Need help improving Shop lighting
- Thread starter Domingos
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Heavy enough for a workbench not to move. about 50 lbs per cubic foot
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
Domingos I bought these but they have other types. Let them know the certification you need and they can provide you with the documentation that they conform to and the lights will have the correct labels affixed to them for any electricians or inspectors that want them. Also let them know what voltage you use. If you need longer cords than they provide get them at the same time because shipping later is a killer. I found out about them and bought through Alibaba. The guys I have referred to them bought direct without issue. You don't need to buy all one size, they will sell mixed lengths and types.
https://www.lonyung.com/displayproduct.html?proID=2273650
Pete
https://www.lonyung.com/displayproduct.html?proID=2273650
Pete
Easy, don't just complain, use your brains!
1 - You didn't think or look hard enough, or
2 - You want reay-made fixtures, which I agree may be expensive
3 - Just looking at some lighting tables won't solve your problem; here go a couple of links, anyway:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light-level-rooms-d_708.html
http://www.arca53.dsl.pipex.com/index_files/lightlevel.htm
4 - 150£ = ca. 160 - 170 € ? Plenty enough if wou don't mind having just a little work
Of course, if you want ready-made you have tyo pay for it. But what happens if your Amazon buy doesn't fulfill your needs?
You can easily build simple designs using a number of sockets 2000+lm LEDs (think AKI, Leroy-M., etc), which will allow you to test different solutions and lighting.
My available "work" space is roughly the same area as yours, with a 2,80m white ceiling, very dark wooden floor, one rather small window looking East, no free walls available at all (bookcases + tool shelves all around, up to the ceiling). Quite a dark space, actually.
But I managed a working, flexible, not too expensive solution (certainly less than 160€) , which moreover I can easily improve or modify if I feel the need.
Come on. I'm 75, retired, no longer a keen eyesight (actually just one working eye, which bothers me a bit as I have no 3D eyesight and must be very careful with my tools). I spend a lot of time looking for ideas, not solutions. And I enjoy using what little brains I have.
Cheers
G.
PS- edited for unfinished sentencesd
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Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
You are a sweat old fella aren't you G.? 
That second link of yours doesn't open for me.
Pete
That second link of yours doesn't open for me. Pete
I can't really make too much comment other than I find that the batten lights are fantastic when they are effectively out of your immediate eyeline, and I would recommend them if you have high enough ceilings, but in a low worlshop they are just too invasive. For my main working area in my shop I use 600mm square led panel lights which are pure magic as they cast no shadows and are gentle to the eye.
I put up a 4ft LED batten above the lathe and have had to mount a plywood screen to shade it away because of the glare.
Rob
I put up a 4ft LED batten above the lathe and have had to mount a plywood screen to shade it away because of the glare.
Rob
Hi G
Unfortunately that is the way of the world, rather than sit down and think about a cost effective solution people turn to the net to find an answer and throw cash at it. It is one of the webs negative points, but if you have not always lived with the web at your finger tips then you delay this option, in my opinion it has clouded peoples thinking somewhat.
Unfortunately that is the way of the world, rather than sit down and think about a cost effective solution people turn to the net to find an answer and throw cash at it. It is one of the webs negative points, but if you have not always lived with the web at your finger tips then you delay this option, in my opinion it has clouded peoples thinking somewhat.
Hi,
Sorry for my rather harsh post. I just can't stand people complaining they can't do or find, then asking for other people to solve their problems. I still say "look for ideas, not ready-made solutions".
But Inspector is probably right, I may have become harsher with age
On another note, I was wrong about the performance of the LEDs I've installed in my wokroom - they're 1250 Lm, not 2000+ as stated. Age again?
Cheers
Sorry for my rather harsh post. I just can't stand people complaining they can't do or find, then asking for other people to solve their problems. I still say "look for ideas, not ready-made solutions".
But Inspector is probably right, I may have become harsher with age
On another note, I was wrong about the performance of the LEDs I've installed in my wokroom - they're 1250 Lm, not 2000+ as stated. Age again?
Cheers
Heres a thought, if everyone uses the same tools with the same ideas from the same sites then one day everyone will be making the same, it is the thought process that gives inovation and creativity and problems should be seen as something to get the thinking process going.
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
Everyones circumstances are unique to themselves. Some people love to make stuff for their shop, I have a buddy that spends countless hours making and restoring shop things and his wife nags him to no end because he never get things done for the house. Others just don't have the time to mess with tool making and shop improvements, because they are earning a living or putting kids through school or paying the ex-nagging-wife since she had a better lawyer. I bought new lights because our home was being built and all of it had to pass inspection before we could move in. I'm not going to dump on people when I don't know their abilities, comfort levels especially with zapping things and circumstances. I applaud G 
for being able to create solutions to tasks that work for him but not everyone has the skills, especially starting out, to do so. Maybe the OP will stumble across a solution that doesn't require a new purchase and can take advantage of it but if he (I assume a he) doesn't he has some avenues to explore.
