Safety lamps for the lathe

[The Merry MillerParticipant @themerrymiller]

[The Merry MillerParticipant @themerrymiller]

Right, I’ve got my safety boots now (Scruffs Riggers) now I’m looking for recommendations for suitable safety lighting to fit to my ML7-R.

 

I’m looking for an intense white light with the holder being around 60mm dia. and mounted on a gooseneck so I can get in really close, I had real trouble this morning maching annular grooves in the end of a piece of 25mm stock, I could hardly see a bloody thing even though I was using an anglepoise type lamp.

 

What shall I go for?

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Merry Miller,

There is an article in issue 175 (April 2011) of MEW using 12 volt spotlights. I have made similar lights for my lathe and mill and they work well. I bought some die cast downlight fittings in one of the pound shops. I machined the front of the fittings so they fitted inside some aluminium tube I had. Doing it this way is cheaper than buying the holders as a separate item and you have a ready made circlip fixing for the bulbs.

Les

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi

 

I have used two cheap goose neck lamps from Homebase. The halogen bulbs are protected by a separate glass cover and the lights will clamp anywhere convenient. The mains transformer is remote and plugs directly on the socket block and hence the lead to the lamp is only carrying 12V AC so is intrinsically safe.

 

They are on sale for about £6 each and can be used as is or modified to suit, I have included pictures of them on my photo pages.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

Edited By Martin W on 07/05/2011 15:37:33

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Martin,

I think at that price it is not worth making your own lights.

I think I might buy a couple of them myself.

Les.

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi Les

 

Homebase part/stock number is 764071 and if you are really fashion conscious they do them in pink as well , usual disclaimer regarding connections with supplier. The one mounted near the mill I can move to either side depending how I am milling but the lathe one is screwed to a fixed bracket. One could always dispose of the plastic clip arrangement and mount the stem directly into something more substantial. S

 

So far these have proved to be quite able to survive in this environment and when you compare the cost of these units to dedicated machine lights then there is no contest.

 

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[John CParticipant @johnc47954]

These might suit:

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00169659

 

Very white light, stable gooseneck and no heat.

 

Edited to add: major dia of lamp is about 35mm.  You can use the supplied base or fix the gooseneck to any convenient surface. 

 

John

Edited By John Corden on 07/05/2011 19:08:40

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

I rather like the idea of using DC lamps. We’ve had at least one interesting situation in the past where a small fluorescent lamp used close to a lathe strobed with the chuck. Whilst I think that in general this isn’t going to fool anybody, it did give a very false idea of how fast it was going. When we refitted the main flo lights in the machine area we put HF ones in, and they don’t do this at all. But DC has to be the best bet.

[PatParticipant @pat]

I use the Jansjo lamp from Ikea but bought the model with a clip mounting. I have converted these to run from the 12 volt supply in my control box but this is not a criticism of the mains adapter just that I have the 12 volts plumbed onto the machine. Very bright no heat and so far no ingress of cutting fluid.  Ikea do three variations a floor mount – desk top and clip on.  All three use the same adapter and goose neck .

 

The use of switch start fluorescent lighting does cause strobing as reported by Steve G.   The circular desk top and machine lamps that use a circular tube may or may not use switch or HF balasts – the former cause strobe effects the latter do not but cost a lot more and have now been overtaken by LED and CFL technologies.   That strobe effect can induce head aches in some people and this may cause attention to wander which is not good. The compact fluorescent lamps and those designated HF use high frequency converters so that strobe effects do not exist as the lamp coating cannot keep pace with the increase frequency. The voltage is still high so these lamp fittings need to be sealed. I have HF fittings in the ceiling and have now gone over to Ikea LED for machine spot lights after getting too hot with QI low voltage lighting.

 

Regards – Pat

Edited By Pat on 07/05/2011 19:56:56

Edited By Pat on 07/05/2011 20:01:13

[The Merry MillerParticipant @themerrymiller]

Some good solutions coming through at the moment lads, keep’em coming.

[modeng2000Participant @modeng2000]

I have been using the Jansjo lamp for a while now and find it gives a very even lit area unlike the previous machine lamp which used a 20 watt halogen bulb. There is little heat from the LED and being smaller is easier to position.

My only concern is for the lens and how it may survive being hit by chips from machining operations.

