Author Topic: Let there be lathe light  (Read 5393 times)

Offline PT. Johansen

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Let there be lathe light
« on: April 23, 2015, 04:44:00 AM »
I thought it might be time to contribute in my own small way to madmodder. Given that this site has answered so many questions I never knew existed.
In any case I’m going to take the plunge, be gentle.

One of the small additions I have made to my Weiss VM250V lathe (G0602/G0752 clone), is an inbuild lighting system.
When I bought the lathe, I obviously needed some lighting of the work area. I initially adopted for an IKEA swanneck LED light, which I have noticed others use as well.

This small light serves the purpose quite nicely and is easily adjusted for optimal lighting during different operations.
However, I still wanted some kind of a flood light, especially close to the chuck as I do most of my work in this area.
As the lathe comes with a splashguard, I decided to attach my custom light fixture to the end of it.
The fixture is simply made from some 1mm steel sheet I had lying around.
It would have been much easier to make this from a piece of C channel, but I didn’t have any ready to hand, and could not be bothered to buy some.

The light is supplied from commonly available LED strips. They are both cheap, flexible and come in watherproof versions. Useful if I ever get around doing a flood coolant setup.
LED strips used are plain warm white 5050 60leds/meter. They give a good intensity, while not being too dim (30led/m), or as overly bright as the 144led/m. 
The DC power supply is 1A 12v unit connected to the 220V wiring of the lathe.  An On/off switch was added on my custom front panel.

I obvious didn’t want the wiring hanging loose around a rotating chuck, so I decided the best approach would be to drill a hole in the axel where the splashguard pivots.
This added the advantage of placing the wires right inside electronics compartment of the lathe.
The initially simple drilling operation proved to be the most bothersome part of this modification. I didn’t have a drill long enough to reach even halfway, but on the upside, it gave me the excuse to buy one

The difference between old setup and new is astounding, the work area is now very well lit.

This is not in any sense the most engineering heavy or complex modification, but sometimes simple improvements have great value.
At least I’m very satisfied with this inbuilt lighting fixture. 

Improvements upon the design for version 2.0 would would include detachability and extendibility along the bed.
If I ever get round doing this, is another matter. In the meantime it might inspire others.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2015, 06:01:30 PM by PT. Johansen »

Offline Sid_Vicious

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Re: Let there be lathe light
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2015, 01:57:50 PM »
Looks like a smart solution. :thumbup: :thumbup:
Nothing is impossible, it just take more time to figure out.

Offline steampunkpete

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Re: Let there be lathe light
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2015, 11:55:16 AM »
Brilliant. I love this forum, so many great ideas to choose from to improve one's own set up.

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Let there be lathe light
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2015, 03:58:19 AM »
Oh, yes! That's a great improvement!   :thumbup:

Well done, and shown, PT.  :clap: :clap:

David D
David.

Still drilling holes... Sometimes, in the right place!

Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!