Replies

1. 
   Dave45 | Oct 02, 2005 05:36am | #1

   Make sure you have good lighting (without shadows) at your power tools and workbench.  I have eight two tube flourescent fixtures in my garage shop - all on pull chains.  I can turn whatever lighting I need on/off as I need it.

   If you go with flourescent, get the good tubes that give "natural" light.  A couple of years ago, I was using the el cheapo tubes and really screwed up a piece that was supposed to match an existing cabinet - lol.

2. 
   cowtown | Oct 02, 2005 07:36am | #2

   I dunno if there is a "perfect" lighting to be established.

   There is of course a collective wisdom amongst electicians as to how much light is needed. Perhaps that might be a starting point.

   Over many years I have found myself using more and more light. Just last week I read that it had something to do with age, but even when I was much younger I would still reach for auxilliary lighting, like articulated desk lamps or such for close tasks. While that observation wouldn't impact too much on the ceiling hard wiring, it might make a difference in the number of outlets you consider, as well as their placement.

   These articulated fixtures are also good places to hang +2 reading glasses from the dollar store....

   4' flourescent ceiling fixtures are good base lighting, and you can put in as many as will let you see everything at a glance, and as to how many that is, it kinda depends on yer ceiling height, but even if you "light up the place" still, having a little magnetic base lamp over the bandsaw table ain't such a bad idea even fer youngsters.

   If yer finishing, having a controllable/movable light source that gives you a reflection off yer finish so as to better judge your smoothness, whether brushing, spraying, or padding ain't worth overlooking.

   I dunno how I could ever sharpen saws without an adjustable desk lamp. Sometimes even a half inch adjustment makes all the difference in visualization of the sharpness.

   What I'm saying I guess is that you get yer basic overall illumination, enuf light to let you see into all the corners of the shop without too much shadowing, so that you can maneuver safely, see "stuff" etc, and then add a bit more for when you get older and don't see so well. Or perhaps to compensate for a burnt out light bulb or two.

   Then you add to that with specific task lighting. Now in my case that means stuff like the articulated desk lamps, a halogen lamp or two, and yes, even a flashlight (for looking for small parts dropped on floors)

   Windows is good too. The old books say that the north light from windows is the best, but who's to say if yer piece is gonna be only seen under north light, eh? Up here in Canada, we got lots of "north light"

   And the combination of a fluorescent base, and auxilliary tungsten light will prove to be valuable with "colour matching" as often stains and finishes will look different under different lights, or even with different light intensities; ergo flexibility is key.

   My wife thinks I'm nuts to have a bunch of different types of lamps sitting around, that is until she decides to do something...., finds she can't see as well as she'd like to....., and just scavenges the lamps off my home workbench-"I hope you don't mind but....etc"

   And cheap flourescents do give off cheap lights, it's by definition a non-continuous spectrum, the cheaper the tube, the "purpler" the light; the cheaper the fixture, the less likely it ain't gonna fire up the tube if it's -30C, and while there's such things as "daylight quality fluorescent tubes" any illumination engineer will be hard pressed to say it is a duplication of daylight, as by definition it ain't, it's only a comprimise.

   Just like clamps, which a fella or fellette can never have enuf of, you want to have a basic assortment of auxilliary lighting to use as well- some will remain fixed, some move around the shop. But they all gotta plug in somewhere.

   Garage sales often times let you pick up high quality articulated drafting lamps for less cash than a starbuks coffee.

   just my pendantic observations hoping to add light to the subject.  

   an "optimal woodshop lighting" just ain't gonna exist to the extent that "one size suits all" , and if anyone says it does, I'd be first off the mark to ask whether they had in fact worked in a "woodshop". The tasks are just too various, and even amongst the tasks( such as wood finishing), there's a whole spectrum (pardon the pun) of diversity of application that there could never evolve just ONE answer.

   There may be some scientific data available through the society of Illumination engineers (SIE?) or through some architectural guidebooks ( There ain't anything in the Timesaver Standards for building types though), but even then, they will tell you how much light is needed to see things, not the quantity or quality of light to do a task. Methinks that is only available from the SHK folks. (school of hard knocks!). And, you know, even is some foremost lighting engineer said x foot candles were sufficient for a task, he ain't gonna tell you that it has to be focused, what quality of light, and he can only guess at your vision level to boot. So even if such a person existed, who was willing to specify woodshop requirements, AT BEST it could only be a "guideline"and as anyone's specific visual capabilities vary with age as well as visual capabilities, and AT BEST even the most capable illumination engineer, even with years of experience, would be incapable of anticipating all evenualities of tasks at hand, even the best of the best would fall short of the mark, simply due to the complexity of the "woodshop".

