Shopsmith Forums

How do the Shopsmith brand dust covers hold up in sunlight? Are these thicker padded type or single ply light weight cloth?

My shop is actually an enclosed breezeway with very drafty single pane windows (awning windows off of some '60s or '70s mobile home) and I live in the Houston area. Currently I use some old moving blankets to cover my machines. Since the machines are mostly large pieces of metal, they change temperatures slower than the air around them and I can get condensation on them daily at the right times of the year, even under lighter weight dust covers. The moving blankets are nice in that it tends to help more with the moisture, but all but one of my moving blankets seem to be made from recycled plastic bags (think of the reusable shopping bag material) and they are flaking apart after about one year's exposure to morning and evening sunlight coming through these windows. Does anyone have experience with the SS brand dust covers in a shop that gets a lot of direct sunlight throughout the year? If so, do these start to fade and break down quickly or do they seem to hold up pretty well? Debating about buying some of these or asking my wife to make me some covers for my tools.

My dust covers are all years old and are holding up well. They are not all of the same vintage and are not all of the same materials but they are all holding up well. It would not be fair to say they are exposed to direct sun, however, because my shop is a two bay garage. It is in Arizona so humidity is nor a factor. all-in-all I am satisfied with they and would buy more if I needed them.

I hardly ever cover the Mark V because I use it almost daily but I do have a cover for it.

Like Dusty I have Shopsmith covers for all my Shopsmith tools including SPT's. Some of the covers are very old while others are much newer. They have been made out of different materials over the years. Mine do not really get direct sunlight. My oldest cover is an original Model 10E or 10ER cover from around 1950 made of canvas and looks in great shape still. It is in the picture below. Humidity is not nearly as bad here in Oregon as yours is. One thought - maybe putting a sun blocking film on the windows might help.

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