Christmas lights for the drill press

Brilliant (no pun intended)

Ellis Walentine

Thanks for the tip, Derek. I checked around, and these little lights are available at lots of places, e.g., Home Depot and Best Buy, for about US$10 for a six pack. They're rated for up to 17 hours use and then are meant to be disposed of. That works out to about $.10 an hour -- pretty affordable. I can see a lot of uses.

Ellis

Free flash light use

Tom Dunlap

Once or twice a month Harbor Freight has these flashlights free with a purchase. I’ve got them stashed in dark corners and closets.

It’s easy to make a bracket for the magnet mount or hot glue the flashlight in place.

3aaa batteries

http://www.harborfreight.com/ultra-bright-led-portable-worklightflashlight-64005.html

Out of curiosity....

John in NM

How does one adjust for varying table height?

Re: Christmas lights for the drill press

Dick Coers

I’m finding it pretty difficult to recycle batteries. I do just about everything I can to choose rechargeable or go with cord lights.

Re: Out of curiosity....

William Duffield

A friend of mine came up with what may be the best work light for drill presses and bandsaws. He started with one of those LED ring lights that kids put around the headlights of their rice burners, e.g.,

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-halo-rings/led-halo-angel-eye-headlight-accent-lights/49/312/

I am not endorsing these particular lights, they are just generic examples.

He also has a box of old wall warts. He found one that lit the LEDs. He cut a hole in a piece of plexiglas that would fit the drill press body where the depth stop and mortising attachment are attached. He then mounted the ring light and a microswitch to the plexiglas plate. For the bandsaw application, he cut a hole that would allow it to be mounted to the upper blade guides, and cut a gap in the ring light to pass the blade through. These lamps are wired redundantly with the conductors going all the way around the ring, so all the LEDs still get power if a pair of conductors is broken. If you don't have a wall wart with the appropriate power output, you can mount a battery pack to the plexiglas circuit board. They don't take up much room, they automatically move up and down to provide light where you are cutting, and they minimally block your view, since the circuit board is transparent.

Re: Christmas lights for the drill press

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Dick, I agree, but finding suitable rechargeable lights has been difficult. If I said that I have spent hours and hours surfing the ‘Net for suitable lights, it would be an understatement.

A few days ago I ordered this one from Lee Valley. It has a lot of promise. ...

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/home/lighting/specialty-lights/110958-rechargeable-heavy-duty-magnetic-led-orb-light

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Christmas lights for the drill press

Dick Coers

I’m looking at using usb rechargeable bicycle headlights. Mounting I plan on trying first is just a dowel with a magnet on the end since they are made to mount on the handlebar