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Custom Dust Covers ?

forceof1

forceof1

Active Member
So, I killed my cart as a result of not having a dust cover for my TT, PL 550. Tough to find. I've worked with metals, wood, plastics and other materials professionally for many years and have a design background as well. The question is...........What do you think the market is for custom dust covers.......well designed and well built. One example / idea is a low profile wood cover with a thin Lexan backed cutout over the tonearm. You would be able to see the tonearm through the cutout. I believe I can also add a small lensed LED that comes on when you lift the cover illuminating the platter. More ideas than I can detail here, so many optionsCost is always the "thing" but I wanted to see how much interest there is. Questions, ideas, suggestions? Plinths?
 
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I think your biggest hurdle would be keeping cost cheap enough to keep us cheapskates from just passing by your for sale ad.
I would guess what your thinking would be labor intensive and modern consumers want low prices.
 
triple20, You're the lucky winner! First to identify the biggest hurdle. As with anything custom, it can get expensive. I know I wouldn't be able to afford custom. There may be a niche market, for 1.............mine. Anybody else?
 
forceof1 said:
So, I killed my cart as a result of not having a dust cover for my TT, PL 550. Tough to find. I've worked with metals, wood, plastics and other materials professionally for many years and have a design background as well. The question is...........What do you think the market is for custom dust covers.......well designed and well built. One example / idea is a low profile wood cover with a thin Lexan backed cutout over the tonearm. You would be able to see the tonearm through the cutout. I believe I can also add a small lensed LED that comes on when you lift the cover illuminating the platter. More ideas than I can detail here, so many optionsCost is always the "thing" but I wanted to see how much interest there is. Questions, ideas, suggestions? Plinths?
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I have seen custom covers for sale that are intended for TT’s that never had factory covers. I have also seen custom blanket covers that are intended to keep dust off the entire machine. Neither were cheap and I do not know if those I have seen are still available.

Also, there is a market for replacement covers, but I assume the ability to make a profit on basic covers would be harder than custom covers.

if you built a custom cover for yourself and worked out the kinks, I think you might find a few buyers here and there but I am guessing it would be more of a passion project that a side hustle. Some of the real TT aficionado‘s may have more insight.
 
Natertots said:
I have seen custom covers for sale that are intended for TT’s that never had factory covers. I have also seen custom blanket covers that are intended to keep dust off the entire machine. Neither were cheap and I do not know if those I have seen are still available.

Also, there is a market for replacement covers, but I assume the ability to make a profit on basic covers would be harder than custom covers.

if you built a custom cover for yourself and worked out the kinks, I think you might find a few buyers here and there but I am guessing it would be more of a passion project that a side hustle. Some of the real TT aficionado‘s may have more insight.
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I think that's a great take on this, it is a work of passion. I will most likely go ahead and make mine. This will give me a read on expected cost. It will definitely be a small market. Once seen, people may be more interested if the price is somewhat reasonable. Infinite possibilities................
 
forceof1 said:
I think that's a great take on this, it is a work of passion. I will most likely go ahead and make mine. This will give me a read on expected cost. It will definitely be a small market. Once seen, people may be more interested if the price is somewhat reasonable. Infinite possibilities................
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Making yours to show off is a great idea.
In my opinion,it's very difficult to get people interested in an idea just going on your words of description.
Being able to actually see the item in question will likely gather more interest.
Your idea sounds like something that would get my attention but without seeing it,no way I could even begin to say I might be interested.
And then there is that cost issue...a big factor.
 
triple20 said:
Making yours to show off is a great idea.
In my opinion,it's very difficult to get people interested in an idea just going on your words of description.
Being able to actually see the item in question will likely gather more interest.
Your idea sounds like something that would get my attention but without seeing it,no way I could even begin to say I might be interested.
And then there is that cost issue...a big factor.
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Thx for that! It's hard to describe something that dosen't exist. When I get mine finished I'll put it out for review with cost. If going to all the trouble I don't want a "cover", I want OEM hinges as well.
 
F9060364-9878-4964-B2D1-1B05A86955E1.jpeg ED099A24-E2B4-4BFF-AA95-1BFEC05392AD.jpeg There’s a seller on the Bay that makes amazing covers. Very reasonable too for what you get.
 
forceof1 said:
Thx for that! It's hard to describe something that dosen't exist. When I get mine finished I'll put it out for review with cost. If going to all the trouble I don't want a "cover", I want OEM hinges as well.
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Hinges are the holy grail. Hard to find the mating sets. And some are spring adjustable so the cover stays put where ever you leave it, some are free swinging.
 
Coolhandjjl said:
Hinges are the holy grail. Hard to find the mating sets. And some are spring adjustable so the cover stays put where ever you leave it, some are free swinging.
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I may look for a hinge through some industrial (off consumer market) hinges, there are things there you never knew existed. This is a good challenge!! There can be a variety of materials, adjustable springs,formats and other really cool ways to solve a problem. When I dig in I'll post some photo's
 
I've used clear plastic piano hinges like the below and clear adhesive or double sided tape for adding an 'invisible' hinge to prevent having to deal with finding a place to put non-hinged dust covers. Works well, when you have a dust cover that rests on top and there's enough plinth surface for the hinge in back.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/i...MI2966u62H9QIVgeGzCh3DmQBBEAQYAiABEgJIdfD_BwE

edit... how it looks - see the back edge of the dust cover, the hinge is hard to see. This has been trouble free for the past 3 yrs or more. I used a thick clear 2 sided tape for ease of installation and it's stayed clear and holding strong.

dustcover hinge up.jpg

From the back, dustcover down:

I used 3 stick on clear furniture feet or whatever from home depot to have a nice soft stop and keep get the tilt when up just right. (just right, so that it's almost vertical, but stays up without fail. This way, the majority of the force is down, pushing the hinge onto the plinth, as opposed to the weight of the dust cover leaning back and trying to peel the hinge off. Not sure if it makes a difference, but makes me feel better, since I used tape instead of epoxy. I'm also sure epoxy would be much clearer than tape)

One in the front too (on above picture) for a soft place for the front of the cover to rest in the center and two foam pads for the little protrusions on either side.

hinge 2.jpg
 
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I had to make my own for my Mark Levinson b 515B turntable. Mine only has 3 sides and a top. But I put a foam rubber on the back side to mate up with the back of the cabinet. . If I were doing it again I would use thicker material.
 
Mr.Jim said:
The eBay company will drill for hinges. They did mine.
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Yup. He has a database of many makes and models of their dimensions and where the hinges get mounted. If you have one he doesn’t have in the database, or a custom design, he can work off of your measured drawing.
 
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