Recommendation for face mask, Leather apron and gloves

[Matthew H]

I'm testing the waters of making my own knife. As I think it's wise to do it safely, I was looking for recommendations for the following. Brands or particular stores/suppliers would help. And is it possible to get all three under $50 ?

1) Face mask. I have safety glasses but I figured to add a shield on top while doing grinding.
2) Leather apron. If it helps, I'm 5'11".
3) Gloves. I have been getting the HF ones.

TIA,
Matthew

 

[JGarrison Knives]

Are you going to make your knife with a grinder or by hand?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

A good respirator half mask with P-100 filters is fine for most all knife work. They vary in price, but $20-25 is about average.

An apron is nice for grinding, and necessary for a lot of forging tasks, but not a requirement. Most folks make one themselves from cheap blacksmith sides of leather or whatever they can scrounge up at a flea market or on ebay. A basic welders apron would work. Cloth carpenters aprons are fine for sanding and normal hand work. Just don't wear them if you are working hot steel or around a forge. $0-$20

Nitrile gloves from HF are great for sanding exotic woods and doing epoxy work. The HF leather gloves are sort of OK for forging, but often will turn your hand yellow, as the dye runs when wet with sweat. A good pair of leather work gloves is probably a better choice. I wear a no finger batting style glove on my forging hand, and a cheap leather work glove on my tong hand. I give the mates to any lefty forger I run into ( are you a lefty?). $ 5-20

 

[Matthew H]

Are you going to make your knife with a grinder or by hand?

I'm planning to use an angle grinder to shape the steel. If it gets to be too much in terms of heating the steel, then use a hand saw (hack or coping) I guess.

 

[Matthew H]

Thanks for the advice so far.

A good respirator half mask with P-100 filters is fine for most all knife work. They vary in price, but $20-25 is about average.

Noted and put on the list.

How would the HF "Split Leather Welding Apron" - item#45193 do ?

Thanks for the glove offer; Righty here.

 

[Grayzer86]

Im sure that apron would be fine for what most peoples needs are. I bought a split leather welding apron that was about 35 bucks if i remember correctly. I got it from Princess Auto, which is basically a Canadian HF equivalent. I believe the brand is Watson but i cant be sure right now. I dont forge but wear it for sanding and grinding, simply because it keeps my clothes cleaner. I also wear it while buffing because i like to have an extra layer of leather over my clothes, since if something ever goes bad, it may prevent or decrease the damage to my "human leather"

Edit: I do not wear any type of glove for grinding, but use the knuckle tape from usaknifemaker. It wont protect knuckles like a glove but it also cant get caught in anything. It has saved my knuckles a few times even just while filing. A skinned knuckle is no fun, but a glove that gets snagged by a belt or caught up in your grinder is a whole lot less fun IMO.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Just to be clear, the gloves I was talking about are leather gloves for holding the tongs and hammers while forging.

Wearing gloves when grinding is a personal choice. Some grinding tasks need to be done with bare hands so you feel when the blade starts to get hot. Other tasks, like hogging profiles and bevels can take a nice grind on your fingers in a split second, as well as get the blade really hot. In these cases a first line of defense can be a well fitting leather or cloth glove. I wear snug fitting metal working knit cotton gloves which I buy in cases of a gross pair for about $70. I would never wear any such glove on rotating equipment like a drill press, mill, lathe, etc. but for moving surface things like a belt sander they are fine. They are also nice for hand sanding as well as general yard and shop chores.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I got a leather apron from harbour freight for cheap; it is great.

I'd get a full face respirator if possible. I have a 3M 7000 series I got for less that $100 off ebay. The extra money is worth it, you don't want a metal chip in the eye which can happen with glasses and a shield. I'd skip the apron and buy the full face but I guess that depends on how you are making the knife.

I use welding gloves for heat treat and disposable latex gloves on occasion to keep my hands clean. I like grinding tape (not sure on correct name but I got it from usaknifemaker) if I am wearing my fingers down grinding over gloves.

I hope this helps!