
1x lower ballpoint pocket.

the loop is for a cloth rag to wipe mucky fingers NOT FOR HAMMERS!! (hammer) - it will be more like a flat loop than what is shown though.

The spacing will also be altered, the spacings shown was purely as a background to the pocket designs.

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For ties - the maker will either use cotton webbing to tie, or will leave blank for you to add your own (as in my case I'm adding leather straps as well as a few other minor additions).

The maker will be doing this design upon request - details I'll add later - and can customize spacing of pockets or size of apron itself to suit personal requirements.

Material will most probably be heavy denim - and the price will be around £75 give or take. Pricier than some addmittedly, but not far off ones offered by rutlands or rockler and looking far less like "sling as many loops, pockets and knickknack holes on it as possible to appeal to the widest audience of buyers as possible!"
 

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One thing that comes to mind are the back straps. My first apron had a simple loop but often it would cut into my neck when the apron was heavy. My current veritas apron has two loops that cross behind ones back and is much more comfortable.

When the pencil pockets are too high, the pencil can jab you when you bend forward. That's irritating.


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It comes down to personal preference.
I'm not sure I'd like carrying anything in those front pockets. It would tug down on the straps
and might get in the way when working.
Apart from a pencil that I have most times with me, for anything else I go to the cabinet and put it away when I'm finished.

I can see that an apron might be handy when gluing things up and finishing and I've thought about getting one
but never got round to it. Don't know why really.
 
Is the flap over the main pocket a bit deeper than necessary, making access to the pocket more difficult.

John
 
Interesting design and I think youre right that aprons should be given more consideration. It's my most used and abused workshop tool !

Few things I've noticed with my apron are the veritas style straps make wearing it much less of a chore.
I like the idea of having magnets for the flaps. its one thing I keep meaning to do on my veritas one- sew one in where I keep my 6 inch rule. Pretty much everytime I bend over it falls out :x
The only other thing I noticed was the pockets on your design seem rather sloppy, no problem if you don't bend down much might a right pita if you do. I'd personally make those as tight as you dare. the way I stopped my own pencil holder from loosening was to double up the fabric, that seemed to stop the fabric from stretching ;)

Looking forward to seeing the finished apron !

Coley

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Action man kit!
Who needs to carry all that stuff on their front? Not me. I sometimes use a trad apron with 2 open pockets and I've never felt it needed improving. That flap would get in the way and be the first thing to go.
The point is - the pockets on a trad apron are there to hold the very few odds and ends for the job in hand, so it might be a block plane and a sanding block, or a couple of pencils a square and a sliding bevel, a packet of fags (in the old days) but never much more than - that's what a tool box or bag is for.

These are useful but most of the time you wouldn't be using any of them (if you were planing, sawing etc) and you certainly wouldn't want to carry them around with you just in case.
try square / small ruler / marking knife / pencil 1 / pencil 2 in mind.
2x large deep rears, large enough for notebooks, calculators, gloves etc
3x smaller concertina pockets for tape measures, screws, router bits etc.
2x shallow but wide "row pockets" for hot swapping your drillbits / screwdriver tips / spadebits in and out of - for those people not lucky enough to have 2 or three dedicated cordless drills.
1x lower ballpoint pocket.


1-infantryman.jpg


PS and one thing which you should never carry in a pocket is a marking knife (or anything sharp; chisel, screwdriver etc) as you could easily impale yourself if you fell, or pushed up against something.
 
Modedit: An interesting idea. Takes some guts to come up with a design and go to the trouble of bringing it to market on your own so respect for having a go at breathing new life into an old idea.

About the commercial implication though.....mods are happy for folks to solicit feedback about ideas, designs and marketing strategies so long as there is no direct solicitation for business through this forum. Please tread carefully in this respect as I'm sure you will. Many thanks.
 
There are too many pockets (which equals too much weight) for an apron where the load is chiefly carried around the neck.

