Lathe lighting

This is the light on my lathe, as supplied:

It has a 24V halogen capsule bulb wired from the internal lathe electrics - I'm not sure if AC or DC, but I suspect the former.

It's convenient that it moves with the saddle, but sometimes it gets in the way. For example in the setup above I had to take a handle off the compound wheel to avoid hitting the knuckle on the light.

I have some ideas about how this arrangement might be improved, either by relocating the existing light or replacing it entirely, but I'd be interested know how others would approach the problem. Someone will come up with something I haven't thought of for sure!.

Robin.

Edited By Robin Graham on 05/12/2019 23:46:20

I see no good reason to have it moving with the carriage, and several reasons not to. I'd re-locate it to the splash guard so it can be swung out of the way at times.

Thanks Pete - that's one of the things I hadn't thought of. Can you elaborate on your reasons for thinking that it's not a good idea to have the light moving with the carriage? I've found it helpful, when it doesn't bump into anything... but I'm a tyro.

Robin.

Edited By Robin Graham on 06/12/2019 00:24:45

Edited By Robin Graham on 06/12/2019 00:25:27

If you were doing jobs six foot long it might be nice to have it on the carriage. Otherwise I'd mount it on the splashguard a little to the right of the chuck. Works for me and just about every lathe user since Noah.

OK, thanks, I'm convinced (I think). Because I'm self-taught with this lathery business I have a tendency to assume that if there's an area where I disagree with the machine it's likely that the machine (or her designer) is right and I'm wrong. That colours my perceptions. I should be more bold.

Did Noah have a lathe on the Ark ? If so I'd bet it was an ML7. Some rust, cosmetic damage only I seem to hear him say.

Robin.

Edited By Robin Graham on 06/12/2019 01:04:39

I'm sure Noah used a Drummond M Type, the sort of predecessor to the ML7.

I have a lamp with a magnetic base and can place it either on a guard or on the saddle or evan move it to the mill if I need extra lighting. Just get a good strong magnet like a magnetic clock stand base that you can turn off to remove swarf collected as well.

David

Surely with everything two by two Noah would have had Two ML7s, Two Bridgeports etc etc?

The GH600 lamp moves along with the saddle. I found that it was just too close to the chuck and got in the way.

I exended the bracket to move it further away. Little improvement ,it still got in the way. Put brain cell in gear and

moved it to the lower right hand side of the splashback. It is now out of the way but the flexible "neck" means that it

can be directed forward onto the chuck with no trouble

I picked up some small LED panel lamps at a car boot and mounted them on the shelf above the lathe, one fixed, one on a flexible arm, they work very well - cheap as chips too

If using a mag base for flexible mounting put a small, thinnish, plastic bag round the mag base and tie the neck to intercept any ferrous swarf. Periodically remove the whole thing and peel the bag off with the magnet off to remove the swarf encrustation without tears. With care you can even re-use the bag a few times. The thicker varieties of cling film also work but one time only and need care in removal because swarf can cut through and stay behind. Naturally its the really sharp bit!

Various breeds of inexpensive flexi stalk desk lamps that will work well when transplanted from the weighted foot to the mag base. The IKEA versions are said to be good although not the cheapest. They do one type with a big bulldog clip type attachment which might do well on the splashguard. I got a bunch from LiDL but have yet to use them. In retrospect a battery powered lamp would be better. No trailing wire to worry about.

My main lights are folding rigid arm types with Edison Screw LED bulbs fitted after changing the holders. The one on the Smart & Brown, a relatively short machine, is mounted on the wall above and behind the tailstock. The P&W is longer so its fixed to the middle of the spashguard. Both give decent coverage of the work area. Professional standard lights originally sourced from RS (but at surplus prices) so I'm unworried by 240 volt mains power. Bases are fixed anyway and I don't use the built in switches.

I also have area lights under the shelf above.

Much to be said for wiring the light direct to the main lathe power switch to act as a power on indicator. When the lights on the lathe can run. If nowt else it will remind you to switch the thing off when you go in for supper.

Clive

I use a flexible lamp clamped to a cupboard above the lathe which floods the area it can be moved around on it flexible mount to improve the lighting.

Martin P

When I was working all the machines had a lamp, usually mounted on an arm on the headstock or main body because the main lights were about 20' up in the roof and the overall light wasn't great. In my garage I have a 7'6" ceiling and plenty of strip lights to light the whole area so I don't use a lamp on the lathe but it is handy to have a local light on the mill. The main reason I find I need good light is to read a micrometer or do fiddly fitting at the bench.

I see you have a good solid wall behind the lathe so you could experiment with fixing it there to avoid any vibration issues perhaps?

Well, light isn't like coolant it doesn't have to follow the work. If you fix the lamp somewhere where it lights the whole area around the chuck you'll get better spread and less glare. If the lamp is moving you might have it so low that you feed it into the work, the chuck or it might get caught by any stringy swarf and whipped into the job (or the operator). It's also in an inconvenient place for the compound controls as you've discovered.

Robin,....Pretty much everyone here is "self-taught" in one way or another, and that includes the pro machinists.

I don't use halogen anymore and have been pleased with my larger LED lamp holders which have spring clamps....I often use the rod which once held the chuck guard. I use 'daylight' LEDS (6400k) and the larger bulbs give a nice smooth light without any aberations in the beam, which annoyed me no end with the halogens when doing fine work.

The Ikea clip-on type has flabby rubber jaws which make it difficult to aim precisely, and it tends to move over time. I find the spread of light is insufficient, so I am planning to replace mine with something which gives less of a beam of light and more of a pool.

By the way, Noah had a treadle-driven ML4 on the ark because he had no electricity. Besides, the ML7 wasn't introduced until after the flood.

George B.

Hi Robin

I can't seem to post a picture of it, but I have a very similar light on my Colchester Bantam 2000, which looks about the same size as your lathe, it's just fixed in the back left corner of the splashguard.

These lights aren't too flexible, but it seems to get light into the right places without getting in the way, have put a picture in my album, which hopefully will illustrate what I'm going on about.

hope this helps

Dave

Bad luck for Noah if he was hoping his lathe and milling machine were going to breed and restock the world

Under kitchen cabinet LED strip lights all along the bed.

Some of you seem to have forgotten that although Noah is now in an NHS nursing home his boat building phase was in his youth, pre WW2, so obviously would have been using a round bed Drummond and a Drummond hand shaper.

Thanks for further replies. I'll get rid the light and fix something to the splash guard. I've got a couple or three IKEA Janso flexible neck lights, but the clip on versions are pretty much useless for this type of thing - they don't stay put, and I read in another place that current offerings have a shorter neck than the old ones. I'll look around.

I've been investigating the Noah situation and it seems that he had a Hardinge for the prop shaft and cut an exclusive deal with Lie-Nielsen for hand tools. I might be wrong of course.

Robin.