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Jim Ferrous
28th Jun 2019, 10:44 AM
Lathe Lighting
14.5w LED bulbs made by Philips that give an output of 130w are cool running and long life.



https://youtu.be/NRS_bCCSEZ4

BobL
28th Jun 2019, 12:45 PM
Power or "watts" is a poor guide to brightness - what really matters is the "lux" or "Lumens per square meter".

The 14.5W Philips supposedly outputs 1700 lumens which is pretty good but is not as bright a single fluoro tube or an LED tube which output ~2000 or more lumens.
I have two 2000 lumen LED tubes directly above my WW and MW lathes plus spots to provide side illumination.

If you really need bright lighting the Osram 2400/2700/3600 lumen globes are a good way to go.
I have 2 of the 2700 and 2 of the 2400 lumen Osram globes plus 1000 lumen spot above my electronics work bench.
They don't look that bright in this picture as the camera has of course stopped the lens down to get an acceptable exposure.
380309

All that aside if you get a proper lux meter and measure light levels in a real workspace the results will be much less than what the manufacturers say. their lights output This is because the manufacturers do their measurements in an environment that is a lot different to a shed where obstructions, scattering and non reflecting surfaces come into play. In practice I found I was lucky to end up with a half to a a quarter of the lumens on a workbench or above a machine.

Recommended lighting in workshops has been discussed in depth in the woodies forum (also in these forums as well) if you want to look it up. For detailed work somewhere between 1000 and 1500 lux is recommended, for less detailed somewhere around 750 lux is adequate. Most workshops I visit are far to dim for mu ageing eyes.

And by way of comparison - sunlight at the surface of the earth (when the sun is directly overhead on a clear day) is 100,000 lux!

Jim Ferrous
28th Jun 2019, 01:21 PM
For my eyes these 14.5W Philips bulbs are putting out a great amount of light, the Ikea 'Planet' style lights are great for easy positioning and changing direction of the light.

jack620
29th Jun 2019, 09:04 AM
the Ikea 'Planet' style lights are great for easy positioning and changing direction of the light.

Jim,
Google isn't throwing up anything on "Ikea Planet lights". Can you elaborate please? I currently have an Ikea LED light on a flexible arm which is great for putting light where I need it (e.g. into a bore). I'm always looking for better lighting solutions.
Cheers.

Edit: sorry, I just watched your video. Should have done that first. I see what you mean now.

Jim Ferrous
29th Jun 2019, 09:33 AM
G'day Chris,

"Planet lamp" was the originator of this lamp design in the late 60's early 70's I think.

Ikea call them Work Lights and they are $14.99 and come in white and black, here's the link -

https://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/60355719/

P.s they take a screw in bulb, not a bayonet.

ubeaut
29th Jun 2019, 01:02 PM
Been through a lot and lots of lathe lights over the years. I'm talking wood lathes here not metal lathe which as a rule are way smoother and more stable than most wood lathes.

Most of globes don't like the vibration if they're attached to the lathe and will blow out in a very short time. Went through 5 rather expensive ones at Briz working with wood Show a number of years ago.

Tried a number of LED globes when they first came out and all fell way short of them mark so went to Halogen for a little while (great light but dangerously hot) until the new stronger LEDs came out they're best by far for a bright concentrated light source and to date I haven't been able to blow out, or fault them in any way. The good ones have all the light you'll ever need without any heat. Can't remember what globe I currently have as it's been packed away with demo stuff for a couple of years.

Hate LEDs with a passion in the house because we have flush mounted down-lights and they only have a narrow light spread and you need half a dozen to get the same result in a room as 1 old 100W incandescent globe which will spread to light up the entire room instead of a few patches on the floor.

Love the big high bay LEDs I got for the factory. Like daylight when they're on, way, way, way, less expensive to run way, way, way, brighter and they don't burn you like the old mercury vapor high bays lights did not only that but they adjust their light to suit the lighting conditions.

I have a couple of small torched with LEDs that light up the entire back yard or can be focused to a small beam that will blind you from a hundred metres away. These I love. They can also be used to show through timber on a lathe to give you an idea of wall thickness and evenness on a bowl. Love em.

As you can see, I both love and hate LEDs.

Sorry for the rant.

Cheers - Neil :U