# What do you wear? Keeping chips out of your non-machining life...



## Christianstark (Apr 1, 2022)

Hi all, Sorry in advance if this is a stupid question.

Noob machinist here. Some initial findings from my first few months of machining.

Shirt - T-shirts seem to be a magnet for sharp chips. The cotton acts like velcro. Would canvas be a better choice in shedding chips? Secondly, Long sleeves are dangerous, but short sleeves are hard to deal with with hot chips spinning off a cutter and hitting me on my arms, etc. Are long sleeves buttoned around wrists ok? Best materials for keeping chips out of my laundry? I rue the day my wife gets an errant chip in her undergarments. Thoughts?

Pants - I have found that jeans work pretty well at shedding chips, and not sticking too much that I get chips intermingled in laundry so I think I am good here. Is canvas a good option too? Anything else I should look at?

Shoes/socks - I am going with boots here, but an additional issue is chips getting embedded in the rubber soles. Any way to combat this? I am scratching the hell out of my hardwood floors when I go upstairs for a drink or something, and embedding metal shards in the carpet outside of my shop area.

Floor - I have painted a garage epoxy on my floor, it is wearing very quickly in front of my machines where I stand due to chips being stepped on or embedded in my boots. Would rubber fatigue mats help with having chips fall through so I am not having to constantly sweep after every cut, or would that just make cleaning worse?

Apron? - I bought a welding apron, but the soft texture just grabs chips. What kind of apron do you use to protect yourself and shed chips off?

Hat? - I am usually hatless. what do you typically wear on your head when machining?


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## benmychree (Apr 1, 2022)

I wear ordinary clothing and shoes/socks, lately even sandals due to foot problems, after nearly 60 years at it, I know where chips are likely to come from and go to and can generally dodge them.  A canvas shop apron is probably good protection and I do use long sleeves, they can be rolled up if necessary for such as filing in the lathe.  Most everyone in the shop that I apprenticed in wore long sleeves; getting burnt by hot chips on the arms is not fun, as you have likely already learned.


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## mmcmdl (Apr 1, 2022)

45+ years of jeans , tee shirts , steel toe boots and safety glasses . Hearing protection when needed ,  and always a hat . Never gloves , long sleeves , aprons or loose clothing . Very hot chips will become embedded in even the best of work boots , so best to direct chips to where you are not not sitting or standing . As far as the floor , yes , even epoxy wears quickly . A rubber mat helps with this as well as cuts down on operator fatige (sp) . Have to always think safety first , either in a hobby or industrial setting .


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## rabler (Apr 1, 2022)

My wife laughs when I come in with metal chips glittering in my beard.
Now, if you can figure out how to avoid metal slivers…


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## mmcmdl (Apr 1, 2022)

rabler said:


> My wife laughs when I come in with metal chips glittering in my beard


You better watch where you put that beard , she may not laugh for long .


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## rabler (Apr 1, 2022)

mmcmdl said:


> You better watch where you put that beard , she may not laugh for long


I can see it now on a daytime "Divorce Court" soap operara.  "_Ma'am, Tell me again why you're filing for divorce?_".


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## rabler (Apr 1, 2022)

At one time I had a leather apron, those are absolutely the best in my opinion, but have gotten to be very expensive and hard to find.  Chips don't stick, and pretty resistant to hot things.   At the other end of the spectrum I knew a welder in Duluth, Mn, who wore a nylon and down vest in his commercial shop.  He was fortunate and very glad he had on a heavy cotton long sleeve shirt when a stray spark ignited the leaky butane lighter in his vest pocket.


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## Aukai (Apr 1, 2022)

I tried the floor mat with holes, and hated it, I'm using an anti fatigue mat now ~ 3/4" thick, I do get marks on my arms, but I'm using a cardboard deflector attached to a Noga magnetic holder. When I get close to my stopping point, and lean in the chips that find my neck, and collar are kind of distracting when you don't want to crash.


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## compact8 (Apr 1, 2022)

I absolutely hate having the machine covered with chips so I keep sucking chips away with a vacuum cleaner when cutting so it's not an issue for me. I don't do super-heavy cutting though.


