Cheap And Effective Tool Lights

rwm,

I recently bought 2 of those lights from Amazon and mounted one on each side of my mill head to eliminate shadows. With 20 LED's each, they might actually be too bright, but I haven't actually used the mill with them in place yet. If I find that they reflect too much, I may try a couple of their 10 LED models. Or maybe just get some tinted safety glasses. ;)

Tom

Correction: The lights I bought aren’t exactly like the one in rwm’s pic. They look almost identical except the LED’s are in 3 rows instead of 2. And they were $5 cheaper, er, I mean... less expensive. Here’s a link.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008RA1XGK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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I believe I have that same light. I've had it a few months. It works very well, feels very solid, goose neck stays where you put it...and VERY strong magnets too.
They won't light a room but give good light the table and vise area well.
Here's a link for the lights I have https://amzn.com/B01ACIFPYA

Afte reading up on these, I ordered 3 of them. Not sure how well it will work on my lathe. But I need better lighting on my surface grinder and drill press too. So I got 3 with free shipping. I also ordered a 90mm Angel Eye for my RF30 mill/drill. My future is looking bright!
 
I have to say in follow up that I have given up on the lights from Lowe's I originally posted. They do not last and may start to flicker. I have taken to making my own lights out of martini shakers that use replaceable bulbs with GU10 bases.
Those sewing machine lights look good also.
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Has anyone had one for a long time? Like more than a year? How do they last?
R

I ordered three of these lights and they arrived yesterday. The magnetic base is strong, and the gooseneck holds where I put it. They are much more compact than other lights I've tried which is really nice for my lathe. While not as bright as a big light, it is more than adequate for my needs. I wish the cord was a little longer, but not a big deal. Overall I'm very impressed. I just hope they will hold up. I put one on the lathe, one on the drill press and one over my toolbox. I wish I'd ordered a couple more.

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Has any one tried these as tool lights?

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They are designed for 120v operation to replace cans. Seems like it might work well. Cheap on ebay

Robert
 
A friend gave me something like the Angel Eyes LED ring. I glued 4 super magnets to the back and wired it to a 12V power supply. It is attached to my X2 head (around the spindle) and does a good job of illuminating the work piece. One small word of warning, the surface mount resistors on it (to limit current flow) can get pretty hot. I learned that when I was playing with it....
 
Has any one tried these as tool lights?

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They are designed for 120v operation to replace cans. Seems like it might work well. Cheap on ebay

Robert
I’ve made a lamp using one of those. It was originally going to be for the lathe, but it’s a bit too bright so turned it into a desk lamp as a Christmas present. I wore brushed the white paint off the ring and fitted it into an alloy (electric motor?) part I’d picked up at the scrap metal yard down the road.303F2974-8B3A-4DE6-81EC-DE633C8FDF6B.jpeg80AEA14F-14EE-4695-8269-53FC64DB04BB.jpeg
 
That's cool! How bright is it as a tool light?
Robert
 
That's cool! How bright is it as a tool light?
Robert
It's 900 lumen. I was planning on using a 600 lumen one but the diameter was to small to fill the alloy part I had. It’s great as long as it’s kept pointed down and low, but a bit bright if it gets in your eyes, or reflects off a shiny piece of metal.466D924C-C1D1-4389-A0ED-E8290BBEEBB6.jpeg
 
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