Lathe and mill covers

Having seen the discussion here:
https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=173876 I decided that I did want covers for my machines. I have a ML7 on a myford stand and a Sieg SX1LP mill. Having looked around I found an ebay seller theundercoverworkshop
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/theundercoverworkshop
They list a wide range of models including mine. They also make custom covers.
I paid just under £78 for the pair. They are made from Cordura.
They arrived today and I'm very pleased. Fitting is better than the ebay photos indicate. The lathe cover would be more filled with the tailstock fully to the right. The mill cover has velcro allong most of one seam so you don't have to lift it all over the pillar. The seller is also on other platforms including etsy. They are based in Ely so not that far from me.

Robert.

Thanks for that, Ely isn't far from me either. Noel

Unless it is actually raining inside you workshop what is wrong with a cotton sheet, maybe with a wool blanket over that.

Me neither, just up the road

I believe cotton readily absorbs & holds water? Ditto wool, though i seem to recall woollen holds onto absorbed water rather than giving it up again.

Rust City?

I may be wrong but merely cite it as a possibility.

I am using motorcycle cover for lathe, must still get one for mill.

Likewise:

Lot to be said for a 50w (incandescent) lamp under the covers or one of the modern low wattage heater bars.

Regards Ian.

OR a Piano heater bar - 25w

Edited By Circlip on 17/02/2023 09:53:27

I now use a picknick blanket - waterproof membrane one side and wool-like on the other.

I use a cover to keep off dust etc but no cover will stop rust through condensation, it’s just physics😉

Tony

We have had a lot of discussion on this. Condensation happens, especially as this week when warm wet air replaces a cold dry period. It falls like dew sometimes imperceptibly and causes just a little rust each time. You see this in some workshops as the top side of metal objects being rusty but the underside perfectly clean.
The use of a cover catches that dew, which evaporates later when things warm up. Synthetic fabric is not so good for this as it does not absorb the moisture, only catches it.
However plastic covers trap warm wet air and condensation occurs on the inside 'sweating' which would be ok except that it tends to drip off onto the machine, or affect the support contact points of the cover,
People often comment that Myford wouldn't have sold plastic covers if this was a problem. However they only expected these to be bought by industrial users whose factories were well heated all day so no dew problem just a lot of dust to keep off.

There are multiple causes of moisture anad rust in the workshop. My "workshop" is just a garage with no heating but two walls are shared with the house so some heat transfer. It has two main problems.

The occasional drip from above from either condensation or rain being blown under roof lap joints under certain conditions.

Sudden ingress of moist air when the door is opened. It's a roller shutter type.

I tried a cotton cover but in current conditions it ends up holding moisture. Whenever the air is dry I remove the covers to release any trapped moisture. Moist air is lighter than dry so can be trapped.

I have a plan for the roof and to better seal the top of the roller shutter but they will have to wait for better weather.

FWIW

In my shop nothinbg is covered, but it is well insulated, ()Walls, and Roof, floor is 3/4 ply on 8 x 2 bearers, surrounded on 3 sides by a fence or a wall Small fixed vents at high and low level

When there is persistent frost, a 60 watt tubvular heater, under the bench is switched on.

The mini lathe (secondhand) came with a MDF cover, and lives in the garage.

The bandsaw is now too heavy ( i e I'm too weak ) to lift from from floor level to the 9 inches or so into the shop. SAo it lives outside, under a professioinally made, box like cover made from curtainsider material (Cost £52 some years ago )

In none of the xzases is rust a problem. Helped by an occasional spray of oiul for the mini and the bandsaw.

Howard

People keep talking about sudden ingress of moist air from outside and when the humidity is high outside etc. It’s not necessary so. For example air at 6 degrees and 82% RH contains 5 g of water per kg of air. Air at 18 degrees and 50% RH contains 6.45g of water per kg of air. So the 82% RH air is dryer than the 50% RH air in as far as it contains less water. So allowing the outside air in this case to enter the warmer workshop would actually make the workshop dryer. It’s not always the case but you have to do the numbers to know.

Counter intuitive but there you are. Generally extract fans to expel warm wet air from a building serve you well.

regards Martin

I've been covering most of my machines with old sleeping bags for years, they can be picked up cheap from charity shops cheaply and sometimes if you ask they might have one or two out back with broken zips that are going into the rubbish, a small thank-you donation gets cheaply and helps them out.

I've not suffered any rust problems on them yet.