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## jbobb1 (Apr 1, 2022)

Jeans, tee shirt and boots here as well. I try to avoid getting hit by chips anymore. I have way too many scars on both arms and upper chest from hot chips. Nothing like having one or two stick to your body when you can't do anything about it because you can't take your focus off the machine you're running!


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## Aaron_W (Apr 1, 2022)

Generally jeans and a T shirt, with an apron and boots, also a face shield for work that lobs lots of chips like turning cast iron. There are a variety of ways to deflect chips which can also help, as simple as a cheap paint brush or card board or making chip shields from polycarbonate sheets.

I have this apron which my wife got me. Not the cheapest but it has treated me well. I like that it crosses behind my back instead of looping over my neck. Seems like it would give me a little better chance to escape if it were to get caught up in a twirling death machine. It fits close to my body so getting it snagged in a machine would not be easy.

Duluth Trading Company Best Damn Fire Hose Apron

I have a pair of slip on boots I wear in the shop, very easy to slip them on or off, so I can leave them by the front door if I've been making chips, although by the time I walk from the back of the house where the shop door is around the house to the front door chips have had a good chance to get free anyway.

I have the non steel toe version, several years old and holding up well. Pretty comfortable as boots go.

Redback Easy Escape


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## RJSakowski (Apr 1, 2022)

Jeans and a tee shirt for summer, sweatshirt for winter.  Mostly, I wear moccasins with eleastomer soles.  They have no signifuicant tread and working them back and forth in the concrete floor will usually dislodge any chips.  I have two door mats, one at the bottom of the dtairs  from the basement shop and one at the top.  This usually clears any remaining chips.  The first floor I cross has ceramic tile so I can usually tell if there is an embedded chip before I hit the wood floors.


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## savarin (Apr 1, 2022)

T shirt, crocks, socks and shorts. If the chips start hitting my arms I wack a sheet of card in the way, sometimes hot ones will fall into the holes in the crocs but its very rare.
I'm always in the dog house when machining aluminium as those ultra fine swarf always finds its way indoors, she goes ballistic.
Sometimes wear a leather welding apron, nothing sticks to that.
Chips do stick into the soles of the crocs and sometimes all the way through, I sit down and manually pull them out when I feel them and before leaving the shed.


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## Dan Krager (Apr 2, 2022)

A tall (close to neck) canvas apron down to knees is what I use in woodworking and it also sheds metal chips very well.  Hat of some sort, no beard (can be dangerous if caught during a close up looksee) and close buttoned long sleeve smooth weave work shirts. Boots stay in mud room.  I'm a fanatic about wife's sewing pins getting scattered about, so I'm extra cautious about metal chips from my play. But I'm just a metalworking  beginner respecting 55 years of living together.

DanK


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## pontiac428 (Apr 2, 2022)

Carhartt bibs, suede skateboard sneakers, and a welding cap are my uniform these days.  When I'm doing messy machine work, I wear a canvas apron.  I am also fond of the mechanic's coveralls from Red Kap.  Great fit for me.  I wear Red Kap industrial shirts to work most days, they just fit.  We have four cats, so no shiny metal is allowed in the house.  I also am constantly and compulsively vacuuming up as I work in the shop.


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## BGHansen (Apr 2, 2022)

Summer is shorts and a T-shirt.  My wife would buy me Sketcher shoes every birthday (my everyday work shoes).  The old pair became the shop shoes.  I wear those through the year.  Winter is jeans, sweatshirt and a hat.

My work clothes hang on a hook at the entry door to the shop.  I walk down to the shop in whatever and change out shoes and clothes at the door.  It really helps from chips making it back into the house.

Bruce


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## wachuko (Apr 3, 2022)

I wear the same clothes since I was in high school…. Jeans, Polo shirt, Sperry boat shoes….  And I use it for everything… yard work, working on the cars or motorcycles, and now, when using the lathe and milling machine…

When I did the backplate, the suggestion of using a paint brush helped keep all the cutting dust out of my face and clothes… So now, if cutting something that just sends chips all over (in the lathe) I use the same technique.

For the mill, I still have some plexiglass that I need to make into removable shields.  Another idea that I got from the forum.  Later, I also want to install the heavy duty clear shower curtain liner some folks are using to contain were chips fly off to…

I recently also got a canvas/leather apron and a clear face shield.

