What kind of light source to buy for woodworking

[tibi]

Hello,

maybe a basic question, but I need to buy a good lamp for woodworking. I have installed strong overhead lighting, but it casts shadows always exactly where my cutline is and I am not translucent. So I need another source of light that would be movable, not too strong on the eyes and suitable for woodworking. I will also use it as a backlight when checking for jointing gaps.

I do not know if I should buy a led panel, flashlight, swing arm lamp, floodlight, headlamp, etc?

What is your experience with the additional light source?

Thank you

 

[Stuart Moffat]

A year or more ago I built a workshop about 10M x 5M. In my old one I had a lot of fluorescent tubes and struggled to see what I was doing even after buying individual led lamps to e.g. Light the blade on the bandsaw etc. In the new place I put up 10 led panels 600 x600. They are in 2 rows down the length of the workshop. The result is superb and I no longer need additional lamps. Significantly if you wave your hands over each other, you can’t really see any shadowing as the other nearby panels light it up.

 

[Spectric]

My main lighting is really background lighting, it just makes the shop like daylight but as you have found it is not ideal. I use a combination of secondary lights to provide direct light to the job in hand, magnetic lights, clamp lights and a headlamp which is great for getting close when marking up etc. Having the light infront of you and not from just behind really makes life easier. If you think of large industrial shops like Marconi's they used lighting directly over the assembly bench right in front of the operative for this very reason.

 

[Sideways]

Personally because I like warm tinted lighting, I have 12v lighting that uses MR16 type reflector spotlights. The original halogen bulbs replaced by Osram LED lamps.
Get any kind of clip on spot / flexible arm you like. The LED doesn't care if it's ac or dc.

 

[xraymtb]

Cheap task lighting can be had with an IKEA angle poise. It’s less ideal than a well thought out and installed ‘proper’ lighting setup but it does the job and acts as a good backlight for checking gaps.