Lighting solutions?

I have 1 lamp for the lathe, and 2 for the mill.
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Quasar - Our Best, brightest Magnetic Lamp yet – Wood Turners Wonders

With seven magnified LEDs putting out 700 lumens at about 6000 color temperature, you’ll marvel at how well you see your turnings. The controller is mounted in the lamp head so there’s no bulky plug end which can get damaged if something hits it. And speaking of the lamp head - its made from...
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I use an Ikea light. Not the brightest, but cheap.

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When I made my lathe and mill lights 5yrs ago there weren't as many choices as there are today. If I was starting this project today I still think I'd go the same way, though. For $10, some aluminum sheet and a little bit of soldering you can make lights for both machines. I used what are called LED "festoons", which are little 48 LED boards that run on 12v DC. I used three for the mill and two for the lathe and I drive them from an old PC power supply. The PS also drives the 5v TouchDRO boxes and the tablets for the DROs

Here's the source I used for the festoons and a picture of the mill light. Not my design, I shamelessly stole it from someone who posted a wooden version someplace on the Interwebs.


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Here's the simple wiring diagram for the light (the dotted line is the aluminum plate).

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Like this? Yours is a DEFINITE improvement over my design!!! PS -Thanks so much for the link to your source. I'd been getting them from DealExtreme ... but their website is getting harder and harder to navigate. Now I can resupply!

PS to @7milesup - I've always used 12 volt "wall warts" for Angel Eyes, LED strips, festoons, etc. I pick them up for cheap at Goodwill or similar stores.

Another PS regarding the Angel Eyes - see the third photo in post #3695 in
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POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

I made a clamp tight type tool. I made a couple mistakes along the way but in the end it turned out OK. I have a question though, how would you hold the handle to drill and tap it? This is my setup, but it seems like there should be a better way. It worked fine for drilling but the...
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Note the copper foil around the edge of the light. Sure helps not to have a bright light shooting out sideways into your eyes!

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When I built my shop years ago I used standard 4 foot fluorescent two bulb light fixtures. Over the summer I changed them all out to led bulbs. The difference is amazing. It’s almost like the sun is in my shop. I bought the bulbs on Amazon. They came in 25 to a box. We’re very easy to change out.
I also made a ring light about five years ago for the mill. I need to replace that one because some of the individual bulbs are going out. It has worked great for me.


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Some really awesome ideas here. I really like Hman's light setup on his mill. :)
 
For a mill, sewing machine lights like Jim’s in post #5. Has the flexibility to point it where you need it and/or move it out of your way for setting up the work piece, tooling, etc. I have one shining on each side of my mill’s spindle to eliminate shadows.

Tom
 
Pcmaker said:
I wonder where you can get this style of worklight

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I am with you. I have read a lot of the reviews for the similar lights I found on Amazon and not sure they are worth the effort. Guess I will have to try one to find out. Would prefer to find someone with first hand experience. But I am also assuming that the one that comes on the PM is of high quality.
 
talvare said:
I made one of the LED ring lights that attaches to the spindle housing on my mill and to be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with it. The light is plenty bright and it works fine as long as the quill is nearly fully retracted, but as the quill is lowered, it blocks the light. I'll probably go back to using a portable mag base style light.
On my lathe I have a 4 ft. two lamp LED light mounted overhead on my backsplash. It works very well. Couple of photos attached.
Ted
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I like your fine feed hand wheel on the mill! ??
 
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