   Ergo, in my pea-brain opinion, there just ain't any "optimal" lighting solution to woodshop endeavours, that is unless you are foolish enuf to consider the equation of "(base lighting+flexible wide area lighting) spread over (and I don't think there's a mathematical operand for this) (various sources (fluorescent, tungsten, daylight) plus task specific (and often angular) lighting

   Hey, quantify that and you might come close to the mark, which alas, is constantly changing as new tools come on the market, yer vision ages etc. I'll quote Richard Feyneman here, and just say "life is complex"

   So, in summary, the best my pea-brain can do do answer yer question and solve my own equation is to go fer just a tad above the amount of basic light you need to function at basic tasks, and add some task lighting specific flexibility into yer electrical outlet requirements so as to allow you to do the work you like to do without illuminatory restriction.

    

   Eric

   in Cowtown

   .

    

3. 
   wrudiger | Oct 02, 2005 08:23am | #3

   In addition to what the other posters said I was amazed by what a difference it made when I rocked and painted the ceiling.  Used to be exposed joists and T&G roof decking, painted brown.  Going with a more reflective surface, even though I didn't change the number or location of fixtures, was huge in making it a better space to work in.

   And definately spend the $$ on the "daylight" tubes - 6500K.  Nicer to work in and a real plus when you are trying to get the finish color right!

4. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 02, 2005 03:28pm | #4

   Just a thought.. I helped a neighbor do some lighting for his work shop.
   Not a woodworker but sculpts ? You know.. Carves in stone and clay.

   Lighting is very important to him.. I guess shadows and the like.

   We put in that low voltage lighting that runs on two wires that are stretched across the room. You can put all different kind of lights on the wires any place you want to.. They have floods, spots and whatever.... Some that even hang down on a telescoping pole that you adjust as needed.. I have no idea what it costs but probably expensive..

   However it it REALLY great... You can move the lamps around as you see fit. It was like having a movable SUN down there! Damn!...

5. 
   dirtstirrer | Oct 02, 2005 05:21pm | #5

   Good morning,

   My shop is a little smaller then yours, about 24x24, and I went with six 8' flourescents.  I use the daylight tubes as well.  I'ts pretty good, but I do have some task lighting.  My old shop, back when I had even less money, was 15x30 and wired with six 300 watt bulbs.  I actually prefered the light the old 300 watt bulbs put out, but the lack of shadows is nice.

   There is an article in a FWW from several years ago on this subject, if you've got a collection that might help.

    

   Steve
6. 
   bobJackson | Oct 02, 2005 08:10pm | #6

   Hello  While you said you would use your shop mainly at night I would comment on day use. I visited a friends shop that is in an agricultural type pole barn. High ceilings(trusses) with translucent fiberglass panels intermixed with the metal roofing. the sunlight comes down through the panels and the light is just like outside. Of course it isnt insulated and is very cold in the winter. I believe that the same effect could be had with multiple skylights.  It was just amazing how good the visibility was in that old barn.   Happy woodworking   Bob

7. 
   WayneL5 | Oct 02, 2005 11:50pm | #7

   My "dream" workshop I built in 1999 was 20' x 30'.  I installed 6 fluorescent fixtures, each with two 4' T8 tubes.  The ceilings and walls were all painted white.  It was plenty of light for everything except for a couple of spots that needed task lighting like the drill press.

   The white walls and ceiling help considerably.  If you install pegboard, get the white stuff.

   Try to arrange your lighting so you don't cast a shadow on your work areas with your body, and light work areas from two directions to minimize shadows from tools.  It is best to light from the two sides rather than ahead and behind.

   As for matching color, there are two considerations.  First is color temperature, the other is color rendering index.  To get fairly true indication of color you need to select lamps with a color rendering index (CRI) of above 80.  CRI's in the 60's are quite bad.  Color temperature refers to the warmth or coolness of the light.  Incandescent light is down around 3000 °K, cheap office fluorescents are around 4100 °K, and daylight is around 5000 to 6000 °K.

   CRI and color temperature are independent of one another.  You can have high or low CRI at warm (low) color temperatures or high or low CRI at cool (high) color temperatures.  It is generally easier to find high CRI tubes toward the daylight end of the color temperature range, but I don't like them for woodworking because most furniture is seen in the home under incandescent (warm) light.  So I got high CRI lamps from an electrical supplier in a color temperature of 3500 °K.

   I recommend electronic ballasts because they don't flicker and are less fatiguing on the eyes.  They also don't strobe like magnetic ballasts do.  There is a slight chance with magnetic ballasts that the speed of a tool blade would just match the strobe of a lamp with a magnetic ballast and appear to be stopped when it is moving.

1. 
   rank48 | Oct 03, 2005 05:45am | #8

   Thank you everyone. Your repsonses were a big help!! John