 

John

[TerrydParticipant @terryd72465]

hi,

 

I will endorse Martin W’s use of Homebase swan neck lamps. I have been using these clip on type for several years now and have several around the workshop (at least I did until it burned down) and a couple in my study. They’re very good for concentrated light source and are so cheap as to be disposable – I had one transformer burn out after several years use, but the others have all stood up well. there is a small metal handle to ‘aim’ the light where needed and the plastic lamp surround/shade does not get too hot unlike metal ones.

 

My local CEF (electrical factors) Sell GU10 style led lamps with which I will replace the halogen lamp when necessary and the total cost will still be less than £15.00 each.

 

I agree also with Les as to the advisability of making lamps which look so obviously ‘homemade’ and clumsy when suitable ones can are available so economically.

 

Best regards,

 

Terry

[PatParticipant @pat]

I have found that I keep the Ikea Jansjo lens 400mm away from the cutting action as the beam is bright and well focused and around 400 mm in diameter. The brightness is about equal to twin 5 foot HF florescent at 750 mm which I have mounted above the machine. Good point about the hot chips but to date I have had no problems. However I am now looking for a glass disc from which to fashion a clip on shield.

 

I recall from way back in the 60’s the use of a mirror to direct a high power lamp into the depths of a deep recess being done on a jig borer. The machine took parts much bigger than a 40 gallon oil drum. This was standard practice on that machine because the standard light on a bar would not reach properly to illuminate deep recesses because of the size of the head. Might be worth copying using a narrow angle lamp .

 

For those that like the home brew approach the internet mail order electrical supplier QVSDirect has fittings that have 3 watt small diameter LEDs which are easy to remove and look like miniature  MR11/16 halogens but less than 20mm diameter.  Their part number is LDDLGW for the single at £5.99 and LDDLG18W at £19.99 for the one with 6 3watt units.  

 

Regards – Pat

Edited By Pat on 08/05/2011 12:23:12

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

I have installed these in my mill lights, replacing the 20W halogen lamps. the light output is excellent

http://www.maplin.co.uk/mr16-led-lamps-503165?ordercode=N20HT

 

The lights I have are composed from microphone goosenecks and my old fish pond light heads. I will post some pics when I get chance, but they work extremely well and with the LED lamps, cost little to run, don’t get hot and give very good illumination.

That said, the power consumption was the least consideration when my mill has a 3HP spindle motor and a 1.5HP feed gearbox motor LOL. But the light quality and cool running are definitely a bonus as is the lamp life. LED’s suffer less from vibration fatigue!

 

CB

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi Merry Miller

Yes lots of light needed in the right place in the workshop and, in my view, a halogen light is best.

When I aquired my lathe a while ago it came with a commercial low voltage(24v) industrial light. Unfortunately this was supplied from a 415 v transformer – no good to me! ( If anyone wants this they can have it for the price of the postage!) The lamp fitting however seemed too good to waste. With a little puzzling I managed to fit a halogen downlighter fitting inside the shade and fed it from a transformer which I managed to fit inside a dummy 13A double outlet box with a plain cover. ( Bottom right in pic)

As I had already bought a lamp for the lathe I pressed this into service on the mill.

 

From the end on view of the fitting you will see that the lamp is protected by a glass cover so splashes, swarf etc should be kept out.

Hopefully the lamp life is good as the only downside is that changing the bulb will be a bit of a fiddle!

 

Regards

 

Norman

 

[chris stephensParticipant @chrisstephens63393]

Hi Norman,

Don’t throw out your transformer as there is in all likelihoods the opportunity to connect it to 240V which would give you about 12V which you could then use to feed LEDs or Halogens. I did this years ago on my Graduate wood lathe when I converted it to a single phase motor. If I every get to use the lathe again, I will replace the fitted Halogen with a(n) LED light as the heat produced by Halogens is excessive and painful to touch.

If you are not sure on reconnecting the transformer, do check with an electrically savvy friend. The lamp fitting is just a mechanical problem and should be no problem.

chriStephens

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi Chris

 

Thanks – now why didn’t I think of that! However the transformer is a large and heavy bit of kit most suitable really for use as a door stop! I do agree about the heat problem with halogen bulbs but when I investigated the GU10 LED replacements, some time ago, they were very pricey, had a slow warm-up time and didn’t give the intensity of light  that the halogen did. Have they improved recently?

 

Regards

 

Norman

Edited By NJH on 09/05/2011 20:38:03

[chris stephensParticipant @chrisstephens63393]

Hi Norman,

All I can say is it helps with engineering if you can have a little lateral thinking.

