Lighting

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Kenny Durrant

Kenny Durrant

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I would like your opinions on what lighting works the best for seeing scratches. I pretty much work on a 6 foot table in my garage. I have an old 4 foot Florissant light with two bulbs hanging over the table. It's roughly 30 inches above the table. I have plenty of light to see what I'm doing but I can't see the fine scratches so I apparently stop sanding too soon or I'm just sloppy at it. When I bring the tubes inside to press the kit together that's when I see the scratches. In my hobby room I just have a celling fan with four incandescent light bulbs in it. I don't think I have the same candle power as in the garage but I'm guessing the type of light is what I'm needing. I'd rather not spend an arm and a leg on a new light but with all the new, in my book, lights I'm sure there's plenty out there better than what I have. Thanks for your input.
 
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Charlie_W

Charlie_W

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You can get the 4' LED fixtures at Costco or maybe HF for cheap. With lighting, more is better in my book. I have lights that I can pull right down close for inspecting blanks and finish.
Another trick is to take a pic with your phone or tablet and then blow up the pic...you will be surprised at how much detail that will show.
 
bsshog40

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These are what I have standing over my lathe. Gives off some very bight light. Heat is not near as bad as you would think, but it's a nice addition when turning in the cold.
 

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leehljp

leehljp

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5000K lights are a bit "brighter" or rather more "white". If I wanted to find scratches with my bare eyes, I would take them outside in bright mid morning sunlight. The 5000K comes closer to that than 4000K.

Another item - don't get diffused lights as it causes multiple reflections that make distinguishing scratches from reflections difficult. As to LED lights, look for ones with a solid covering similar to this:

And notice this type:

12Pack-LED Tube Light, 120W 8ft LED Shop Light Fixture, Flat 3 Rows Integrated Bulb Lamp, Works without T8 Ballast, Plug and Play, for Warehouse Supermarket Workshop, Cold white 6000-6500K Clear Cover - - Amazon.com

12Pack-LED Tube Light, 120W 8ft LED Shop Light Fixture, Flat 3 Rows Integrated Bulb Lamp, Works without T8 Ballast, Plug and Play, for Warehouse Supermarket Workshop, Cold white 6000-6500K Clear Cover - - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

The type in the top link will give a smooth flow of light from one end to another and make it easier to spot flaws on the finish, where as all the dots from the type in the bottom link will all reflect because they will be coming from a myriad of angles, making it difficult to determine a flaw from an angled reflection.

This is from considerable experience in lighting types in my search for good lighting for pen making for me.

(NOTE: I did not pick the examples above by pricing but by the TYPE. There IS a difference under fine examination.)
 
magpens

magpens

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Others have made good comments about lighting.

I'll just say this ....

To reduce troublesome scratches, two things are important in my opinion, for ALL sanding operations ...

1) I do all my sanding with the lathe off, rotating the headstock (and hence the blank) by hand.
2) Also, I do all my sanding with motion parallel to the blank axis; I never sand around the blank
 
bsshog40

bsshog40

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MTViper said:
I used the same light that bsshog40 showed above for a long time. A couple of years ago I switched to an LED work light. They come in single or double lamps. I bought a single like this one ... https://www.lowes.com/pd/All-Pro-LED-Stand-Work-Light/1000012482 and it works great. Cooler than the halogen lights, which is a big factor in TX in the summer.
Click to expand...
I like the LED ones Steve, but I couldn't pass these up for $20 at a yard sale. LOL
 
TonyL

TonyL

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I use plenty of tubes, bulbs, spots, and loupes, but I find the angle at which the barrel is held to the light source to be just as important as the quality/brightness of the lighting. Using any of the lighting suggestions above, I hold the barrel at different angles and rotate it slowly to find scratches. This "technique" satisfies me.
 
leehljp

leehljp

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bsshog40 said:
These are what I have standing over my lathe. Gives off some very bight light. Heat is not near as bad as you would think, but it's a nice addition when turning in the cold.
Click to expand...

Just for your information, Those halogen bulbs can be changed out with LED bulbs now. I did a couple of lights this way. I rarely used the halogen lights because of the heat generated, but after finding replacement bulbs the right color and lumens on eBay, I ordered the LEDs and replaced the halogen. Works great.
 
bsshog40

bsshog40

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leehljp said:
Just for your information, Those halogen bulbs can be changed out with LED bulbs now. I did a couple of lights this way. I rarely used the halogen lights because of the heat generated, but after finding replacement bulbs the right color and lumens on eBay, I ordered the LEDs and replaced the halogen. Works great.
Click to expand...
I may look into those Lee. Probably by spring. The halogen heat is welcomed right now. Lol
 
M

Mortalis

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MRDucks2 said:
I really like this light and with a sale or coupon you can get it for about $25 at times.
www.harborfreight.com

Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp

Amazing deals on this Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
Click to expand...
I was going to suggest a lighted Magnifier. I second this option. I have a Bausch and Lomb stereo microscope that I bought off ebay that I use and it doubles nicely for a splinter finder as well as an edge detector for sanding down the ends of the tube while squaring them off.
 
monophoto

monophoto

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Kenny Durrant said:
I would like your opinions on what lighting works the best for seeing scratches.
Click to expand...

I can address this as a photographer - what you need is bright, contrasty lighting. In technical terms, you need a 'point source' - that is, a light source that is very small relative to the size of the object you are illuminating. Hank suggested avoiding 'dffused' lighting - that's another way of saying the same thing; diffused lighting is the exact opposite of point source, or contrasty lighting.

In less technical terms, you need a light source that will throw distinct shadows - scratches will become visible when the light source is bright enough, and directional enough, to throw shadows from the sharp edges of the scratch.

In practical terms, you have a four-foot fluorescent fixture over your workbench that provides good overall illumnation. To be able to see shadows in your work, you need to add something that will create a highting 'hot spot' at the surface of the turning that is brighter than the overall illumination from the overhead fixture. The easiest approach could be to simply use a flashlight held at an angle to inspect the turning on the lathe - perhaps one of the Harbor Freight freebies (they are quite bright, especially close up). If you are near an Ikea store, they sell some very bright LED 'gooseneck' lamps that can be easily modified attach to a lathe with magnets.
 
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