Thread: Good lights for use over lathe and mill

Hi Jim,
LEDs are probably the best way to go, you can get them super bright and they will not burn you if you touch them. Having said that I dont use them. My favorite light is a desk type one on a large articulated arm that I got from bunnings. The cowl/shade would be about 250mm across. With a 22w CFL bulb it puts out heaps of light.

Ew

Ew that's what I'm using at the moment (like the old Planet lamps) but the base is starting to break apart from being swung around for years.

I've looked at the LED work lights on eBay, but there is such a big variation in price and stats.

I'd like something that's pretty bright and pretty focused. I'm still fighting not to wear glasses just yet!

If you have an Ikea near you (or can talk someone into a favour), these look pretty good:
TIVED LED wall/clamp spotlight - IKEA

No mention of the Lumens, but an American woodworker gave them a good review.

HTH
Brett

Whatever style you pick I would only go for either LED or halogen light source. Flouro's aren't used in workshops or anywhere with rotating machinery as they have a strobe effect and at certain machinery speeds rotating components can appear to be stationary. I don't know how the new long life flouro globes that are used now to replace incandescent ones cope, but as they are basically still just a flouro I wouldn't trust them.

LED light globes are slowly coming onto the market and I reckon will replace the flouro's just as they replaced incandescents. Again there is a major price hike but that will come down. I recently disposed of my first flouro globe; I bought it about 13 years ago and it cost over $20 then.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Flouro's aren't used in workshops or anywhere with rotating machinery

Certainly not been my experience. Yes there could be an issue but many shops have Flouro lighting.(or at least had, maybe things have changed in the last 10 years). Now if you were worried and had 3 phase you could have 3 fixtures, one on each phase.
BTW many LEDs strobe if it worries you, though I have no idea how fixed the timing is.
Definitely something to be aware of though.
Does anyone know if compact Flouros with electronic "insides" strobe at 50Hz(or 100Hz really I guess)? or is it something higher?


Stuart

This fluoro flickering effect has been discussed many times before.
A quality recent fluoro fitting that uses pairs of tubes which uses a lead-lag ballast will eliminates this problem and most sparks should know about this

However, the fluoros fittings I used in my shed are 25 years old and I was worried about this problem so I experimented to see how easy it was to generated this effect in my shed by varying the speed of machinery using VFDs.
During the day I have never been able to observe something anywhere near dead still because even a very small amount of daylight is enough to show up rotation.
Even at night I find it very hard to make something rotating stand completely motionless because I think that motor noise plays a psychological role i.e. the motor is making a noise so it must be rotating because the effect seems more noticeable to me when wearing earmuffs.
Anyway just using one small incandescent lamp nearby seems to be enough to clearly show it up and is why I went for incandescents on my MW lathe lights but I also have a pair of flours above it as well
My over lathe lighting fixtures are an arm from an old photographic copier stand - they don't quite have the flexibility of movement I would like but so far they have been OK.

Does anyone know if compact Flouros with electronic "insides" strobe at 50Hz(or 100Hz really I guess)? or is it something higher?
Stuart

Yes they will unless they have been fitted with high frequency (5kHz) ballasts where by the excited electrons residence time is longer than 1/5k so the lamp shines continuously.
Probably whether a CF has these will be price related - I should test these as I have a couple in my shed.

I can usually tell when my machines are running because they make many different noises, ranging from a nice whirring sound to an almighty clunk, bang when something crashes...

Years ago someone in Melbourne was selling new old stock Swiss made workbench lights on eBay. The Brand was "Waldmann", they use two short "cold light" fluoros each. I bought two, and they have ever since served me well on my two lathes. In hindsight, I should have bought all the lamps he had, cause they are real good.

Machine_Light01.jpgMachine_Light07.jpgMachine_Light02.jpg

Left & middle on the Hercus, right pic on the Emco. I never experienced myself any problems with stroboscopic effects on the chucks, and this despite the worksop having fluoro battens too.



For the mill, I made my own lamp. Using three 6x6 LED arrays of 12V from ebay. I made an Alu box for them, put a clear perspex on top, and installed it just behind the spindle of the X3 mill:

Machine_Light03.jpgMachine_Light04.jpg

It makes for pretty bright light, and is very practical in use. The only thing I dislike is that the LED's have a blueish light, that is because years ago it was not easy to get warm white LED - but that should not be a problem nowdays.


For the drill press, I used a 30 year old desk lamp.... did not even repaint it. It uses a standard globe.

Machine_Light09.jpgmachine_Light10.jpg


Chris

I use the new type globes, in flexible desk lamps from Salvo's, but in the daylight form from Jaycar.
Kryn

Interesting that this subject should come up today. When polishing the bits from my telescopic bore gauges yesterday while the were turning in a drill, I was using my LED torch for some spot on lighting. I noticed the stobe effect on the drill chuck.

Dean

Originally Posted by Oldneweng

Interesting that this subject should come up today. When polishing the bits from my telescopic bore gauges yesterday while the were turning in a drill, I was using my LED torch for some spot on lighting. I noticed the stobe effect on the drill chuck.

Dean

I don't see how this could happen with the LEDs used in torches as being DC they should be flicker free.
There are full wave rectified LEDs called AC LEDS that (they should probably be called variable V LEDs) flicker at double the line freq but they can only run from AC powered circuits.

Interesting and readable document on AC V DC LEDs here.

Originally Posted by BobL

I don't see how this could happen with the LEDs used in torches as being DC they should be flicker free.
There are full wave rectified LEDs called AC LEDS that (they should probably be called variable V LEDs) flicker at double the line freq but they can only run from AC powered circuits.

Interesting and readable document on AC V DC LEDs here.

It did surprise me at the time. I did have an ac LED Flouro replacement overhead but this was offset a couple of feet to the side and the torch was focused pretty tight and only about 200mm away.

Dean

Originally Posted by BobL

I don't see how this could happen with the LEDs used in torches as being DC they should be flicker free.

it certainly happens
I think they use PWM to control current.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nnhfw-LgSw

Stuart

p.s. another way to see it is rain drops at night
Race cars in slow mo is another

Originally Posted by Stustoys

it certainly happens
I think they use PWM to control current.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nnhfw-LgSw

Stuart

I guess so but I tried it with 3 LED torches and got nothing.

[EDIT]
I had a bit of a hunt around - it looks like PWM is being used to (manual and auto) control brightness.
So I dragged out my $3.99 Walmart special which has three brightness settings and sure enough I could get a weak strobing effect on the two dimmest settings - I probably could generate the RPM to really see the effect clearly.
Not a hint of it on the brightest setting though.