• May 2025 Turning Challenge: Long Neck Hollowform! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Phil Hamel winner of the April 2025 Turning Challenge (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Dion Wisniewski for "Basketweave" being selected as Turning of the Week for 12 May, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Chips in your shoes?

D

Dolan Brown

Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
16
Likes
0
Location
North Carolina, USA
Solved - Chips in your shoes? >> Problem Solved <<

During the warmer months I usually were shorts and shoes (Crocks lately) while working in the shop. But the chips from the lathe get in my shoes and if I have shocks on they stick to my socks. I know - "no pain no gain".

I am curious if anyone has found a solution to getting chips in your shoes/socks while wearing shorts working at the lathe.

I thought about my wife making some short "leggins" to pull up over my shoes.

Any thoughts?
 
Last edited:
I've put masking tape over the shoe top on occasions and it does work. I usually just live with it. I've thought about buying some Gaitors to wear but just decided I would live without them.
 
Dolan, for years I have worn slip on 'Crock' style shoes in the workshop. (Crocks without holes, they do exist) and sometimes the 'leggins' that you speak of. They are readily available and cheap here in Australia and are great to fit over boots and the like.
I just wish the 'filled in' versions of the crock style shoes where as easy, and cheap to buy as the womens seem to be.
 
GLENN ROBERTS said:
Dolan, for years I have worn slip on 'Crock' style shoes in the workshop. (Crocks without holes, they do exist) and sometimes the 'leggins' that you speak of. They are readily available and cheap here in Australia and are great to fit over boots and the like.
I just wish the 'filled in' versions of the crock style shoes where as easy, and cheap to buy as the womens seem to be.
Click to expand...

Glenn,

I wear the Crocks without the holes. They are readly available here. Wearing the ones with the holes would REALLY be a problem at the lathe.:eek:
 
I've thought on this problem also. I usually just wait and turn in the cool of the night, so wearing my jeans won't bother me as much. Not such an easy solution for those in humid or very hot climates that don't cool off at night.

I looked for a solution, and the best I can find is here...
http://www.greatoutdoorsdepot.com/apparel-gators.html

I haven't tried them, but it's tempting. I'm short (really short) and I have to roll cuffs in most of my jeans. I've thought about getting some of these just to cover the chip collectors at the end of my leg :o
 
My wife buys cheep wally wourld sweat pant to cut off for shorts. I sut the drops to leanth put the band part up it covers the shoes great :cool2:
 
chips in your shoes

[my wife fashioned a pair of 'spats' like the men wore a long time ago.t a cloth wrapped around the lower leg, ankle and top of the shoe. Fastened with velcro strips for easy removal. Works great.Max SIZE="3"][/SIZE]
 
Dustpan said:
[my wife fashioned a pair of 'spats' like the men wore a long time ago.t a cloth wrapped around the lower leg, ankle and top of the shoe. Fastened with velcro strips for easy removal. Works great.Max SIZE="3"][/SIZE]
Click to expand...


Dustpan,

That is exactly what I have in mind. My wife is making a turning jacket for me now. Maybe she will have some of the material left over and can make some "leggins". Then my jacket and leggins will match -- got to be fashionable while in the shop.:cool2:
 
Dolan Brown said:
I am curious if anyone has found a solution to getting chips in your shoes/socks while wearing shorts working at the lathe.

I thought about my wife making some short "leggins" to pull up over my shoes.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

My solution is pretty simple. I drop the shavings into a bag as they're generated. Those thrown against the wall are scooped up periodically and deposited in the same bag. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/Forged-Peel-Long-View.jpg Where I'm standing stays pretty clean, so a brush of the pants, when long, and slipping off the Crocs or Birkis at the shop door handles things well. I don't wear socks.

I suppose a set of gaiters (or spats) would answer your problem. SWMBO made my gaiters from a pattern purchased at a XC ski place. Make them breathable and remove them at the door, and they'd work.
 
A few years ago, Packard Woodworks actually had shoe protectors in their catalog for exactly this purpose. Looked like a hybrid between spats and gaiters, and had a velcro closure and a zipper (...from what I remember reading about them).

Must not have been a very good seller - they've been out of their catalog for quite some time now....

Not a new idea, but also apparently not enough of a major problem for enough folks to continue to market "a solution".....

Rob Wallace
 
I do wear shorts all year long (don't you know it's cold? Yea, I am wearing a hat.) and wear slip ons in the shop. There is no way to keep the shavings out of my shoes, and off my socks, and the air hose won't blow them off. I slip the shoes off, and use a shop broom to get 98% of the shavings off. Regular tied shoes just fill up no matter what I do. Having long pants that go over the shoes would help, but then I overheat.

robo hippy
 
Sweat pants and tennis shoes......with a shot of compressed air when I leave the shop.

Also wear long sleeve shirts with zip collars at the lathe.....keeps the chips out of your neck and arms. Goodwill has a whole boat load of these for a couple bucks each.

Works for me!

I do not wear shorts in the shop.....it's against my rules!



ooc
 
Last edited:
Have you considered a Tutu?

One that extends about 12" from your waist should catch all the shavings and keep your shoes and socks clean.