When done, I vacuum what I can see… lathe, floor, under the shoes, apron, pants, etc. Shake my clothes as much as I can…

I take off the shoes before going into the house…

And I still manage to bring stuff in the house…


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## Braeden P (Apr 3, 2022)

Jeans and a tee shirt all year even when it’s 20 degrees out. Also wear a face shield over safety glasses, save me from parts flying out of the chuck and after I got that one hardened steel chip up my nose on the lathe I always wear a face shield with safety glasses.


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## finsruskw (Apr 3, 2022)

Heavy denim apron thanks to my dear wife!!
Cereal box cardboard mat'l fashioned in a way to keep chips from coming at you and off the ways fastened to the tool post however you can.
plastic water bottle cut open and slipped over the ways to keep the crud out.
Works for me!


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## Braeden P (May 23, 2022)

I also wear a baseball hat to keep chips and oil out of my hair, burnt hair doesnt smell the best.


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## Papa Charlie (May 23, 2022)

Jeans, slip on boots, T shirt or heavier when needed, leather apron and for the floor, I have always had a wood slat platform that I fashion from 1"x2" slats with the same under to lift off the floor. Gets the chips out from under foot for the most part and gives just enough to be like a fatigue mat. I hate those rubber mats, chips love to embed themselves in them and too easy to trip on them.


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## tmenyc (May 23, 2022)

My shop is in what used to be our childrens' bedroom in our apartment...so I have to take extra precautions, although my wife has come to realize that the small chips I generally create don't hurt that much underfoot.  I generally work in a bright yellow construction tshirt, shorts, crocs under a canvas apron.  All of it is pretty effective, and keeps me from growing my beard longer. None of it is universally effective, at least partly because I inevitably leave the shop for one thing or another (our sole bathroom is right next to the shop...). C'est le guerre... 
Tim


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## Papa Charlie (May 23, 2022)

tmenyc said:


> My shop is in what used to be our childrens' bedroom in our apartment...so I have to take extra precautions, although my wife has come to realize that the small chips I generally create don't hurt that much underfoot.  I generally work in a bright yellow construction tshirt, shorts, crocs under a canvas apron.  All of it is pretty effective, and keeps me from growing my beard longer. None of it is universally effective, at least partly because I inevitably leave the shop for one thing or another (our sole bathroom is right next to the shop...). C'est le guerre...
> Tim


Sounds like when we were living in an apt back in the mid 80's after we first got married. I made my Rapier and Mangosh (left handed sword) for Renaissance along with the leather parts for our costumes that we wore during many of the fairs we use to attend. Had to lay down a bed spread on the living room floor to catch everything and work there. Reproducing authentic costumes was very time consuming and expensive back then. At the time, there were no other sources for these costumes or patterns to make them. So you had to study portraits and we were also a member of the society that put many of these fairs on so there was information shared between the members. We use to make costumes for other fair goers too and made good money until companies started to produce cheap copies of the period.

I finally had a nice shop when we had our house and then moved from a house to our boat. So the Pilothouse and dock are my shops now. Much less room than the apt. But you do what you have to do. Looking forward to our retirement home, once we figure out where that will be and having a place for my tools and equipment that have been stored for over 12 years.

Bottom line you do what you have to.


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## dirty tools (May 23, 2022)

Blue jeans, tennis shoes 
and PPE (personnel protection equipment)
no gloves, lose clothes


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## mattthemuppet2 (May 24, 2022)

I machine stark naked and get a full body wax once a week, chips bounce right off


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## Christianstark (May 24, 2022)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> I machine stark naked and get a full body wax once a week, chips bounce right off


I learned my lesson from a sizzling bacon incident several years ago.


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## mattthemuppet2 (May 24, 2022)

I do occasionally get chips stick between my toes, that's not so pleasant


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## Doug Gray (May 24, 2022)

Christianstark said:


> I rue the day my wife gets an errant chip in her undergarments.


The day will come.

Pro Tip
Wife fishes out said chip and says "look what I found!" You: look excited and say "Thanks dear I've been looking for that one all week" and head downstairs quick. Then immediately run some machine that required earplugs.


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## pontiac428 (May 24, 2022)

I already mentioned what I wear.  That's only half of the story.
How about a list of what I will NO LONGER wear in the shop?

