I believe shop lighting is one of the most important tool anyone should consider before any other tool. I have a 4 bulb 10 foot long cool lighting system over my work bench. Will last last week my ballast broke so all I had was was normal lighting. I should have repaired it! instead I built and finished a rod. Needless to say I did a crappy job. I had gaps, during wrapping I had to get a new spool of thread, When I took it outside the colors did not match. Cool lighting is almost as natural light as you can get no yellow lighting.

Good Wraps Bob

I'm with you there Bob. My lighting in the family room is not much to speak of. It's the only place I can build right now. I should buy another house just for my hobbies. Then I woke up!

I am on assignment in the mid-West and took my wrapping gear. I am doing some stuff I always wanted to do but never had the time. I bought a cheap little light to use at
my work table. Holy cow, the light is one of those high intensity things and it is blue! Everything is skewed. I have to go out this weekend and find something better. I need one of those
lamps that uses the bulbs designed to be natural light. The light intensity is also a problem. You can get it too bright.

You know its funny I was thinking about lighting on the way to work this morning..Well that, and a sausage McMuffin=) ...My old shop lights got left behind on a move...The architect lamps work good with white light,and are great for close ups.However alot of heat is coming off of it.
Question: Is there a difference between white and cool light...Cool light meaning fluorescent?
Walker



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2010 10:53AM by Walker_Nelson.

I use 2 4' flourescent fixtures and one of those clamp-style desk lights that you can move that has a round flourescent bulb with a magnifier in the middle. That one you could pack up and travel with, and it gives pretty good light. It is also great for doing decorative wraps and such. If you don't see gaps in the magnifier with the light on you definitely will not see them with the naked eye. I am with ya' Bob. My eyes are bad enough without trying to wrap in poor lighting.

Matt Smith
Greensboro, NC

Walter sorry Walter it is called a high output Cold/weather Florence. It run much cooler than the standard bulb. The bad thing is they are fazing them out for the new energy system lighting. So if you have this type of lighting get a stock pile of them. Do to the fact they will be changing the fixture also and these suckers also take a special fixture. I like lots of light. I also have 2 weighted (35lbs.) table magnifying lights but the light has a small yellow tings to it. I am headed out to Lowls or Home Dept. this weekend I am visually impaired. I am blind if I go into any dark area or one with shadows

Good Wraps Bob

Bob,
I hope I can help a little. I sold electric supplies and lighting for over 20 years. About 10 years ago the stopped making (or were suposed to) cool white and warm white fluorecent lamps or the F40T12CW & F40T12WW. These were rthe 4' version tubes everyone used. They started making and selling the T8 lamps which are the same lenth but a smaller diameter and are energy efficiant!! These lamps use a "Kelvin rating" for their colors. The higher the Kelvin rating the better the lighting! The standard 4' lamp being an F32T8/31K or 32 watts w/ a 31 Kelvin rating which is about like the old cool white. The higher the Kelvin rating the higher the price but you will get a much more natural light!! I would sugest you change out the ballest in your fixtures and switch the "tomb stones" or the little lamp holders at each end. It's a very simple job. There is usually a wiring diagram right on the ballast. A new 2 lamp 4' ballast should run about $20. ~ $25. A one lamp ballast should be cheaper and good lamps like an F32T8/41K should cost about $3 ~ $4. each. They also make these T8 lamps in 72" and 96". Try an Electrical Supply House instead of a Home center if there's one near you. The info you will get there should be way better than at the H.D.'s Good luck!

Snooker Pete

Thanks Pete I got mine about 5 years ago from a electrical supply. My neighbor is a retired electric guy from CA I well show him your info
Good Wraps Bob

Good Wraps Bob

Great comments on the shop lighting.
Based on comments from a similar post several months ago and having struggled with bench top lighting, I purchased a table mounted swing arm halogen light.
Then, based on some pictures posted by another rod builder in the picture section of this forum, I made a mount for the swing arm light that I was able to mount on the wall behind my work bench.
The best part of this solution is the absense of any type of light mount base on the work bench itself. Thus giving way for tools and other needed things on the table.

The swing arms are nice and long which give about a 3 foot swing back and forth across the rod bench.

The light came with a 100 watt halogen light, which proved to be inadequate for excellent illumination of the bench. I picked up a variety of bulbs to try different wattages, to see what might work best.
I ended up using either a 150 watt or 200 watt bulb, depending on need for the particular task. The light is very netural color - i.e. similar to sun light so it gives very nice and true color for multiple colored wraps.

I also have excellent 2 foot spaced ceiling florescent lighting but for the light required for intense guide wraps, ceiling mounted lighting is simply insufficient. Thus the need of the high intensity taksk swing arm lighting works very well.
In times past, I have used florescent iluminated magnifying lights, but found that the magnifiers with the light around the ring was constantly getting in the way for either hands and or eyes on a wrap.

I know use a head mounted magnifier, so whereever I look, I have the necessary magnification needed, with nothing getting in my way for wrapping. Also, the brightness of the swing arm monted lights means that the light can be a couple of feet above my head and still get great illumination on the work, and thus have nothing in my field of vision to slow down the work.

In times past, I used a pair of table mounted halogen lights which workever very well, but their placement at a few inches from the rod, sometimes interferrred with either bench space of hand positionining.

Take care
Roger

Bob, Pete offers some sage advice. I'm not sure he (or anyone) knows what lamp you are using. You said ten foot high output. That equates to a F120T12/HO/CW to me. Those are used in signs. As such I think you will find support for quite awhile. Prices won't be cheap.

I do think it would be in your best interest to consider a 4' linear lamp in T8 or T5.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Russ My friend who is a commercial electrician got them for me. They do not have the standard 2 pin connectors on each end. These use 2 rectangular slide 1/4 x1 x1/4 connectors. These lights are bright, but do not harm the eyes to look at them, no flickering and they are not yellow

Good Wraps Bob