shop lighting

Guys, i have a good bit of light now. but i'm getting alot of light reflections and i just cant see properly how i need to. my shop is insulation (top half) and concrete (bottum half). but i framed in a corner section which is 12' x 14' and threw up plywood to hold tools. if i paint this entire area white, do you think i'll get better reflection?

appreciate any info.
 
How much light is over that area and is that where you do your work? Could you explain a little more about what you mean with the reflections?

If you're having trouble overshadowing your work, then I still suggest picking up a couple of clamp lights from the Walmart hardware section - they run about $7 each and you can put one near the grinder, where you're finishing etc.
 
Its kind of tough to explain!!

Ok, in my work area i have a row of 3 triple light balasts with t8 florecent bulbs, then over hanging my bench i have a double light balast and over my grinder i have a double light balast.over my bandsaw i have another triple.

The light im getting is fairly bright but " dirty bright ". the color of the light reflects off everything i'm working on, its not that warm consistant white light i'm use to.

my old shap was half the size with less lights, but it was pretty much painted white everywhere. my new shop is cement and wood. i'm thinking if i paint my plywood around bench white and maybe just put up some white pegboard behind the grinder it may give a warmer light.

does that make sense??? either way i'm going to roll some paint on there now to try it, i'll also try to get a pic to explain.
 
The white will help out I think, but I'm wondering about the bulbs you're using also. You may have gone from cool white to warm white bulbs. The warm white tend to have a lower cri and give off a yellower light in my opinion, which I don't really care for. If you have them available at your local hardware store, you might try switching out from warm to cool (or cool to warm) on a couple of bulbs and see if that changes your lighting. If you don't like it you can always keep them around as extras in a pinch.
 
I use 8' daylight bulbs. Have 8 or 10 two bulb fixtures in my shop. 3 flex arm lamps on my bench and a flex arm on each machine, 5 or 6 I think, all with daylight florecent bulbs. I can't work with the yellow lights.

Can't have too much light.
 
AcridSaint said:
The white will help out I think, but I'm wondering about the bulbs you're using also. You may have gone from cool white to warm white bulbs. The warm white tend to have a lower cri and give off a yellower light in my opinion, which I don't really care for. If you have them available at your local hardware store, you might try switching out from warm to cool (or cool to warm) on a couple of bulbs and see if that changes your lighting. If you don't like it you can always keep them around as extras in a pinch.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail right on the head!!! my new balasts have all "warm" white bulbs where as my old ones had "cool" white. i only have two cool white bulbs here but the difference is quite obvious. cool white is white, warm white is dirty yellow. so it looks like i need to grab 14 more cool whites :)

thanks for your help Acrid!! sometimes it takes a whole lot to combine two and two :p for me anyway!!
 
If you can spend the extra money, look into the daylight bulbs like Don suggested. If they have them in your area, maybe try a couple out over your work area. Let us know how it works out.
 
Well i switched to cool blue as they were on sale. now my shop is to dim.., but it is the right color!! i think i'll need more balasts and have a variety of lighting. when the daylight bulbs go on sale i'll try those, too.
 
I'm not sure what cool blue is, but the daylight bulbs aren't just more accurate color rendering, they're brighter than the standard cool white.

I have 4 - 8 foot double bulb flourescents, and about 24 of the 4' double bulb fixtures.

I've got a "Dock lite" over my grinder, another I built from scratch, and I'm about the put another dock lite over my finishing bench. These are an articulated arm light that is designed to be aimed into, AND LIGHT UP, a 53' van style truck trailer while at a loading dock. :eek: :)

Of course most of my machines have a small, articulated arm light on each one as well. :)

Like Don said... CANNOT have too much light. Well.... maybe, but it would be hard to do ;)
 
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