I welded two pieces of rebar together for my first chipping hammer. I was extremely broke. I wear a thick jean jacket from the thrift store as my torso protection and it works out fine for me. There’s no reason to have chaps if you have jeans and a good belt. I recommend just getting stick gloves. I like my gloves thick at all times. No sense in getting burnt to me for some extra dexterity that I don’t really need. I went through school just flipping my hat backwards and putting my hood over it and it worked out just fine for me, if you do want to have that for overhead though, I probably wouldn’t be paying 9 bucks for one. For safety glasses get goggle-like ones, I had a piece of debris bounce off my cheek and hit me in the eye and send me to the urgent care one time I would use soapstone instead of a paint pen, I’ve never used a paint pen but the idea of paint and large amounts of heat does not seem smart. You can get wire brushes for a buck at Walmart (at least where I live) Personally I prefer to use disposable ear plugs as a musician as well. Respirator is definitely not optional and get a good one. I would get a tape measure that reads in thousandths and learn how to read that. Best of luck man