light

[barnja]

what does everybody use for lighting when scroll sawing? does tilting the saw help for lighting?

[Old Dust]

I use a florescent circle light with magnifier. The best price I have found is with
www.heartlandamerica.com.

1-800-229-2901

John

Old Dust

[lucky788scroller]

I have a halogen trouble light clamped to the rafters above the saw. The tipping doesnt really help the lighting I dont think, just the angle at which your viewing your work.

[PeteB]

I've been shopping lights pretty hard the last couple of days, and the magnifier lamp referred to by Old Dust is the best value I've seen ($20!) for an obviously high-quality product by Bell & Howell. The only downside as far as I can see might be placement of the lamp, which wouldn't work for my shop layout.

I looked at a lot of mini halogen lights that could be attached directly to the saw stand or head, but decided against them due to my poor eyesight; I think I need a magnifier. There are some sewing machine lights marketed with brand names 'nber' and 'uber' for about $60 that were very tempting. Try Googling 'halogen sewing light' or 'needle light' and you'll see some other lights with floor stands or clamp bases that may look good to you.

eBay has a lot of magnifier lights, both incandescent or flourescent, which I think would be the better choice. If you get a flourescent light, you can use a full spectrum bulb for very high color fidelity (if that's important) and a much more pleasant work environment. Full spectrum bulbs for an 8" circular flourescent fixture can be had for about $20. I'll probably never treat myself to one, but it's nice to know they're out there.

My final choice was RBI's accessory light, now on sale for $70, to go with the second-hand 20" Hawk saw I bought yesterday. I found the same light elsewhere online, but it was no cheaper than from RBI. With shipping, this worked out to about $25 more than buying another medium-quality magnifier light, but at least I know it will fit perfectly:



Pete

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Just a thought:

Halogen lights tend to get pretty hot. If it's just lighting you want, then I would suggest looking into the new(old) technology: LEDs.

There is a tendency lately to have led lights for flashlights, and as far as I can see (pun intended) they now have high output LEDs that give a fair amount of light with low heat generation. And I'm pretty sure someone could rig up a power converter to save on batteries, although they use so little power that batteries would last a long time. (and isn't that the principle behind the Fretlight?)

Regards,
Marcel

[lucky788scroller]

Actually, I enjoy the halogen lights. Yes, it throws off a trememdous amount of heat, but it feels good to me most of the time, because it stays pretty cool in my basement.Im sure theres more efficient systems available, but these work fine for me so far. Dale
I havent a clue about fretlight, I never studied them.