Grinder Light

P

Pellegrino

Member
Hi everyone,

I'm hoping for some help regarding lighting up my grinder. I've searched every variation of the word "lighting", but can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

Would someone please recommend a good quality bright flex light (bendable neck) that I can attach to my KMG. I've searched other forums and people are using Ikea or other lower end lights, but I'm looking for something that will hold up to abuse and is designed for going on industrial equipment. LED would be my first choice due to low heat and longevity and if I can find one in a warmer temp that would be great. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

By the way, this site has been such a great resource for me and I've read 100's of pages over the last week or so I'm sure if anyone knows it would be here.

Thanks again!
P
 
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I picked up a couple of small led desk lights with flexible necks for about $16 each at Lowes. They are really bright and cheap compared to the mountable equipment lights I see in catalogs. I removed the base on one of them and mounted it on a piece of angle iron. I've also got a little clamp on halogen light on my bandsaw that's really bright, found it a Wallyworld.
 
I agree that one light, and in addition, more then one TYPE of light is necessary. Personally I started out with the "flex arm" lights, but kept needing more and more to clearly see what was going on at the grinder. Currently I have an 8' florescent fixture, and TWO different track light systems over the grinders.... one of the track lights is incandescent, and the other is halogen. I finally figured out that instead of having to "twist around" one of two "arm lights" every time I made a slight change in grinding position....it was best to use overhead light sources and light up the ENTRIE grinding area....otherwise I was always "missing" something.

 
I have florescent lighting in the garage and a lamp similar to this mounted at the bench with a 100W equivalent CF bulb (6500K daylight).

master:GRH027.jpg
 
I need more light the older I get. My home shop is like working 20' away from the sun.
The term you are looking for is "machinist light". Google up images using that for examples.
i have a half dozen halogen bendable lights at the warehouse shop. I keep hoping LED versions will come out soon.
 
Check Enco they have a selection of machine task lights (flex arm). That's were I got mine they also have a lot of free shipping deals and offers of 10% to 20% off regularly. I also have a magnifying LED light that I used on my grinder when setup for horizontal grinding.
 
Self Made Knives said:
I picked up a couple of small led desk lights with flexible necks for about $16 each at Lowes. They are really bright and cheap compared to the mountable equipment lights I see in catalogs. I removed the base on one of them and mounted it on a piece of angle iron. I've also got a little clamp on halogen light on my bandsaw that's really bright, found it a Wallyworld.
Click to expand...

I use exactly the same lights. The light comes in two versions. One has a base made for sitting on top of a desk, and the other version has a clamp base.

I use the one with the heavy base for my hand sanding station and I use the one with a clamp base on my KMG. I clamp it right to my tool arm and the neck arcs over my platen / wheel and I can look straight down at my grind without having to do contortions with my own neck. It has relieved a lot of my back strain because now I can see what I'm doing and I can stand comfortably at the same time.

For less than $20 a piece I can add a light wherever I need one. If I'm working at my band saw (which doesn't have a light) I just take my little lamp over there with me.

I looked everywhere for tool lights. MSC, Grainger, etc want stupid amounts of money for tool lights. Of course that makes sense, because they sell to factories all day. When I was with the world's largest food manufacturer, the time it took to get a purchase order signed was worth more than some piddly $300 light.(!) MSC, Grainger, McMaster, etc know this and that's the pond they swim in. In those days I didn't even need a higher approval signature on a PO until I hit $10k. However, in Johnny's Garage Knife Shop where my time costs a lot less and each production line doesn't have a $2MM annual maintenance budget- a twenty dollar light is the cat's meow and it puts out just as much light as the gooseneck light intended for that million dollar machine. Oh, and the twenty dollar light comes with a switch. I wasn't used to that, either.
 
Believe it or not, I actually am using a personal head lamp. The kind that straps to your head, and has an LED lamp. It's just temporary until I can refinish my shop. It's allowed me to keep working when I thought I'd have to stop after dark. I have a nice window over my shoulder that lets a lot of light in, but when the sun goes down, the head lamp comes out.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.


Don
 
DBAR said:
Believe it or not, I actually am using a personal head lamp. The kind that straps to your head, and has an LED lamp. It's just temporary until I can refinish my shop. It's allowed me to keep working when I thought I'd have to stop after dark. I have a nice window over my shoulder that lets a lot of light in, but when the sun goes down, the head lamp comes out.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.


Don
Click to expand...
Don I have done the same and it works pretty good, I grind outside and at twilight it has let me go a few minutes longer too.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone. It looks like I may have to build one to suit my needs, but may order one of those from Enco to hold me over.

Best,
F
 
These are the brightest LED bulbs out there guys. They are flood light and dimmable. I'm an electrician by trade, so I deal with lighting questions all the time. Screw these into your machinists swing arm lights.
 
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