If you need to carry a lot of tool weight (like a roofer or a scaffolder might require) then the best design is a tool belt where the load is carried on the hips. Otherwise you just need room for a pencil, small square, scrap of paper, tape measure or folding ruler, 6" ruler, and a folding pocket knife. So one decent sized pocket will do the job and then you're looking at £7.50 instead of £75.

Having said that, you'll probably sell loads! Not because woodworkers need them, but because most people seem to take up woodworking in order to have an excuse to buy stuff.

Good luck!
 
Just because there's a lot of pockets doesn't mean you have to fill every single one ! When one pocket wears out, move along to the next.
It'll be the bottom of the pockets that go first. I wonder if it'd be possible to reinforce them somehow ?
I'm tempted to unstitch my veritas pocket and sew on another. The rest of the apron is completely fine, just holey scruffy pockets

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My advice would be to bring this to market without to much expenditure.
I'm sure done right there will be a market for them, however it will be a small market and one which will be shrinking. The youth of today do not wear aprons, they just don't, trust me.

I prefer, work tidily, don't wipe your gluey hands on your trousers and a big bench, I've been in the industry for years, know 100's of fellas who do woodwork for a living and can only think of one chap who wears an apron ............... and he got the mickey ripped out of him relentlessly.
Maybe it's just the lot I know, best of luck with it.
 
Now that's interesting feedback! Real world, modern, shows the culture of the industry. If ever something captures the zeitgeist, that sounded like it. Sounds pretty valuable to me.
 
I don't think the design is a problem, the problem is convincing people to wear them, I have a couple hanging on a hook in the workshop, yet forget to wear them and mess my clothes up, hee hee. A pencil pocket? that is what your ear is for. I guess with the increasing number of women taking up the hobby there could be a market but they present further difficulties in their general form making access to lower pockets a blind fumble. As an engineer I usually have a 6" rule and micrometer in my pocket, everything else lives in the toolbox or on the bench.
Schools/colleges would be your main market rather than hobbist I would have thought. Generally an apron tends to collect shavings that do not do the washing machine any good.
 
Brian Jackson":33zlrgo7 said:
This the one I copied....http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.a ... 45989&ap=1

Got friend to make it for me, I like side pockets, no sawdust filling problems.

Also added a 3ft rule pocket.

I like this one above, Jacob, Bang on, as usual, Is right about the pockets.
Perhaps the designer could start off with the canvas style above and add more pockets for other's preference.
Regards Rodders
 
I've been wearing my old school one which I last used back in 1970.
As a bench fabricator, i often used to wear leather aprons of my own modification comprising
A single cord for around the waist, which ties up on the side (your own hand preferred)
A cord that had any eye spliced in top and bottom that ran up the spine. The bottom loop had the waist cord pass through it and the top loop had the neck loop through that, which balanced the drag down effect of the heavy leather apron on the front.
A later version had 1" tapes and those plastic adjustable clips you see on back packs, etc.
Lost that one when the firm shut unexpectedly and I forgot to retrieve it.
I found the spine cord/tape vital for taking the weight of the apron, so I could wear them all day.
 
I wear Snickers work trousers with holster pockets (I suspect these are becoming more and more popular in workshops - they've certainly caught on on sites over the last 10 years) and they cater for everything I need to have about my person - pocket knife, tape measure, pencil, fags and lighter, 6" rule and assortment of loose screws, screwdriver bits and biscuit crumbs.

I've tried the full on tool belt/combat vest rig when on site to try and ensure that I don't keep going back to the tool box every 5 minutes but it's all just so cumbersome.

I think the apron is a nice idea and I'm sure you'll sell some - you've certainly given it a lot of thought. Not my thing though.
 
I'm a leather apron man as well, if your feeding machines or handling a lot of meters, it stops the stuff wearing our everything your wearing and protects against splinters. One small pocket for a pencil and ruler is what I prefer
 
Nice idea and I wish you well with it.
I have a few aprons, my girl got them for me from her works and I only really wear them when I'm gluing up.
The cost though, for me, is the main issue. Do they really go up to £75?

Edit,
Well I'll answer my own question there. I couldn't find a really dear one, but they can cost a few quid.

Good luck to you mate, worth a try.
 

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