1.  Crocs/sandals:  Because swarf is really millions of tiny razor blades.  Leather shoes win.
2.  Shorts:  Swarf used to get in the leg hairs, but torching and welding took the hair off.  Crawling under a vehicle or standing, shorts are out.
3.  Tighty whities:  Don't have a place for welding ballies or chips to go.  Boxers allow these offenders to slip out the bottom.
4.  Work clothes:  No matter what, any little task will leave a nice shirt full of pinholes, or at the very least, overspray.
5.  Watches, rings, and dog tags:  We all know why, but still get reminded every time someone else screws this one up.

There are probably more, but I'm not feeling very smart today.  Good day to put on some shorts and crocs and go turn some stainless.


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## savarin (May 24, 2022)

Not a machining story but relatable to this subject.
I wear no jewelry of any kind as in the past I have caught most of it on something or another thats been a close shave but nothing permanent.
Many years ago when I was an actual chef in a large 5 star hotel at the time of the gold ingot wearing fashion we had a cocky chef (arnt most of us?) who loved wearing his huge gold ingot in the kitchen with his jacket open at the top so all could see his supposedly awesome piece of fabulously expensive gold.
Despite repeated warnings not to and button up he didn't.
One day he was bending over a very hot oven basting the joints roasting in side, the ingot was hanging down, when he straightened up there was an awful scream as the ingot swung back against his chest and branded him.
We all wet ourselves laughing with zero sympathy.
He never left his jacket unbuttoned after that.


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## matthewsx (May 24, 2022)

I do wear my wedding ring at work and any other place where I'm likely to die or get seriously injured because I don't want my wife coming to identify the body and seeing I wasn't wearing it....

But, never in the shop or any place where high voltage is involved. When I was a young man I worked on industrial video projectors and back then you had to reach inside of them to adjust all the stuff that's done with remote controls today. Just the thought of a flyback converter contacting a piece of metal attached to my body kept me from wearing jewelry of any kind throughout my 20's and 30's.

Oh, and what I do now, always wear different shoes in the shop than what I use in the house and have some really cool lab coats hanging by the door if I think I'll get chips on me.

John


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## Papa Charlie (May 25, 2022)

I haven't worn my wedding ring since we were married. For a good portion of my life I worked as a mechanic and did machining too. I have two friends that don't have their ring fingers from jumping down of of equipment and having the ring get hung up. Another shorted a the positive terminal on an 8D battery with his ring to ground. Melted the ring and had to be cut off. His finger never worked right after that.

No wife knows I don't were it and understands. Don't wear watches either. When I carried on it was a pocket watch.


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## wachuko (May 25, 2022)

Papa Charlie said:


> I haven't worn my wedding ring since we were married. For a good portion of my life I worked as a mechanic and did machining too. I have two friends that don't have their ring fingers from jumping down of of equipment and having the ring get hung up. Another shorted a the positive terminal on an 8D battery with his ring to ground. Melted the ring and had to be cut off. His finger never worked right after that.
> 
> No wife knows I don't were it and understands. Don't wear watches either. When I carried on it was a pocket watch.



I once had my ring get caught when I was jumping a fence... not a good experience.  Luckily, not much harm done and my finger healed normally.  Not a wedding ring... this was way before I was married... 

I used my wedding ring during my wedding and for about a few weeks after it... I lost it during lunch time when I took it off and placed it on the food tray... it went into the trash after I was done eating.  Got another one, lost it as well...  all this within a month of being married... I have not used a wedding ring since... 

A watch is another thing... love mechanical watches and have the bad habit of not removing them at all... and the condition of my watches reflect that... scratches, nicks on the glass, etc.   So I have really had to work hard at remembering to take my watch off before working in the mill or the lathe.

Always loved the look and feel of pocket watches... I still would like to own one but find that anything new sold as a pocket watch are of very low quality... but I digress...


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## pontiac428 (May 25, 2022)

Most pocket watches these days run on Android.  Maybe a few on iOS.

I've never worn rings.  We didn't bother with the expense.  She wears one strategically when she feels people will treat her better, but she doesn't randomly find herself hopping fences or running power equipment.  Batteries are the worst, especially banks of 12 at 24v.  Ker-pow!


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## JimDawson (May 25, 2022)

There is a non-machining life?


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