Thread: headlamp assistance for ageing eyes

100 lumens is very much on the dim side for any sort of lighting especially for older eyes. A minimum of about 750 lumens per square meter (lux) is recommended for workshops and 1500 lumens

I've already posted about this, this morning, but again, even assuming everything else is they same (which is unlikely), an average a 60 year old needs twice as much light as a 20 year old.

As a guide, full sunlight (ie cloudless day) at noon is about 100,000 lux!

In my workshop I increased the general lighting from the original equivalent of 620 lux to 1000lux from when I first built the shed 10 years ago. I've also added 7 extra work/spot lights (another 12,000 lumens) to various machines and it still seems a tad dim at times

The finest detail I need to see is when working at my electronics workbench (small components and the alpha numerics written thereon) in my study where I have up to 20,000 lumens (equivalent to about 10 regular 1.2m fluorescent tubes ) 1m above my bench. I usually work with about 10,000 lumens, and turn on the extra 10,000 lumens to look at especially small faint things through a loupe or a head magnifier.

Thanks Bob, for the benefit of your info.

Perhaps I didn't make my situation clear enough; apologies for that. Also, I haven't seen your other post on the subject.

I have upgraded the lighting in my shed from fluoro to LED to be subjectively acceptable for general use. I have neither the means nor the interest or desire to quantify the lighting. The additional light from a headlamp helps me without creating unwanted contrasts of sharp shadows.

My concern is one of convenience for using the additional source of light from the headlamp; ie, to avoid tangling straps, misaligning safety glasses etc. for the other headgear I'm using at the same time, and thus becoming a disincentive to use some of it. I'm wondering how others have addressed these problems without the expense of trying to reproduce broad daylight conditions in their sheds. Cheers

Originally Posted by rev

My concern is one of convenience for using the additional source of light from the headlamp; ie, to avoid tangling straps, misaligning safety glasses etc. for the other headgear I'm using at the same time, and thus becoming a disincentive to use some of it. I'm wondering how others have addressed these problems without the expense of trying to reproduce broad daylight conditions in their sheds. Cheers

Sure I understand, and the problems you highlight are why headlamps should be avoided in a workshop. There should be sufficient general lighting in a shed to be able to see everything related to safety without using a head lamps or spotlights. Headlamps are in the same category as PPE, should only reused when nothing else is available. If more light/detail is needed in specific places for purposes other than safety then spotlights on suitable stands are a safer way to go..

Originally Posted by BobL

If more light/detail is needed in specific places for purposes other than safety then spotlights on suitable stands are a safer way to go..

Actually this highlights (pardon the pun) the issue I'm getting at. Could it really be more convenient to set up tripods and additional lights, move them around as different parts of the workshop are used (unplugging and re-plugging into other powerpoints, tripping on the cords, tripod legs etc!), than using a headlamp? And what of the safety and cost of that route to seeing a bit better?

Have you considered getting your eyes “fixed”? Last year I had cataract surgery and IOL’s implanted; I now see like…, well a guy in his 40’s ! 95% of the time I am glasses free and in good light (outdoors under the carport where I actually do most of my woodwork) I cope perfectly well with my bifocal safety specs. I only really need them to look at rule graduations to be honest. Even in my shed (gloomy; only two 4’ LED replacement flouro’s covering 36 square metres) I can function quite happily with only reading glasses when I need to focus on sometime really small.

Originally Posted by rev

Actually this highlights (pardon the pun) the issue I'm getting at. Could it really be more convenient to set up tripods and additional lights, move them around as different parts of the workshop are used (unplugging and re-plugging into other powerpoints, tripping on the cords, tripod legs etc!), than using a headlamp? And what of the safety and cost of that route to seeing a bit better?

Good pun er . . . point.

I also dislike temporary cords and stands so I installed permanent spotties/work-lights over my lathes, metal mill, welding bay, grinders, main assembly work bench etc.
Most of these were fortuitous, free pickups,
The ones above my lathe came out of a skip at work , they're from an old photographic macro stand.
I also have 4 LED fluoros above that lathe as well.
LLighting.jpg

The mill came with a spotlight and I swapped out the old incandescent tube for a super bright LED globe.
Wholemill.jpg

This one is built into the TS OH guard. I bought an LED downlight and made teh rest.
Guard2.jpg

All of this is made easier because I have about a dozen overhead double power points.

I have 2 worklights that I move around.
One is an old standard desk fluoro that I keep on the corner of one workbench.
The other is the one in the photo below and both were even to me by a member member of the MW forums because he wasn't using them.
The one in the photo has a very log arm on it and it came with a POS G-clamp that would not support the lamp even when it was half extended.
I replaced the clamp with a 10kg steel plate base and now it can operate safely when full extended.
It had a halogen lamp in it that I replaced with an LED spotlight
reach.jpg

There are more but that is probably enough.

I'm not expecting everyone is prepared to go to this extent to set up decent permanent lighting. I'm just showing some creative ideas about what is possible.

Originally Posted by rev

... My concern is one of convenience for using the additional source of light from the headlamp ...

How can it be convenient to use a headlamp that supplies less than a fifth the amount of light that you need?

Years ago I tried a headlamp but the experiment did not last long:

• Not bright enough,
• I jiggled my head too much,
• Too many shadows.

Now I only use the headlamp when searching for things in dark corners.