?Lighting over and around lathe?

[Kurt Whitley]

I am putting my lathe in an essentially unlit area of my garage.
If you could start from scratch, how would you set up your lighting?
Flourescent? Directional? Locations?

I'm considering permanent ceiling mounted lamps and movable floor/clamp lights.

Thanks,
Kurt

[Grant Wilkinson]

Kurt

I'm a turning newbie, but FWIW, I went with two drafting table lights. They have the articulated arms and swivel heads. I put a 60 watt incandescent daylight bulb in each of them. I can bend, swivel and generally move them any way I want to get the shadow where I need it.

They were cheap and so far, have worked very well.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Kurt I have 3 flourescents above the lathe. One the length of the lathe and then on each end running the opposite of the one above the bed. Kinda in a U shape. I don't have much for shadows. I have T8 daylight bulbs in them. It is almost like being outside on a sunny day. I do have one articulating lamp for close up's or to look inside whatever I am turning.

[Jamie Donaldson]

.. the primary light source at the lathe. There is documented medical evidence that the pulsing /strobing effect can induce epileptic seizures in certain prone individuals. They are fine for general area lighting, but an adjustable incandescent type light is much preferred right at the lathe work area.

[Patrick Taylor]

I have 2 500W halogen work lights ($40) for the general area and an articulating 60W incandescent for the lathe itself. I wish I had more light sometimes, like maybe one or two more of the articulating lamps. ($10 at staples)

[Dennis Peacock]

I have an 8' Flourescent light in my lathe area and I use an articulate desk lamp with a 100W bulb in it for close lighting while turning. Works fine for me.

[Kurt Whitley]

I appreciate the responses.

It looks like I'll go with the T8 "daylight" on the ceiling and a couple of positionable "point source" lamps.
My shop is a basement garage and doesn't get hot enought to justify AC, but does get hot enough to make me reluctant to go with Halogen lights for the positionable lamps.
Any ideas for cooler burning lamps which offer good quality lighting?

Thanks,
Kurt

[Doug Collins]

I was able to rescue a 10' section of track lighting with 5 lights on it that were being thrown away.
I mounted it over my workbench/lathe area and I pointed two of the lights down at either side of my lathe so I don't get shadows.

I can easily reposition them or move an extra light down when I need it somewhere.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Kurt I am trying the flourscent bulb that screws into my swing arm lamp. I use the daylight bulbs and so far seems to be ok. It does run cooler for sure.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Are you immune to seizures?

[Dale Bright]

In addition to the standard overhead light in my basement, I have some Harbor Freight magnetic lamps with 100 watt screw in flourescent bulbs. The magnetic lamps are moved around and work on the drill press, bandsaw and the lathe.

Here is a link to the HF lamp. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90766

[Steven Wilson]

I use the light stand from these guys on my Oneway 2436. http://www.turningwood.com/light_stand.htm . I started with one Moffat light and then added another one. It allows me to properly light my subject safely and I don't really worry what the background lighting is.

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

I dunno.. I have been in EMS for 25 years. Running the ambulances and fire trucks of Houston, a very busy EMS system.. I have made countless (seriously, I couln't count them) siezure calls and witnessed hundreds of episodes from epilepsey and injury, and I can't say I've seen one that we could say was caused by flourescent lighting. I'm not saying that it isn't possible, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying that I don't think it's at all common. I'd put it somewhere in the "very" to "extremley" rare area. :D

I have two four foot, four bulb flourescent fixtures over my workbench, lathe area. and four of the two bulb "shop lights" to the sides. I took the "diffusers" off all the fixtures and my shop is bright. I have one articulating incandesent light to posistion light into something I'm hollowing out. Light is good.. God said so. :cool:

[Kurt Whitley]

Thanks for all of the options!

Here is a good link on the risk of seizures from lights. It doesn't appear to be a concern:
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/lamps_seizures.html

[Kurt Whitley]

Kurt I am trying the flourscent bulb that screws into my swing arm lamp. I use the daylight bulbs and so far seems to be ok. It does run cooler for sure.

I have a couple of these and they do work well.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Are you immune to seizures?

Yep I read it and ask my doctor who has been doctoring for 38 yrs. this morning about it after reading your earlier post. He said he had never heard of such a thing. He called me later this afternoon. He said he looked in all of his books and could find not one word on it.

