Machine Lamp Recommendation?

[Dr_GMJNParticipant @dr_gmjn]

[Dr_GMJNParticipant @dr_gmjn]

All, can anyone suggest a decent machine lamp for use with ML7 and SX2P sized machines? I want a mains one, decent quality.

I got a small-ish LED lamp on a swan neck type thing last year, But the LEDs are already failing and it eats batteries. The flexible neck also doesn’t stay put at extreme angles.

Thanks.

[john fletcher 1Participant @johnfletcher1]

I have two 30 LED "sewing machine lights" on my super 7 which work from the mains. They come with a two pin plug, which I removed and fitted a 13 amp ones. The lights have a small circular magnet at the end of flexible piece around 10" long, got them via ebay and they are listed as "sewing machine lights". Wife has one on the sewing machine and I've one for soldering. John

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

I picked up a pair of Anglepoise lamps at a flea market for a couple of £s

Roy

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

That’s a bargain Roy considering new price. I use them as well with good quality led bulbs, nice bright white ones.

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

A made some, if you fancy a bit of a project, see *** LINK *** the parts are available from Amazon, eBay, CPC etc.

Still working well on lathe, mill and drill after quite a few years. They are not actually 'mains' but use plug in power supply for 12v LED lamps. I think Lo-Vo is generally safer where it may get wet or impacted.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Posted by john fletcher 1 on 04/09/2021 10:34:18:

I have two 30 LED "sewing machine lights" on my super 7 which work from the mains. They come with a two pin plug, which I removed and fitted a 13 amp ones. The lights have a small circular magnet at the end of flexible piece around 10" long, got them via ebay and they are listed as "sewing machine lights". Wife has one on the sewing machine and I've one for soldering. John

+1 just received one of these lights; throws a very bright beam onto the work area, tried it on my mill ,the difference in luminescence compared to the flexible spot I am using is amazing.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

My experience for what it's worth! I experimented with two types and decided neither did what I wanted. More on that at the end!

To my lathe, I fitted a magnetic sewing machine light, like this one but cheaper.

Prices range from about £5 to £40. They come with either a plastic clamp or magnet base, making them easy to fit to most machines, moveable, and they produce a reasonable white light. The swan neck isn't long enough, and, more important the electrics may not be fit for purpose. (The more expensive versions might be: my cheap lamp was cause for concern.) Problem is sewing machine lamps aren't designed for rough workshops, exposed to knocks and fluids, where the user is dangerously well earthed by big metal machines and concrete floors. The circuit that powers the LEDs is safe enough on a sewing machine in a dry internal room, but risky as a machine lamp. The same concern applies to other domestic lamps; are they electrically safe in a workshop?

My mill is fitted with a proper machine light, electrically safe and mechanically robust. It contains a 12V power supply driving a quartz halogen car headlamp bulb. Fixed to the machine with four bolts, so attaching it may be problematic, particularly as gantry movement limits where the base can go. From memory, about £60.

Neither lamp is satisfactory in my workshop. They both create unhelpful deep shadows and bright reflections. So I upgraded my workshop's general lighting instead. Squeezed into a single garage, after painting the ceiling white, I fitted three pairs of diffused 60W fluorescent tubes – 360W daylight total. The lamps are positioned to brightly light everything underneath evenly: no shadows and reduced reflections.

So although occasionally useful on the mill, I don't need a machine light. Not perfect, as soon as the fluorescents pop their clogs I shall upgrade to LED – the light is better. The change was so successful I wondered if machine lamps are bygone hangovers from when factories were relatively dimly lit – 100W tungsten bulbs are about 2.5% efficient, compared with a strip lamp's 20%. My garage is brightly lit!

Dave

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

If you insist on using mains voltage, just make sure you have a working earth leakage protection device fitted.

240vac is better than a Taser and won't stop , even when you're dead.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I've had one of the Chronos ones with the transformer in the base for a number of years but bought a couple of Ikea "Jansjo" type ones a couple of years back and tend to use them more. Run of a usb wallwart there are no batteries to worry about

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

+4 for Jansjo from Ikea. One on each mill, one on lathe, one general purpose gets moved around.

[egaParticipant @ega]

I was going to suggest the Ikea lamps but couldn't remember the name!

I have several of them. An advantage on the lathe is that they can readily be directed into a bore for inspection; a corresponding disadvantage is that they are less resistant to vibration than other types. The bulb is not replaceable.

Most of mine are on modified bases including one with a circular recess which plugs on to the column on the Quorn.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If you do opt for halogen lamps, it is worth ensuring that the lamp body is well ventilated.

