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Lighting for metrology area

leeko

Stainless
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Location
Chicago, USA
Hi everyone

I moved my metrology stuff out of the main shop area and into a corner away from the machines. My 18x24 surface plate now sits on a cabinet stand with a low shelf over it, and it's a bit dark. Is there a preferred type of lighting for inspection /layout work?

I was looking at some under-cabinet LED strip lights to stick under the shelf above the plate, which would work but I'm wondering if there's any benefit to incandescent lighting over a surface plate?

Thanks

Lee

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
I din't know that there's any definable advantage either way, it's more a personal preference. I have both fluorescent strip fixtures AND halogen flood lights as shop illumination. The sort-of diffuse illumination of the fluorescents has a wide distribution in the shop (white paint on walls and ceiling), and the flood lamps provide some color balance and highlighting, but the real reason I added those when I built the shop is that they also can provide some heat in the cold weather. I don't use them much in warmer weather.

Your plan for under-shelf LED is likely the exact thing I would do.
 
Bright = better visual acuity.

High color rendering index = better able to judge colors and avoid metamerism.

Dark with a single monochromatic light = better to use with optical flats

Diffuse (as noted above) = better able to avoid reflections

Bright directional source = better able to use behind straight edges

Off in a corner out in the shop = probable lack of temperature control unless the entire shop is conditioned

Incandescent lamp right under a shelf above a surface plate (or sun shining on it) = more possible thermal problems

And so on . . . it depends. High CRI leds with some sort of gooseneck supplemental lamp -- and a bit of enclosure if needed for temperature, dust, etc. control might work.
 
Our inspection room is a little over 6m2, and the ceiling is about 4m high to clear the CMM. The walls and ceiling are painted bright white, and the floor is painted mid gray. We have high frequency fluorescent tubes on the ceiling, by memory they 5 x 5ft singles with diffusers, but I'd probably need to confirm that when I'm there. The light is fantastic with no shadows and provides excellent visibility for seeing what you're doing on closeup work on the CMM, which is dark granite. I have lots of LEDs in other areas of the workshop and at home, and I don't think I would trade the HF fluorescents for LEDs in the inspection room.
 
Just to followup - I installed some LED strips on the underside of the shelf above the surface plate. These are the LEDs that come on a tape strip and adhere directly to the surface. Super low profile, so they're not really visible unless looking at the underside of the shelf. I got the "warm light" version (4200K IIRC). The light is great, and it's dimmable too. It's obviously not directional light like an incandescent, but it seems like good quality lighting for the area. And it came with a little remote. It was cheap too - something like $15 for 6 strips that can be daisy chained.

Just a happy user. No sense in linking to the product - they're everywhere on eBay or Amazon.

Thanks for the advice,

Lee

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Hi everyone

I moved my metrology stuff out of the main shop area and into a corner away from the machines. My 18x24 surface plate now sits on a cabinet stand with a low shelf over it, and it's a bit dark. Is there a preferred type of lighting for inspection /layout work?

I was looking at some under-cabinet LED strip lights to stick under the shelf above the plate, which would work but I'm wondering if there's any benefit to incandescent lighting over a surface plate?

Thanks

Lee

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

What you need MOST (per formal training, thank you, Nela Park) is either/both of switch selectable and/or movable position task lighting - regardless of what technology produces the light.

Downlights are often best placed so the axis is right at the front edge of a bench, or just barely inboard, never at the rear of it. Under cabinet lights bouncing light toward your eye across shiney objects can make it HARDER to see well.

Go out into the internet land and look up "veiling reflections" that are the cause of so much eyestrain even with black ink on white paper .. when the paper is glossy.

Glare & Visual Noise • Planlux Lighting Design

Metals tend to be reflective. Scribed lines as well

This is why good metrology gear is frost-chromed or the like. The WORK may not be.

Basically:

- you want light coming from the sides.

- you need to be able to "manage" shadow levels and direction of illumination sources, not just eliminate shadow.

Work changes. There are worse "fixed" answers than others, but no perfect ones.
Tracklights exist.

You'll still want "local" control and flexibility. Could be as simple as two, not one, small "desk' lamps. I like the "linear array" of LEDS. Small ones.

Your shop. Your eyes. Your type of work. Your preference WILL vary.

Research is cheap. That was one article of many. Temporary hanging of fixtures can let you experiment for good results. Even more important - not creating BAD ones.
 
termite,

Thanks for that.

Now I can redesign my lighting to reduce glare. Googling "Veiling Reflections" gave me a new insight as to how to mount and use LED lights.

Chuck
Burbank, CA
 
termite,

Thanks for that.

Now I can redesign my lighting to reduce glare. Googling "Veiling Reflections" gave me a new insight as to how to mount and use LED lights.

Chuck
Burbank, CA

It's frustrating.

We tend to spend half our lives annoyed and put-off from easier and faster work and reading, taking "for granted" it is what it is and we cannot do s**t about it.

When 90% of the time, all we REALLY have to do for useful improvement is MOVE the relationship between where we are .. and the direction from which the light is arriving!

That hard, when you are one more peon, ass nailed down in an office cubicle.

That easy, to simply scout a better place, move your ass and head in an airport lounge.

ALL up to you where it is YOUR space, your bench.. and YOUR ceiling!

Extended switch boxes exist. Switches and wire aren't terribly costly. Flexible control with dimmers is good. Whole tracklight arrays are easily moved, even in rented space. "Torchiere" halogen floor-lamps bounced off the overhead are dimmable and easily re-positioned, too.

INSIST ON good lighting? Scout "Big Box" markdowns and closeouts? Who cares what the fixture looks like. We care what our WORK looks like, the light put to it from WHERE and adjsted as needed from one time to another!

So it can even be cheap to "JFDI!" a right-decent setup.

Work flows more smoothly. Frustration and error rates drop.

And even your digestion and general disposition can improve!

:D
 








 
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