Work lighting for lathe

[Papa Charlie]

I need to add some lighting to my lathe. Looked at some on Amazon, but just can't tell from what they describe. Seeking recommendations for best water resistant/proof lighting to add to my lathe without spending hundreds.

 

[Eddyde]

I put a 4' LED dual tube (fluorescent style) above my 10" lathe. It cost $40 at the time but I've seen them as low as $20 now. It puts out plenty of light.

 

[Flyinfool]

I also have a 4 foot shop light right over the lathe. Plenty of light and I have never had any desire for more light. Mine will be changed to LED as soon as the next bulb burns out. It you watch for sales I often see the 4 foot 5,000 lumen lights on sale for $17 from HF or Menards.

 

[RandyWilson]

My eyes are really affected by the glare of 5K and 6K "super white" lights. Thus I went looking for something in the sub 3K spectrum. I ended up with 10W landscaping flood lights. Two mounted to the ceiling joists (open ceiling) over the lathe, two over the mill.

 

[GunsOfNavarone]

+3 on the LED, 2 tube, "fluorescent" style shop light over lathe. A spot light of sorts on the work piece is nice, but I need the whole area lit up personally.

 

[RJSakowski]

I use lighted magnifier lamps with pantograph style arms and LED bulbs on both my lathes. They provide ample light, can be positioned as needed, and swing out of the way when nit in use. The four inch lens provides a safety shield for close up work as well as a detailed view for my tired old eyes.

I made custom sockets for the lamp posts from 1/4" black pipe. In one case, I welded the socket to my lathe bench and in the other it is bolted to my backsplash. It may be hard finding a lamp using an A19 bulb though. Yard sales or flea markets are a source.

 

[Flyinfool]

Many people confuse color and brightness, the 5,000 Kelvin, often just stated as "K" is the color number. Lower number are more yellow, even lower numbers start to get more red. Lumen is the brightness, A bigger number is just more light, not to confused with the color especially when they are both about the same number.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I do plan to use the 4 foot twin LED lighting for the primary shop lighting. But I am interested in the task lighting that RJ described for close up work.

Any good sources for this type of lighting?

 

[RandyWilson]

Many people confuse color and brightness, the 5,000 Kelvin, often just stated as "K" is the color number. Lower number are more yellow, even lower numbers start to get more red. Lumen is the brightness, A bigger number is just more light, not to confused with the color especially when they are both about the same number.

Since I am the only one that has mentioned color temp, I will assume that was aimed at me. I am well aware of the physics of lighting. I've been dealing with glare issues all my life. The high spectrum bulbs cause glare, eye strain, and headaches.

 

[RJSakowski]

My preference is for 3,000K and lower but for work lighting, I will use the 5,000K. 6,000K is just too harsh for my taste. White LED's are flourescent devices that are energized by a blue LED rather than a mercury vapor lamp. The phosphor coating on the LED determines the final color. Since the 450 nm blue LED is used, theprimary phosphor is a yellow emitter, hence the yellow color of the LED. Early white LRF'd were deficient in certain regions of the color spectrum, red and green being notable. The measure of spectral fullness is the CRI number with 100 being a full spectrum. The closer the CRI is to 100, the less likely you are to find holes in the spectrum. Generally, 85 and higher is reasonably good light.