The halogen lamp that came with my lathe takes a 24 Volt 50 Watt lamp, which are not easy to find, and they had a short life. Noting how hot they ran, I removed the "Reflector" and filed a 8 mm wide slot on each side of the rim, to allow air to flow through, before refitting bit..

Since then lamps have lasted MUCH longer. (Asking for trouble, I can't remember when this one was fitted, it was so long ago ).

My experience of cheap LED lamps is that after a fairly short time they start to flicker (Assumed to be one half of the bridge rectifier in the PSU failing. ) The more costly LED lamps, used in the house, don't have this short life. You get what you pay for Buy cheap, buy twice

Howard

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

I use the £9 TERTIAL ones from Ikea. They just need careful placement.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

In our tool room the machine lights were all lovo lights. I feel that I would rather not have a mains lamp at the business end as you have to handle the arm and lamp assembly to adjust the light. Sooner or later the cable will fail and may generate a hazard. Supply from an RCD protected circuit will offer improved protection but does not eliminate entirely the risk of a shock. I would seriously consider a low voltage machine lamp if at all possible.

Mike

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

I quite like the LED magnifying lamps sold by Machine Mart, they give an excellent light and enable me to see small work. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.

[Dr_GMJNParticipant @dr_gmjn]

Thanks all. I was in IKEA on Thursday, and was looking at their lamps. Wish I’d have asked before I went.

When I said ‘mains’ I meant ‘not battery powered’, so I guess the IKEA ones are low voltage with a transformer. I might get one and see how it goes.

[martin haysomParticipant @martinhaysom48469]

Posted by roy entwistle on 04/09/2021 10:49:52:

I picked up a pair of Anglepoise lamps at a flea market for a couple of £s

Roy

i did this then binned the light and housing replaced them with a bean can which holds a house hold LED 12V down lighter transformer is in the base of the machine

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

8 hours have past and no one has made a comment about S O D leaving his chuck key in the chuck !!

Keith

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

If you have a shelf above and behind as so many do just get a kitchen over counter/under cupboard LED strip light next time they appear in Lidl. In fact get 2. You can put the second on a batten that hinges on the shelf perhaps as a parallel motion arrangement to pull out over the lathe when more light is needed.
Spruce the area up with white paint to reflect more light to get an overall directionless illumination.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Dave Halford on 04/09/2021 17:28:31:

I use the £9 TERTIAL ones from Ikea. They just need careful placement.

Another vote for the Ikea cheapie. It comes with a bracket you can fix to a suitable vertical surface, and unlike some other anglepoisoids it doesn't restrict the forward pivot of the lower arm.

I removed two of the tension springs to improve its articulation and its ability to stay where you set it when you let go.

I put in the wooden batten on the splashback to provide grip for an earlier spring-clip lamp, that wasn't as good.

[Bryan Cedar 1Participant @bryancedar1]

Posted by KEITH BEAUMONT on 04/09/2021 20:30:17:

8 hours have past and no one has made a comment about S O D leaving his chuck key in the chuck !!

Keith

That is because it is a Rotary Table !!!!! they are not known to harm people.

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

Brian,

I was being facetious. Normaly someone comes out of the wood work to point out that such practice, whether stationary or not, is not to be encouraged.

Keith

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

I have had recently a few rpm where the chuck at work , looks to be slowly turning backwards. It never happened when I had the pair of fluro tubes above the machine. But they got replaced with a pair of LED replacement for the twin fluro tubes. I talked to my son about it, and he said most likely, all the led's are turning off and on again with the frequency of the AC current. He explained that the leds are flickering like a single incandescent light. I took my Futaba optical tacho to work and it shows 3000 rpm, or 50hz reading. He said most leds will have a frequency that they work at, even driven from a dc source. So I tested our led torch and it varies from 25hz to 60hz . My wifes phone led shows no frequency however.

At home I have above my S7, the 5 foot LED equivalent of a duel fluro light. It is positioned so that the front lamp tube is on the centre line of the lathe . I have no shadowing to speak of. I also have an lep lamp on a flexi neck, for looking down inner bores. It sits inline with the tailstock and is about 1/2 a m back, so not in the way. It gives me more than enough light for everything. I only run in the low speed from the motor to the clutch, so max is like 700 rpm or so for anything I make. Any frequency of the light issues I have never noticed in my home shop.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I bought 2 of those sewing machine lights as in SOD's post. Potentially lethal, 2 very spindly wires up the metal Swan neck, one of which could be at mains voltage. Spent far to much time modifying them to run on safe voltage, should have binned them

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