So he said as far as he was concerned the chances are slim and none. He said Slim left town yesterday. :D:p

Patrick I have 4 rooms in my shop all have flourescent lights in them. I have had them there for around 30 yrs. I just changed them out with the newer T8 bulbs in daylight. I think every shop I have every been in has had them and I have never heard of your problem. Sorry.

[Shane Whitlock]

I have one 2 bulb fluorescent light hanging above the lathe and another mounted to the ceiling a couple feet in front of the lathe. Directly behind and a couple feet above the lathe I have a 100 watt bulb with a reflector that I turn on to see the profile of the form when I am fine-tuning a piece, and I use one of my 600 watt studio hot lights on a tripod thats easy to move around and works great for seeing inside bowls and hollow forms.

[Chris Barton]

There is documented medical evidence that the pulsing /strobing effect can induce epileptic seizures in certain prone individuals.

While strobe lights cycling at approximately 3cyc/sec can be used to stimulate seizures in epileptics, no known risk is associated with florescent lights. Please do bring forward your documented evidence. I would be interested in seeing such data.

[Doug Collins]

The risk that I heard from using fluorescent bulbs is due to the stop-action effect it can have on spinning sawblades etc.

With a lot of noise in a shop there may be a tendency to get too close to a spinning piece of equipment and not realize that it's running.

[Mark Pruitt]

There is documented medical evidence that the pulsing /strobing effect [of flourescent lighting] can induce epileptic seizures in certain prone individuals. They are fine for general area lighting, but an adjustable incandescent type light is much preferred right at the lathe work area.


While strobe lights cycling at approximately 3cyc/sec can be used to stimulate seizures in epileptics, no known risk is associated with florescent lights. Please do bring forward your documented evidence. I would be interested in seeing such data.
Jamie, I would be very interested in seeing it as well. Can you cite your source(s) for this?

[Rob Bourgeois]

I am going to bump this since I will be adding lights in the next week. I sure do wish the anti-flourescent crowd would provide some links. I am also curious about the halogen lights if they do the same thing.

[Chris Barton]

Rob,

Florescent lights are safe. Think about this logically, every public space (indoors) in this country is lighted by florescent lights. Where are the legions of seizure sufferers who should be flopping around all over the place if there were credence in this notion? I run nothing but florescent lights in my basement shop and the only negatives I can offer are:

1) They don't like cold (but in red stick you don't have to worry about this).

2) They are not "color true." Some bulbs are better at rendering true color than others.

3) four foot long glass tubes are a PITA to dispose of when they burn out and can be seen as a mercury hazard if they break (remember that the feds now view any exposure to mercury to be a potential hazard; sadly this didn't help the many millions of us who openly played with mercury as children... amazing we survived).

4) They flicker when the tube or transformers/ballast start to go out.

[Jim Becker]

I use halogen. I have a double lamp setup directly over the ways and a smaller, single bulb lamp on a flexible arm to highlight from the end, especially when hollowing. This is in addition to room lighting.

[Rob Bourgeois]

Chris.. I know your a doctor BUT I was really just hoping that Jamie could possibly show some counter evidence. I like to hear and see both sides. I am convinced that flour. are OK , but I just want to see what he was basing his stance on. It appears without him returning that its either a old wifes tale or cant be backed with links.

Jim...thanks I have an old halogen desk lamp that I was thinking of adding a new base too in order to use as a "spot light" for certain lathe operations.

Right now my shop( garage) has two dual 4 foot flour. tubes and 2 incandescent lights on the garage door openers. Most of my turning has been limited to when its bright enough outside to get some extra light in on the lathe. I am looking to add at least another set of flour tubes directly over the lathe BUT if there was enough evidence to convince me than I would have added others lights. My shop is slightly..electrical supply deficent so I need to watch what I add until i can get more circuits run.

[Curt Fuller]

Seizures? Now that makes sense to me. I get catches all the time for no apparent reason. Now I know why, it was during a seizure when I lost control of my gouge.;) :rolleyes: :cool: :eek: :D .

I'm going to get myself into trouble, I know, but here goes.....
If I worried about every one of these warnings that seem to balloon here I'd stay in bed with the blankets pulled over my head and shiver all day. If you turn wood, you're going to subject yourself to a certain amount of risk. You're gonna breathe a little dust, you're gonna get hit upside the head once in a while by a piece of flying wood, you're gonna get your knuckles bruised and bloodied on occaison, you're gonna breathe some nasty things that come off of all the CA, DNA, lacquer, oils and other finishes, your neck and back are gonna get sore from leaning over too much, and your wife is gonna nag at you because you haven't mowed the lawn yet. But it's worth it isn't it? Beat's the H--- out of sitting in front of the tube and watching Opra.
I take the precautions I feel are necessary to give myself a long and healthy life of what I enjoy but I don't spoil the pleasure by worrying about every conceivable danger possible.