If LEDs are in the order of £15 I will stick with Halogen.

 

What I am making at the moment is a “around the quill” ring of LED strips, the sort that come in 18 inch lengths at some model shows. for my mill. It is the mark two version as the diameter was too small for an ER32 collet holder on Mk1. The Mk1 was excellent as it gave a shadow less light when using a R8 holder, but was just too small and created its own shadow with something larger. The LED strips are 12V and only cost about a fiver, they can be cut into about 2″ lengths and still run on 12V. So they could be assembled in to a grid pattern and fitted inside a work light, for a third the cost of some single LED lamps. Did someone say cheapskate, guilty as charged.

chriStephens

Edited By chris stephens on 09/05/2011 22:27:32

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi Norman

 

Your statement that LED lamps take time to warm up puzzles me somewhat. Normally a LED runs at full brilliance immediately it is switched on and this is solely dependant on the current flowing through the device, up to its max rating. However a Low Energy lamp, more or less a miniature florescent lamp, does take time to come to full brilliance and they normally produce a fairly diffuse beam. They are difficult to focus because the light is being generated over a relatively large area and not a small source as with LED or Halogen unit.

 

If one is happy playing with basic electrics then using a 12V DC source, a constant current controller and a 3 or 10W led one can make quite an intense source and focus it if required. I have in the past purchased 1 & 3W led modules plus their relevant current controllers and made microscope illuminators. The nice thing with this arrangement is that the brilliance can be adjusted but the colour temperature of the light remains relatively unchanged unlike halogen or other hot filament based units which vary from a very warm white to a predominately red colour as they are dimmed down.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

For people running Halogen lamps, it’s worth pointing out that if you can find a way to under-run them by about 5%, you don’t get much light reduction, but you do get a massive increase in lamp life…

[_Paul_Participant @_paul_]

Posted by Martin W on 07/05/2011 17:03:01:

Homebase part/stock number is 764071 and if you are really fashion conscious they do them in pink as well , usual disclaimer regarding connections with supplier. The one mounted near the mill I can move to either side depending how I am milling but the lathe one is screwed to a fixed bracket. One could always dispose of the plastic clip arrangement and mount the stem directly into something more substantial. S

 

 

Martin,

 

Thanks for the tip went and bought two of them today (and no not the pink one’s!) very nice indeed and for £5.99 quite reasonably priced in comparison with a “proper” machine light.

 

Regards

 

Paul

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi Martin

 

You are quite right to be puzzled – my brain was in disengaged mode when I posted that!

I was thinking of my (only) experience of a GU10 low energy lamp which I purchased some while ago to assess its suitability as a replacement in an array of 4. As you say it it was a mini- flourescent and was not suitable at all! At the time I don’t think the LED versions were an option being very new and expensive. Looking again now though there does seem to be quite a variety available ( although still pretty pricey) so I will investigate further. The workshop lighting is OK but I have three rooms in the house with 4X50w halogens each which seem to blow very quickly. A lower energy , longer lasting, alternative would be welcome.

 

Chris

Strips of LED eh? Well that offers all sorts of possibilities but I do need to be careful about being diverted down other ” leafy lane”. I have far too many projects in hand already and must get on and finish a few! Thanks though – I will file your suggestion for future reference.

 

Regards

 

Norman

 

Edited By NJH on 10/05/2011 15:12:41

[chris stephensParticipant @chrisstephens63393]

Hi Norman,

If you have not seen them before take a look at

http://www.component-shop.co.uk/ on the home page the strips are in the middle of the lower row of pictures, just click on the image and see the details.

I have only dealt with them on a couple of occasions but they seem reasonably efficient in their dealings with customers.

chriStephens

[magpieParticipant @magpie]

Hi Chris

I think the component-shop are listed as being at Harrogate this time.

As well as halogen lamps on my machines, I have an eight mil Dia. fibre optic cable that i can hold in place with a small but powerfull magnet, to light up awkward places where no other light can reach. No rude sujestions thank you.

Cheers Derek

[chris stephensParticipant @chrisstephens63393]

Hi Guys,

If I can offer a small tip about buying from the Component-shop at shows, it would be buy early. The popular stuff can run out before the end of a show, and although they will post as soon as they get back to work, or when new stock comes in, it can still lead to disappointment at the time. It happened to me at both Sandown and Ally-Pally.

chriStephens

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