;)
 
sawdust/shanvings on clothing

When I chain saw, the shavings cling to the sox-i use broom to get off, but in spite of laundering they still are there for several washings. Just make sure they aren't seen in public!!!. For shorts,and pants I use the nylon type and shavings just slide off or can be brushed off easily -sawdust is another matter, but doesn't contaminte the the rest of the house like shavings do (at least they are less visible!!!) Gretch
 
Leggins

Leggins like the old bell bottom pants, with elastic that come up to just under the knee. My wife made them for me out of some wild looking fabric. I have several sets.
 
I used to have gymnastics pants that had a tab that fit around your big toe to pull the pants tight and make the line of your leg look straighter. Perhaps we could just wear those and hook the loop over our shoes. Of course I was about 7% body fat back then. Tight pants aren't flattering now unless I wear a long loose shirt.
 
I use sandals (River Bottoms). I turn in shorts most of the year here. I do have a plastic container under the lathe to catch most of the shavings. Other members of our club have lathes that a regular plastic garbage can fits under to catch the shavings.

My wife suggested standing in a tub of water so the chips just float up. Her idea not mine, although on a hot day ......
 
Bill Boehme said:
Socks?????

Shoes?????

All of these new-fangled devices -- I'm beginning to feel left behind.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. I'm always barefoot except when it's cold. I’d turn in the buff except that it would embarrass my wife so I keep a pair of shorts on. Actually it’s usually an old swim suit. Winter sucks becasue then I have to wear clothes.

- Scott
 
thongs? tutus? turning in the buff? leggins?

I'm developing a whole new mental image of the crowd here and it's not pretty

EEK! :-)
 
Thongs is Australian for flip flops.....not the other:D

Yep winter sux gotta wear heaps of clothes. Shorts and flip flops are the dress of the day
 
Last edited:
I now know why I was banned for life from another Turning forum.

I poster a photo of a certain person wearing a Tutu - showing his thong and steel toed boots.

This was posted in fun! Hope he does not get me banned from this forum also.

Paul
 
Last edited:
I have solved the "Chips in the shoes" problem - for me.

My wife took some old jeans and cut the legs off at the knees and slit them done the back and sewed velcro on the top edge. I put them on just below my knees and they go down over my shoes almost to the floor.

If you are old enough to remember "bell bottom" pants of the '60's - that will give you an idea of the way they look except they are slit/split up the back.

No more chips in my shoes. But I guess I look kind of strange wearing shorts that come just above my knees and then these "leggins" just below my knees and my knobby knees showing. :eek: But I am normally in the shop along. ;)
 
Last edited:
I don't wear shorts, as a public service. (I don't want to frighten small children and sensitive women.) I especially wouldn't be comfortable in the shop in shorts. I have a bad back and OK knees, so I find myself kneeling quite a bit to do things in the shop others would be bending at the waist to do. I like having fabric on my knees if I'm "standing" on them. I wear knee pads if I'm going to be on them for very long. Plus, without blue jeans, I wouldn't have anywhere to wipe the glue and finish off my hands. :p I also prefer to wear full coverage on my feet in the shop. Too many sharp or heavy things that could fall on them. (One of my neighbors is missing the little toe on his right foot as the result of dropping a hatchet while wearing sandals.) My preferred shop footwear is a pair of Ugg-style boots. It's like wearing a pair of slippers in the shop, and with my jeans over the tops of them, no curlies or sawdust get inside.

I don't worry about the curlies anyway, because I shoot them all out the widow onto a conveyor belt that carries them to the incinerator, which fires the steam boiler that runs my shop generator, which powers my lathe, allowing my to make more curlies, shoot them out the window, heat the steam, ad infinitum. Who needs bags? :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
I wear long pant and shoes. I already hurt my legs enough, why would I want to wear just shorts?
 
I went to Rebok outlet and purchased several pair of warm up pants. They feel like micro fiber, but the chips don't stick as bad. They are reasonably cool and with zippered cuffs they can be put on without removing your shoes. With sale and Auto Cllub discount (20% for Auto Club members) about $7 per pair:)
 
Normally I just wear some open sandles; the simpler the better. I find that when wood chips fly down in between my sandles and feet, I can just pick one foot up and shake and the chips are gone. Most of the time don't even have to stop working.
 
I wear pants, shoes and socks... being a diabetic, I can't run the risk of injuring my feet; even a small scratch can cause massive problems for a diabetic... so if you are diabetic, protect yourself.

I have found that when it is hot and humid, I wear pants (nylon) like from a golfers rain suit.. nothing sticks to them. I also wear a light smock with long sleeves,,, sweaty arms hold the dust and chips. I bought he AAW smock but seldom use it because of that.
 
To clean of shavings of my clothes is easy. I have an air compressor and I use a blower nozzle to blow the dust off my work as I sand. I use the same blower to blow the dust of me.
 
chips in clothing

The last couple of years I just strip off my shirt and shake with the dust collector on -only thing that sees me is the deer (basement window is waist high). I had one watch me for 15 minutes while turning!!!!. Then there were 4 wild turkeys that watched me for several minutes this summer.-all about 15 feet from the house. Gretch
 
RussFairfield said:
Duck Tape

I am surprized that nobody has mentioned the most obvious solution.
Click to expand...

Russ, I thought that was already covered on the Red Green Forum, eh?
 
I wear a turning smock also so when I take it off me shirt is clean.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top