A tactful oldish grouch
Pete
for being able to create solutions to tasks that work for him but not everyone has the skills, especially starting out, to do so. Maybe the OP will stumble across a solution that doesn't require a new purchase and can take advantage of it but if he (I assume a he) doesn't he has some avenues to explore.A tactful oldish grouch
Pete
I know nothing of electricity and after reading what Sr. Faria said I can't say I have learned that much more as it's not an area I feel any interest towards or have learned about at school(unfortunately as I believe people really should learn about something so deadly). I will try to educate myself more a bit.
I like making stuff for my workshop and I have made everything from the cabinets to the workbenches but I don't dare mess with electricity. When I had installed a Sub panel for my shop I paid someone to do it for me as I didn't want to have sketchy electricity or risk the building. I did do a fair bit of research but not for the technical part as I don't understand it. I'm an English teacher by trade. I enjoy woodworking for the constant challenges it gives me but I have to know where to draw the line.
I wrote the post looking for people to share their experiences and yes to benefit a bit from their knowledge as I don't have it. Sorry if it was wrong to do.
I like making stuff for my workshop and I have made everything from the cabinets to the workbenches but I don't dare mess with electricity. When I had installed a Sub panel for my shop I paid someone to do it for me as I didn't want to have sketchy electricity or risk the building. I did do a fair bit of research but not for the technical part as I don't understand it. I'm an English teacher by trade. I enjoy woodworking for the constant challenges it gives me but I have to know where to draw the line.
I wrote the post looking for people to share their experiences and yes to benefit a bit from their knowledge as I don't have it. Sorry if it was wrong to do.
Hi
But you do know the most important thing which is that it unless you do then leave it alone. Here in the Uk we use three pin plugs with square pins, at least you are fairly common with the rest of the world in that you have round pins and 16 amps rather than 13 amps, so as your supply voltage and frequency are the same as the UK then any machinery brought in the UK will work for you.
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
I've built three workbenches so far. One made out of pallets, my 4year old daughter's bench(mini roubo) and my current one which was kind of difficult to build.(after thirdcoastman's design but made of pine).. The one that gave me the most pleasure building for it's simplicity was my daughter's. Now, one day I went to the lumberyard here in Fafe and a client had just declined an order for a custom beam 15*25*300cm out of eucalyptus. I asked how much they wanted for it, haggled a bit and the gent gave me a good price, 30 bucks. My dad needs a workbench and so I decided right there and then to make him a slab style roubo bench. Weird?Hi, Domingos
May I ask why you feel the need for a Roubo-type bench? (did Chris Schwarz make another "victim"?
Cheers
Regarding Chris Scharwz I have to admit I do respect his work and opinions and after having read his books(some) it has definitely affected my view of what a workbench should feel like.
TomGW
Established Member
To answer the OP. I can recommend LED batten lights. I bought a combination of 4ft and 5ft units and fitted them, alternately, in a rectangle, placed 4ft out from the white painted walls in my garage/workshop (ceiling height 10ft). The workshop is 17ft wide by 26ft long, so it’s a 4 + a 5 wide and 5+4+5+4 long. The 4s and 5s are on separate switches so can be lit as all 4s, all 5s or the whole lot. The lighting is amazing with no shadows, as the white walls reflect everything.
I bought these slim battens from eBay and the total cost was well within your budget.
I bought these slim battens from eBay and the total cost was well within your budget.
Please don't misunderstand me.
I do respect Schwarz and all the research he has done about workbenches. I have both his books and I learnt a lot from them.
What I don't like is his style of writing, either in books or in articles. On workbenches, he almost (almost!) managed to convey the idea that if you don't have a Roubo type bench, you can't possibly be taken seriously. At least that's how I see it. And so he managed to convince a lot of people that a Roubo is a must (at least he later recognised he had changed his ideas on some points).
I much prefer Scott Landis "humbler", if I may say so, approach. Basicallty, he proposes to look at the hows and whys of the workbenches of a number of high level pros, and talk about their benches (he even manages to write an entire chapter on the Workmate...). This is an approach that encourages people to think "what are my real needs in what regards a workbench? What am I going to use it for?".
I believe that a workbench must fit the work it is going to be used for, not the other way around. But...who am I to criticise Schwarz?
(I apologise if my English is not up to scratch. Last time I had classes in English was about sixty years ago, and I have worked mostly in a French or Spanish environment. Fortunately I like to read, mostly English, but I know for sure my pronunciation is horrendous)
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