Soldier, Father, Teacher, Woodworker
Meet a Maker:
Jason Bent didn’t think of himself as a maker. He took shop class in high school, but the only thing he remembers about that is cutting his finger open on a band saw.
Then, a few years ago, his wife asked him to build a dining room table for their home. He bought some tools based on advice from a video he found on YouTube, and he got to work.
“I built that table and I was hooked from there,” recalls Jason, an active-duty U.S. Army infantryman who lives in Greenwood, Ind., near Indianapolis. “I was consumed. That was really cool. I just started making a bunch of stuff for the house.”
One day, a friend of his wife’s asked to buy that dining room table. From there, Jason started doing custom woodworking for other clients. Bent’s Woodworking was born.
Today, Jason has a growing YouTube channel of his own, Jason Bent's Woodworking & More, with nearly 120,000 subscribers. He shares tips and tricks, how-tos and build videos to help people become better woodworkers. The channel combines his passion for woodworking and his love of teaching. In 2018, while at the University of North Georgia, he was selected as the top Army ROTC instructor in the country.
We’ve had the pleasure of making two Custom Leather Shop Aprons for Jason, and we’re proud to have become friends with him and his wife, Nicole.
“There’s not a better choice than Leather By Dragonfly, because of the fact that everything about it is completely custom.”
Jason first thought about getting a custom apron when he saw YouTuber Jay Bates, a friend, post a video about his Leather By Dragonfly apron. The ability to have all of his most-used tools with him at all times intrigued Jason.
Once he placed his order online, we mailed him a canvas template, as we do with all Custom Leather Apron clients. We met for the first time when we went through a video consultation and fitting to design his brown leather apron together.
A couple years later, Jason was talking with Patrick and joked that he wanted to do a new apron with stitches in bright green, the brand color of Festool, a company that Jason uses a lot. As time went by, they discussed it again. Jason mentioned a few things he would do differently with his apron. That’s how his second apron, this time in black leather, came to be.
Jason removed tools he wasn’t using and kept spots for the ones he uses the most, including a square, tape measure and various marking devices. The apron features a small pocket where Jason stashes multiple hex keys, a magnet on the chest for storing bits and a pocket for his cell phone. He also added a utility pocket on the front and a stainless steel ring on the bottom right for a small rubber mallet.
Later, Jason had Michelle modify the apron to add a split leg, after Patrick showed him an apron with that option. The split leg provides more freedom of movement, especially while sitting, Jason says.
“I’m super, super pleased with it,” Jason says of the apron. “There’s not a better choice than Leather By Dragonfly, because of the fact that everything about it is completely custom.”
Jason advises woodworkers and other makers consider buying a shop apron to invest in a high-quality one that will last, because you will use it constantly. “You can buy a cheap tool or an expensive tool,” he says. “The cheap one might get the job done, but is it going to last as long as the more expensive tool?”
Jason gave his first apron to a woodworking friend. He had considered saving it for his son, Leo, to use when he grows up, but he figured that by then Leo will get his own apron.
For now, when two-year-old Leo visits his dad in his shop, he wears a mini leather apron that we made for him as a gift after he was born. “He loves his apron, too,” Jason says.
Learn more about Jason and Bent’s Woodworking:
Watch Jason’s videos about his Custom Leather Aprons from Leather By Dragonfly:
Read the previous post in our “Meet a Maker” series: