Fabric machine covers?

I

imagineer

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Fabric machine covers . . . do you use them?

About a week ago, the temperatures and humidity in NE Ohio rose sharply, causing a lot of condensation to form on all the exposed metal in my workshop. I didn’t catch it in time and the mill table, brand new vise, rotary table and the table saw top all flash rusted.

I used a massive floor fan to assist with drying out the shop. Because of all the dust being stirred, I moved my motorcycle and MG outside. Both were parked under “breathable” fabric covers, and I noticed that neither the bike or car were wet with condensation. Conversely, another motorcycle, and old Suzuki GS750 project bike that was stored without a cover, was still soaked.

This got me thinking that putting fabric covers over the mill, new lathe and welders might not be a bad idea. I looked up machine covers online and noticed that Little Machine Shop offers them in breathable denim. Seeing as Mrs. Imagineer is a whiz with a sewing machine, I’m thinking of asking for a few custom sized covers.
 
Sounds like a great idea!

I don't have a condensation problem, mainly dust at my location. I use an old sheet on my mill and am old blanket on the lathe.
 
I'm a volunteer at the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association's line shaft machine shop museum. Our building is insulated but we don't heat it in the winter time and we don't air condition it in the summer time. All we do is run a dehumidifier and we keep the humidity around 55% and we don't have to oil the machines to prevent rust. We still do periodically wipe them down but it's not strictly necessary.
 
A breathable cover probably won't help much in preventing condensation and subsequent rusting. Moisture condenses on metal surfaces because the temperature of the surface is below the dew point of the air in the room. My boats, vehicles, and implements stored in my all sweat when there is rise in temperature following an extended period of cold and there isn't a thing that I can do about it. Actually, having forced air moving over the machines probably does more good as the air in the shop isn't likely to be near 100% RH and if the machine surfaces are close to ambient temperature, moisture won't condense. Some people will cover a machine and put an incandescent lamp in with the machine. This will el3evate the temperature of the machine slightly, reducing the possibility of condensation.

Probably the most effective preventative measure is to religiously coat the bare metal sutfaces with an oil of some sort. A spray oil is effective.and easy to apply. It means potentially wi[ping down the tool or machine prior to use, more of a problem with woodworking machinery, but it is effective. I use WD40 but it tends to evaporate so application needs to be more frequent. Boeshield is another recommended protective coating.
 
I use cover on my cars, bikes and machinery. But my garage is also climate controlled so I don't run into condensation/rusting problems much. Covers are mainly to keep dust, sawdust, paint overspray, etc off them.
 
Last edited:
RJSakowski said:
Probably the most effective preventative measure is to religiously coat the bare metal sutfaces with an oil of some sort. A spray oil is effective.and easy to apply. It means potentially wi[ping down the tool or machine prior to use, more of a problem with woodworking machinery, but it is effective. I use WD40 but it tends to evaporate so application needs to be more frequent. Boeshield is another recommended protective coating.
Click to expand...
On the to-do list for this weekend is to hit every bit of exposed bare metal with LPS-3.
 
I used to cover my boat for the winter. I found that the mice favor the seclusion. Now I leave it uncovered and just wash it down in the Spring.
 
I stopped covering anything. If you can't see it, you won't know if there's a problem. Better to be able to see, imo. When I lived in Oregon and rust (plastic rusted in my old shop... ;-) ) was a problem, I found that attaching oil-pan heating pads (65W-100W) to the machine, somewhere near the unpainted surfaces, did wonders for keeping the machine that magical couple degrees warmer than ambient - that's what prevents condensation! It took me a long time to find that solution, and, of course, it does nothing for your toolbox tools - for that I used a lot of VCI. Good luck!

GsT
 
There are two conditions where condensation forms from what I can see. One, the machine is cooler than the saturated air, and condensation forms on the mahcine's surface. Two, and this one occurs for me at the corners of the season only, is where the temps drop quickly and the atmosphere "flashes" past dewpoint, and droplets nucleate in the air, then fall out of the air column and onto surfaces. The second type is my issue, I live a stone's throw from the Puget Sound and I am surrounded by saltwater for 345 degrees all around. For type 2 condensation, I just use retired bedsheets (fitted work great) as throw covers. The dew fallout settles and eventually evaps from the cotton sheet without settling on the machinery.
 
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