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...Holy S--t, what a ride..."

Oh, I use flourescent light in the computer room too. Maybe that explains this rant.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Rob,

Florescent lights are safe. Think about this logically, every public space (indoors) in this country is lighted by florescent lights. Where are the legions of seizure sufferers who should be flopping around all over the place if there were credence in this notion? I run nothing but florescent lights in my basement shop and the only negatives I can offer are:

1) They don't like cold (but in red stick you don't have to worry about this).

2) They are not "color true." Some bulbs are better at rendering true color than others.

3) four foot long glass tubes are a PITA to dispose of when they burn out and can be seen as a mercury hazard if they break (remember that the feds now view any exposure to mercury to be a potential hazard; sadly this didn't help the many millions of us who openly played with mercury as children... amazing we survived).

4) They flicker when the tube or transformers/ballast start to go out.

Chris out in one part of my wood shop it is not heated. I got the little T-8 bulb fixtures from the Big Depot. They have electronic ballasts in them and snap right on even when it is 35 deg in there and not a flicker. I am now in the process of changing out all my fixtures for these. Daylight bulbs give me about as true a color for me and plenty of light.

[Harvey Schneider]

Fluorescent lighting has had a bad rap for years because of complaints of headaches and inability to read or concentrate on details. There is plenty of articles on the web if you care to look for them. The culprit seems to be that flourescents with magnetic ballasts flicker at 120 times per second. Newer electronic ballasts run at much higher frequencies and should not cause the same problems (this includes the compact flourescents). They do still provide rather flat lighting. The ability to see shadows and details is (imo) better with incandescent lighting.
That being said, Incandescent lighting is very inefficient (four to five times the input power for the same amount of light output. All of that additional power is turned into heat. To make that worse, a lot of that heat is infrared radiation which is directional. That means that if you have a spot light aimed at your work, it will be heating the surface it is aimed at. If you turn damp wood, this can quickly cause shrinking and warpage in your work when you stop the work from turning.
Some think that a mixture of lighting types is the ideal solution for detailed work situations.
As I get older I find that I need a lot of light for detailed work. That is why my workshop is lighted with flourescent lighting with electronic ballasts suplimented with clip lamps that I can hang from the overhead joists. I still sometimes need a lamp right at the lathes tailstock to see into my work.
Harvey

[Lee DeRaud]

Most of my turning has been limited to when its bright enough outside to get some extra light in on the lathe.Flourescent or incandescent? Pffft. I prefer thermonuclear. :cool:

[Jamie Donaldson]

. published research to substantiate my caution for most individuals, so I was not concerned with providing any further verification for you. Just so happens that my brother is a neurology reseacher, and my sister has had seizures all her life, so I'm quite aware of the potential problem in some prone individuals. End of story.

[Rob Bourgeois]

. published research to substantiate my caution for most individuals, so I was not concerned with providing any further verification for you. Just so happens that my brother is a neurology reseacher, and my sister has had seizures all her life, so I'm quite aware of the potential problem in some prone individuals. End of story.


Kurts link says it isnt a concern( for the majority) where as you stated it is..hence my asking. And since you don't know me...I happen to be a biologist who's Masters was in physiology..so call it a professional curiousity in addition. I guess you do not have any links but thanks for the response. Thanks for your help none the less. :rolleyes:

[joe greiner]

According to my imperfect understanding, seizure susceptibility occurs at about 11 cycles per second, i.e. resonance with alpha waves in the brain. You can sometimes observe this directly by sweeping your vision past a brightly illuminated dot; series of dots, not a streak. Just tried it with a laser pointer (viewed from the side, not straight on, please), and it didn't work there - probably peculiar to laser light.

A former neighbor, a clinical psychologist, had a patient whose seizure was triggered by the (relatively) moving pattern of shadows from trees above Tallahassee's beloved (?) canopy roads. Patient promptly surrendered his driving license.

I've heard tales of rotating machinery appearing stationary, but for maximum danger I think you'd need a strobe light or square-wave signal, in sync with the machinery. Like a timing light for automotive adjustments.

Joe

[Chris Barton]

Chris out in one part of my wood shop it is not heated. I got the little T-8 bulb fixtures from the Big Depot. They have electronic ballasts in them and snap right on even when it is 35 deg in there and not a flicker. I am now in the process of changing out all my fixtures for these. Daylight bulbs give me about as true a color for me and plenty of light.

