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LET THERE BE LIGHT... Need new lights for my Bridgeport

Modelman

Titanium
Joined
Sep 12, 2007
Location
Northern Illinois
The title says it all, the switches on the original lights on my mill are dying, and now one is blowing the fuse. I tried to take one part a while ago, but the crimped construction isn't easy to deal with, and with no parts source, why bother?

So... what's available these days? What's good? What's cheap? What's cost effective, as in adequate for the task without being priced like it was gold plated?

Are LEDs any good? They'd certainly be cooler to work around.

I guess my major criteria are long enough arms to get the lights in front of the spindle (I hate back lighting) and flex joints that are stiff enough that the lights stay where I set them.

Dennis
 
Not looking for a ring light anyway... Not sure I'd like the flat illumination, and it's sure to be in the way of quickly mounting an Indicol for tramming in work, which I do a lot. Just want work lights that levitate out to the sides.

Dennis
 
I've tried several styles, but in the end I use two conventional machine lights gooseneck mounted on a magnetic base. Every setup is different and the ability to move the illumination around is convenient and hassle free. I also have two machine lights permanently mounted on both the left and right side, but now rarely use them. I don't like LEDs. I find the light too harsh and they seem to create shadows in the most inconvenient places.
 
I put two magnet base LED sewing machine lights on my little Burke Millrite - one on either side of the spindle. The magnets adhere very well, the gooseneck stays in place, they're very easy to re-position, or remove all together if needed, and they put out a good amount of light. They're also pretty inexpensive at around $30 for a pair. I don't remember the exact brand I have, but they look like this...

light.jpg

Here's an amazon link...
Amazon.com: Sewing Machine Working gooseneck Lamp + 2 LED light, with Magnetic Mounting Base (1 piece / pack)

They're made in China :nono:, but have held up just fine for the past few months I've used them.

I saw a thread on here a while back about machine lights, and somebody recommended Jansjo lights from Ikea. I thought they looked pretty slick, and was considering those, but didn't want to hassle with modifying them. A google search for "jansjo ikea milling machine" will turn up a bunch of stuff about using those on machines, and machine lighting in general.
 
Thanks to all who answered... been busy late last week, so no time to think about this.

John, which of those Dazor task lights are you using on your knee mill?

One thing I hadn't thought about is whether I want to go to LED lights. I went to halogen bulbs a couple years ago as my old eyes demanded more light, but boy, are they hot. They are also likely the reason the original Bridgeport lights are dying.

It occurs to me that I have a second newer set of knee mill type lights that I bought from MSC fifteen or twenty years ago that are much underutilized on my BOSS CNC mill.... they are spending their lives tucked in close to the head because I don't have much room... and really don't need a wide field of illumination on the CNC. I think I'm going to move these over to the Bridgeport, which does more general work and thus gets the lights moved around more, and try some of the cheap IKEA or sewing machine LED lights on the CNC. If I don't like the illumination, I won't be out much buck$. If I do, I'll look into some better quality LED lights for the Bridgeport to cut down on the heat.

Anyway, thanx again to all.

Dennis
 
John, which of those Dazor task lights are you using on your knee mill?

John was my dad, but that's OK.

I have Dazor 602s on my mill and lathe. Dazor no longer makes the 602, but you can still find them. The 602 uses an incandescent bulb. After I get moved, I'll replace with LED. I'm going to see if a small PAR, LED will fit.

JR
 
I

I saw a thread on here a while back about machine lights, and somebody recommended Jansjo lights from Ikea. I thought they looked pretty slick, and was considering those, but didn't want to hassle with modifying them. A google search for "jansjo ikea milling machine" will turn up a bunch of stuff about using those on machines, and machine lighting in general.

Nice cheap gooseneck that's slim but
They are dim and yellow

Low lumen output and the colour is like an incandescent yellow.

I like 6500K daylight lamps, more like sunlight. Crisper light.


Three ten dollar lights and a bit of aluminum tube
Three Headed Adjustable LED Light
 
I highly recommend the LED route. On one of my mills, I have some cheap Home Depot goosenecks (but stainless!) with LED mini-floods running 3500K color temp. A little on the yellow side, compared to the other mill, where I have one original BPort lamp arm/head and another HD cheap gooseneck, both with LED mini-floods at 5000K color temp, which I prefer. The daylight LEDs really feel brighter, and help to see detail.
 








 
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