Shop Lighting

[Bandaid]

I was wondering what type of flourescent bulbs some of you prefer and/or use in your shops, and particularly over your carving area. At present I have so called "cool white" and they just don't seem to cut it.

I also use a couple of portable swing arm lites over my bench but would like to improve the overall lighting if possible.

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

Reg

[Kenny_S]

I bought some bulbs called Day light. Expensive and they don't woprk as well as I thought they should. Have 2 swing lamps and an OTT portable light.
This thread has been p[osted before but, never hurts to rehash shop lighting.

[Anthony Filetti]

Reg,
I can't speak for shop lighting but in my studios Dazor swing arm lights I am using "True Color" bulbs bought from Home Depot (@ $16 each) these ensure the color I think I am painting my carvings is truly the color I think they are. While a bit pricey they are not as expensive as buying Ott bulbs.

[squbrigg]

I use the Day Light bulbs, with three goose neck lamps of 75 watt each. The day lite lights are not enough in themselves, and cause no shadows, so the goose necks do the shadow creation for me, one left, one right and one center forward. I position them as I meed to to give me the shadow to work with, or light the piece directly.

Bob

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Holy Brownout Batman!!! No wonder the power grid goes down so often. You guys are sucking up all the juice!

I have two cheap 4' shop light fixtures from WalMart along with the associated cheap tubes. The secret for me is that my workbench butts up against a 4' north faceing window which gives me the perfect light for carving, painting or whatever else I do that needs good lighting. I don't carve when the sun goes down....there's too many movies to watch.

[wade clark]

I have the T-8 florescents, and I like them, but I need to add more lighting too. I'm still setting up my shop in my new barn so haven't completely figured it all out yet.

[Ron Davidson]

Who needs light? No just kidding! I do have some natural daylight bulbs and some high density bulbs.
Ron

[BobD]

I have 4 4' florescents in my shop overhead (it's only about 10' across) and have a gooseneck incandescent that I use for task lighting. It works well for me!

Bob

[Mark N. Akers]

I have a 24'x30' shop and recently installed 16 4' T-8 /4bulb fixtures in the shop,my wife says it's like carving in a tanning bed,you can't ever have enough light.

[Paul_Guraedy]

As I get older, I find that you simply cannot have enough light. Especially when you carve as I do, from about 5am to daylight and again after dark.

My carving porch is 12'x14' and I use 5 incandescent, 4 florescent and one of the adjustable magnifiers. The incandescent are for general lighting, the fluorescent are to either side of my work station and the magnifier/light is for task lighting and to cast shadows when they are needed.

The fluorescent bulbs are the ones that come with the lights. I assume that most folks viewing my carvings will have this type bulb. So if the colors look right under them, then.......well, I hope so anyway.