I got all my lights from the Home Dumpo as well and I've used several different brands of tubes. I'm currently running through a box of GE daylight bulbs and they seem to be doing OK. But, in the winter when my basement get down to about 56* they snap right on, just a little dimmer, and take about 4-5 minutes to really warm up and reach full brightness. I have 16 double tube 4 footers plus a double handful of dedicated task lighting using the new florescent screw in type bulbs. More light is better!:D

[Neal Addy]

LOL! Curt, you're my hero.

I have similar thoughts every time I open an instruction manual. Fifteen pages of warnings (in at least three languages) about how many ways you can die by using the unit followed by two pages of actual instruction... usually nothing more than "to turn on the unit flip the power switch to the 'up' position". Duh.

Do we really need to be told that ingesting any part of a power tool might be detrimental to our health????? Whatever happened to common sense?

Sorry for the OT rant. Now, back to the topic at hand...

[Ernie Nyvall]

Well I have fluorescent bulbs in my shop. Every time my wife sticks her head in the door I seizure... if I'm facing that way. So... could be a combination of those two things.

[Nancy Laird]

A former neighbor, a clinical psychologist, had a patient whose seizure was triggered by the (relatively) moving pattern of shadows from trees above Tallahassee's beloved (?) canopy roads. Patient promptly surrendered his driving license.

I've heard tales of rotating machinery appearing stationary, but for maximum danger I think you'd need a strobe light or square-wave signal, in sync with the machinery. Like a timing light for automotive adjustments.

Joe

I have a friend who gets mini-seizures from being in a room with a rotating ceiling fan. We always had to turn the fan off when she came to visit.

Nancy

[Mark Cothren]

I have great sympathy for anyone who suffers from seizures of any sort. I guess in the case of flo lights it is a "either you are or you aren't" thing. I've been around flo lights all my life. I work under them all day in the office and then all the time in my shop. Now I do also use an incandescent light (or two) when I'm working on my lathe. Do they negate the flo lights?

Question: Is this a condition that can develop over a period of time?

The strobing on my computer screen drives me nutty. I use a dual monitor setup at work and if I'm not looking directly at my CRT when it has a bright background then I can see the strobe and it drives me crazy. Its a lot like what you see on TV when they are showing a monitor. Are there any reports from seizures caused by this?

[Marc Martindale]

Mark your monitor's refresh rate is probably set to 60, set it to 75 or higher and you won't notice it. The human eye is quick enough to detect the redraw at 60.(it's under Display Properties... Advanced... Monitor)

[Mark Cothren]

Thanks Marc, but I can only choose between 50 and 60.

[Patrick Taylor]

Thanks Marc, but I can only choose between 50 and 60.

Then you'll have to lower the screen resolution to get higer refresh rate options. Or buy a better video card. :rolleyes: LCD's eliminate this effect because they don't use a line by line drawing method.

[Bill Wyko]

Rockler has some halogen light systems that are regularly 59 bucks for 3 lights. On sale now for 10 bucks. I believe the part number is 35159 or 27487. There very bright and a great price. I bought 30 of them.

[joe greiner]

I have a friend who gets mini-seizures from being in a room with a rotating ceiling fan. We always had to turn the fan off when she came to visit.

Nancy

Ceiling fans don't turn very fast. For a critical frequency of 11 Hz, critical speeds would be 132 rpm for 5-bladed and 165 rpm for 4-bladed. I'd hope that ceiling fan manufacturers or OSHA would have this issue under control, but perhaps not yet worked out. In any event, turning off the fan is more expeditious than buying a new fan. Either way, sounds like you're a good friend.

Joe

[Harvey Schneider]

Rockler has some halogen light systems that are regularly 59 bucks for 3 lights. On sale now for 10 bucks. I believe the part number is 35159 or 27487. There very bright and a great price. I bought 30 of them.
Bill,
Does your power meter spin faster than your lathe now?
Harvey

[Bernie Weishapl]

The strobing on my computer screen drives me nutty. I use a dual monitor setup at work and if I'm not looking directly at my CRT when it has a bright background then I can see the strobe and it drives me crazy. Its a lot like what you see on TV when they are showing a monitor. Are there any reports from seizures caused by this?

Mark they just updated our computers to LCD screens. Boy did they take care of that annoying refresh rate. Also easier on the eyes.