Work area lighting

EdCaffreyMS

EdCaffreyMS

"The Montana Bladesmith"
A while back we talked about the LED lights being sold, and using them in the shop. I kept watch on Amazon's Daily Deals, and picked up a couple, just to try.....they are awesome! A couple days ago, I purchased another type that has panels, and tried them in the track lighting over my grinders...... these things are so bright that it literally hurts to look at them! Don't know how their longevity is, but boy do they put out the light.

Here are a couple pics.... the green arrows are the ones that arrived today: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087LS5914/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I got them on a Lightening Deal for $22! The red arrows were the first ones I tried..... and they are super bright too. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082D1CW5B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They do put out some heat! But for the light they produce, I honestly expected them to parboil me when working at the grinder.....but that's not the case at all. I notice the heat, but it's not uncomfortable (they're about 24" above my head when grinding)....and will likely be very welcome during Montana winters.

As you can see in the pic they really light up my grinding area! Next is to try them over the finishing bench.



They're so bright that it's difficult to get a picture of them....



All are socket type lights....just like a normal light bulb. I had to remove the shrouds on my track light fixtures.....but that was just 3 screws on each fixture. We'll see how their longevity is, but if you need light in your work areas, I think they are worth a look.
 
When I put my shop together I carefully picked out each piece of equipment

But for lighting I picked up the first stuff I saw on the shelf at Home Depot. Big mistake.

Lightning is one of the most important things in a knife makers shop IMO

I'll definitely try these out since I've been on the search for the "right" lights for a few years now
 
I could use more lighting. One thing I've done is to use a headlamp. That way I always have light where I want it. But even then you can end up with shadows if there isn't area lighting as well.
 
I have two of these in my shop and they are outstanding! When I walk in I am cautious not to look up or else you see spots.

I used to have the cheapo florescents and had to re-wire to have sockets for these but it was worth it. I got these based on the old thread we had about this.
 
Ed: I agree, LED lights are a wonder for aging eyes. I can't enough light in my shop, I have 4 sets of 6-T6 tube panels mounted on a 14 ft. ceiling, plus a 10 ft. swing arm on which is mounted both LED tube fixtures and a high intensity 4 panel LED spot. Having the high intensity lights on a swing arm makes a big difference in adjusting for lighting positions. Since most of my equipment is on wheels (except lathe and Mill) having the high intensity lights moveable is really helpful, the lights swing about 270 degrees, to extend over my welding bench and work bench.
These are photos of my 13 year old nephew making his first stock removal knife. He had a blast.
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I've been struggling with old eyes and inadequate lighting for years, just using a bunch of the old 4' shop fluorescents.
A couple years ago I upgraded all of those to the LED shop lights that put out 5000 lumens.
Still not enough in some critical areas where I work.
So I decided to go all the way and just got this little hummer to put above my grinder, and one for my assembly/finishing bench:

I will probably need a lot of SPF 50 sunscreen.
 
I received some more of the type lights I indicated with the red arrow in the pic..... while either will "light up your world", the type with the green arrows is definitely brighter. At first I thought they, and the ones I just received, might be different wattages, but both are the same.

I think I'm going to also use them in my light tent setup for knife photography.

I even tried one in a swing arm/task light that I keep over my finish bench....and it was too bright....if there is such a thing for my old eyes. :)

Now that I've got on this "kick", before long I'll be coming out of the finish shop with sunburn! :cool:
 
Ed, if those lights don’t work for your light tent there are some great low cost LED panels from Lume Cube that let you control the color temp. They’d make great tool lights as well.
 
chrisstaniar said:
I got these based on the old thread we had about this.
Click to expand...
Me too. When I followed the link I saw Amazon had lots of different kinds. They offered me better deal on two and I bit. I'm glad I did. It was only $50 for two and I've got them both is use in different places. I sure needed things brightened up a bit.

Ed, your set up with three directly above your grinders looks good. I definitely feel I need to order a third in order to have at least two above my grinder. The $25/ea. I paid for mine is definitely affordable. Still an expensive light bulb - but worth it.
 
LED lights are made in a variety of temperatures (colors) from bright white to warm yellow, measured in Kelvin. For my shop I want blazing white light, at 5700K or above. But, when I changed out my truck camper interior lights I used a warmer (yellow'er) lamp. For interior home use the high Kelvin lamps can be too glaring and harsh on the eyes. (by changing my camper lights to LED's it reduced the lighting load by 95%)
This chart shows the range of lighting temperatures. The scale on the left are typical LED light increments in Kelvin temperatures.
Bob
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Anyone have an idea for under the mill? I have a Grizzly G0704 an its just dark. I thought about the Ring lights but not sure if they would be bright enough?
 
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