Work lighting for lathe

[Aukai]

If you want light in the proximity of the work, Mikey showed me these.

Lamps

Our lamps are heavy duty, high quality LED bright, energy efficient lighting. They provide illumination for up to 50,000 hours. Switchable magnetic bases make make our LED lighting ideal for a wide range of industrial applications, including machine lighting, enclosure illumination and closeup...

woodturnerswonders.com

 

[FOMOGO]

I would agree on the 4', 2 bulb, led lamps. I just bought two more at Costco for $17 each, and have a stock pile pf them waiting for bench lighting and other uses. Also have been using one under the 4 post lift for lighting up the bottom of the vehicle. Just have it sitting on the ramp shining up for now, but will be figuring out a way for more permanent attachment soon. Hard to imagine one of these directly above any lathe not being sufficient light, and you sure can't beat the price, power usage, or 50k hr life. Mike

 

[Aukai]

My main lighting is 3 housings x 4 bulb LED conversions in my garage. My mill has 2 Quasars, and the lathe has 1, it can be to bright, if not directed correctly.

 

[hman]

The fact that a fluorescent fixture is 4 ft long means that the light is diffuse, and unlikely to cause shadows -or- glare.

 

[silverchips]

As you mentioned that you're looking for a task lamp for your lathe, I would recommend looking for an old Danzor drafting fluorescent lamp, it's perfect for small to medium lathe's . Depending on how bad your eyes are, they also made a round one with a magnifying glass. The long arm keeps the area clear and stays in place and easy to adjust. You can find them cheap at you local thrift shops. I like the long 18" fluorescent Danzor lamps, They give excellent distribution of light over the chuck and tool post.

I found that the 5000-5500K lamps to be the best color temperature bulbs (subjective) in the work shop. Look for a fluorescent lamp or LED with a high "CRI", above 90 is preferable.
Fluorescent also have the best light spread, they give off the least amount of shadowing (desirable) and even lighting, LED is the worst for shadows, color quality and contrast. Incandescent/halogen have beautiful light but I find it waaay too hot to be working close to and have abandoned it.

Having said that, they are not waterproof. For that, look for used CNC lamps on eBay but you will pay the piper as shipping is high and they are not easily adjustable like a Danzor and they can cause bad glare, require a transformer and they're not the best light for task lighting IMHO.

 

[pontiac428]

@RandyWilson, I suspect the issue you have with some lights is not spectrum, but "dazzle". LED lights have lots of emitters, each of which makes a blinding little point light. All together, each LED fixture makes dozens or more little point lights, each of which makes its own facet of reflection off any shiny object you happen to be viewing. Newer LEDs are set up with diffusers to help reduce this effect, some work and some don't. This effect also confuses all but the newest illumination meters. It causes headache, eye strain, and eye fatigue. For you, making a work light out of a classic incandescent bulb will eliminate these issues. Incandescent bulbs also reduce the strobe effect (something modern premium LEDs have just begun to manage). Mixing one fluorescent or incandescent as a task light in a shop illuminated with LEDs will take the edge off.

I like this one for my lathe with a big, fat $12 LED bulb (pic from Home Depot):

 

[talvare]

Hard to imagine one of these directly above any lathe not being sufficient light Mike

I agree with Mike. I have the two lamp, 4 foot, LED light fixture over my lathe and can't imagine needing more light.



Ted

 

[GunsOfNavarone]

I like the higher kelvin lights, 6k all day long baby! HOWEVER, they emit more blue light. I'm not JUST talking about the more visible blue color, but high energy blue light They attribute it to cataracts, headaches and even circadian rhythm. UV is the 380 to 400nm, the "bad" blue light is around 405 to 440nm and then you start to get into the actual visible and the color perception of blue light. So yeah, 4k and under is a better idea, but being old, this is how I live on the wild side!