Task lighting

[Kelly]

As my eyes age, I've found that certain tasks in the shop have become more difficult. I have a head-mount magnifying visor (with light), and a desk-mount lighted magnifier, for work that I can hold in my hands. But I also need better lighting for stationary tools - saws, drill press, etc. Has anyone else found a good general solution to this? I'd rather not buy a light for every tool in my shop, so something I could move as needed would be nice.

 

[tsmith1315]

Geeky as it is, I use one of these head lamps:
https://www.harborfreight.com/lighting/flashlights/all-head-lamps/310-lumen-headlamp-63921.html

I also keep a 200W or 300W floodlight on a T-bar nearby when outside.

 

[rharshberger]

As we get older we need better light to see those finer details. For my shop a 24'x24' 2 car garage that was either 10 or 12 of the dual tube flourescent style LED shop lights, most of my tools already have their own work lights.

 

[jqavins]

An oldie but a goodie:

Fit it with a super bright LED bulb (which will probably cost more than the lamp) if you want. There are also some with magnetic bases, but a quick search only turned up some that are smaller and/or more expensive, nothing that's just like this save for a magnet in place of the clamp. There are ways to incorporate a magnetic mount if you'd like, like just clamping it to a strong magnet (as long as the magnet's north-south axis is pointing toward the lamp, not across the clamp clamp faces).

 

[dr wogz]

paint your room white..

The more 'white' you have, the more you have a neutral reflector for the available light.. And box in your work area to maximize the light /reflecting light..

 

[Kelly]

paint your room white..

Well, the room IS painted white. Unfortunately you can't see the walls, because they're mostly covered up by pegboard, hanging tools, equipment, cabinets, etc. etc. etc.

 

[SkyFire]

These are great LED work lights! Use mine for a lot of different things. Rechargeable with the charge lasting 4 hours.

 

[OverTheTop]

I recently upgraded the workshop from fluorescent tubes to the 4' x 1' LED panels. Definitely a worthy upgrade. Being an area source the light quality is better too. Suspending them from the ceiling will also get them closer to the workbench and give you mor intensity in high-ceiling areas.

 

[K'Tesh]

 

[Funkworks]

I keep this one in a shed.

 

[bjphoenix]

As my eyes age, I've found that certain tasks in the shop have become more difficult. I have a head-mount magnifying visor (with light), and a desk-mount lighted magnifier, for work that I can hold in my hands. But I also need better lighting for stationary tools - saws, drill press, etc. Has anyone else found a good general solution to this? I'd rather not buy a light for every tool in my shop, so something I could move as needed would be nice.

I can't point you to anything specific but there are likely lots of different desk lights that could do this. I do some woodworking and I've seen small lights that will stick to a power tool with magnets so they could be moved from place to place.

 

[bschultz32]

Kelly: Get a high-quality search-and-rescue-grade headlamp. I have a Fenix HM-65R (see Fenix HM65R Rechargeable Headlamp | Cabela's (cabelas.com) ). I love the damn thing, and I use it for many things beside rocketry. Expect to pay about a hundred bucks for the real deal. Do NOT waste time & money on low-quality toys like the Harbor Freight model cited above; that will only make you mutter curse words under your breath your mother told you never to say.
As we age into respectability, copious amounts of light sprayed just right onto what we are doing become VERY important!
Bob Schultz

 

[Jimmy Wilson]

I purchased these off Amazon and used foil tape to hold the LED light in the clamp on reflector. I removed the two spring tabs before mounting the bulb. The adapter just screws into the socket. I centered the retro fit unit into the reflector and secured it with the foil tape. It's a nice bright white light, and also is good for doing photography. It doesn't get as hot as an incandescent bulb does either.

 

[Adam3836]

I use this it’s great and has magnifying lens at the top and it’s bright for task work

 

[dpower]

How about this? It's even called a rocket light!

Milwaukee M18 Rocket LED Tower Light

 

[Hobie1dog]

wow, $214

 

[DES]

I want one of these, but I haven't been able to bring myself to pay for it yet...

Available in both a "flood" and a "spot" configuration. 14 watt LED, that is about a 75 watt incandescent = 1200 lumens or so. $175 for either

https://www.shop.lagunatools.com/Laguna-LED-Chameleon-95CRI-Woodturners-Lathe-Lamp

 

[fyrwrxz]

Don't laff, right now I'm pinned to my bed after surgery, otherwise I'd post a pic. I picked up some neodymium glass incandescent (60w) bulbs by GE. Brighter 'white' light scale. Apparently still made and sold. I got these at a thrift store. Prolly getting rare.

 

[tjkopena]

I have a couple of these floating around my workspaces for task lighting and am pretty happy with them. The daylight color temperature works great for painting. My only complaint is I wish it just had a switch rather than a trendy pressure sensor you touch for 2s to turn off. One nice bonus is it does have a detachable cord so you can easily run it through desks, etc..

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FDD79AW/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_dl_72C1NN1T3YKDZ4NNCNR9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1