Task light

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Steve Sawyer
Posts: 965
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:20 pm
Location: Detroit, Michigan

Task light

Post by Steve Sawyer »

Probably a factor of my age, but I really appreciate having some intense light for doing close work.

I've used a couple of different task lights on my workbench and they were both a PITA. First, they stuck into a hole in the back rear corner of my workbench so they were constantly in the way between me and tools hanging behind the bench, plus both had some really stupid stops on them that prevented them from extending very far, and I frequently needed to move my work to be within reach of the light.

I decided to try some kind of gooseneck light, but many of those were designed to clamp onto the edge of a bench, and since I was going to have to do some modification anyway, I made my own.

I bought an 18" length of gooseneck from a company called Snake Clamp. I re-tapped the ends for 1/8-27 NPS (this is the thread that is used on lamp parts), and use some lamp nipples to connect a track-light head I had laying around, and rigged up a mount from a piece of oak scrap that would attach to a piece of T-track, and mounted the T-track to the edge of a shelf in the cabinet behind my workbench.

So far, this is working great. Easy to push out of the way or even remove it entirely if necessary, and with two strips of T-track on the edge of this shelf, I have a couple of different places to mount it. The track light "head" is also nice as it's a tiny fraction of the big shade that existed on my old task light. The MR16 LED bulb that was packed with the fixture was equivalent to about a 35-watt halogen or incandescent bulb and was a tad dim, so I replaced it with another LED that was the equivalent of a 75-watt halogen bulb. Plenty of light now.

One thing to note if you do this rather than modifying an existing gooseneck lamp; the vendor states how much weight the gooseneck can support when holding something straight out, parallel to the floor. What becomes quickly obvious is that this is where the gooseneck is strongest. As soon as it's bent, the weight-carrying capability is probably cut by 1/4 or 1/3. The point is that you want the light on the end to be as low in weight as possible. This tracklight is a bit heavy, so if I was buying one for this I'd probably go for one of the more "open" designs.
Task Light 1.JPG
Task Light 2.JPG
==Steve==
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Barry Daniels
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Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:58 am
Location: The Woodlands, Texas

Re: Task ligh

Post by Barry Daniels »

Nice job, Steve. I definitely need one or two of those. I hate my old articulating desk lamps.
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David King
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Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:01 pm
Location: Portland, OR
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Re: Task light

Post by David King »

Very nicely done Steve!
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Steve Sawyer
Posts: 965
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:20 pm
Location: Detroit, Michigan

Re: Task light

Post by Steve Sawyer »

Thanks. So many of my brainstorms turn into brain farts, it's nice when something works!

Oh. Forgot to mention that I have the light plugged into on of these
Last edited by Steve Sawyer on Thu Oct 04, 2018 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
==Steve==
Clay Schaeffer
Posts: 1674
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:04 pm

Re: Task light

Post by Clay Schaeffer »

Pretty Slick!
It's surprising how much better bright light lets us see. That and dollar store "cheaters" gives me back my close vision. :D
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