The American Craftsman WorkShop #9: New Shop Lighting

Very nice . Clean-

-- rob

Nice work Todd! It’s amazing how much of a difference good lighting can make! Just curious, about how many square feet are you lighting with those 1,440w?

-- You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body. -CS Lewis

DSnyder – About 914 sf.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Okay…can you come and do mine?

-- gbear, Carmichael, CA

Nice upgrade, it really brightened things up. Something I need to do also.

-- Tim: Remember, if it doesn't say Binford, someone else made it.

Todd,

I lost the pictures of the lighting in my shop.

I installed 12 4’ two bulb around the perimeter. The wall and ceiling are washed with light.

Yes, I need some lights over the table saw and workbench, both in the middle of the shop, but everything is quite well lit.

I only have one window, I wish I didn’t have it, but it’s the law.

W. Kirk Crawford
Tularosa, New Mexico

-- W. Kirk Crawford - Tularosa, New Mexico

Todd You could help your cause along if you painted the ceiling white.

But, I guess that was not the review you were expecting.

A great enhancement to the shop.

I’ve got 4 double bulb 8’ bulbs along the wall and I could use more light. The walls and ceilings are plywood and don’t reflect at all.

Nice job.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

I added a ton of lighting to my garage shop and never regretted it. Too-much light is barely enough. :)

-- You're a unique and special person, just like everyone else.

Todd….nice job. I did the same thing about a year ago. I changed from a couple of twin 4’ fixtures to 4-4 tube 4’ fixtures and it made a world of difference. I installed the T-8 bulbs as well but I didnt like the cool white bulbs, too much of a blue cast. I went with the C50 tubes which have a color output closer to natural sunlight. I have noticed that I still need some task lighting as the eyes are not getting any younger.

-- My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist....medic20447@gmail.com

Bright idea…

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Karson – I already have painting on the to-do list. I still have to do some patches on the ceiling and then painting. I remember how much brighter the shop got when I sheetrocked and painted the walls.

But for now, I have to get back to work on my projects. I have customers waiting on me.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Very nice re do of your lighting! While I don’t have that much light scheduled for my upgrade… I don’t have that much space to fill with light either…

What bulbs are you using?

-- Trying to follow the example of the master.

dbhost – Feit Electric 34w cool white

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I’ve got a lot of lighting in my shop too. With my aging eyes I feel that I have enough light when i can read the little numbers on my incra rule.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

Bright make over Todd,,,,,,,,,,,,,Glad I could help! ;o)

-- Les, Wichita, Ks. (I'd rather be covered in saw dust!)

Les – Pro’s like yourself are just benchmarks for me to follow.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Looks great, Todd.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

good job on the lighting Todd. I have a question on your folding attic ladder. Did you build that yourself or was it purchased? I need one, just didn’t know if it would be easier to build or buy. Thanks

-- F.Little

I got to win me the lottery. Only way I know that I can get a new shop like Todd and Les. Enjoy the new lights.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

Todd, excellent post, congrats on the shop upgrade, love the ingenuity of the brackets to move the existing light assy, well done.

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

NEXT…when are you coming over…I call NEXT…in my huge shop it would take you 20 minutes!!! This is my lame way of joking—-and saying….GREAT JOB…nice shop upgrade…

This will save you a little on insurance when you open your “Fly Fishing and Woodworking” week long series next summer…cant wait!

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

I read over the post in e-mail, but had to stop by and see the pics. That bracket trick is genius!
Great update for the shop, and thanks for the steaming bowl of woodworker nutrition! Best of all…no calories.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Woodnut – just buy an attic ladder. I did because I can’t make them for what I can buy them for.

Doug – Rita and I just had a good laugh over the steaming bowl comment.

Beginning Woodworker – This is sort of timely since you just went through the other posts on the work in the shop.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Let your lights so shine

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Bright idea allright.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Yeah, I seem to remember your shop was a little dim. Ha-ha. Never have too much light. My shop usually has so much light I need sunglasses.

-- Thos. Angle

One thing I would mention – You will start seeing the T12 (40 and 34 Watt) stuff like Todd’s on big discounts.. The US Department of Energy has followed onto the banning of incandescent bulbs by banning T12 lamps like the Cool Whites. July 2012 they will no longer be legally sold in the USA.
The T8’s are largely unaffected, though the typical 2800 lumen F32T8 will also be banned. The new requirement is 89 Lumens/Watt. So the 32Watt lamps must generate at least 2850 lumens, unless they are exempted as ‘specialty, outdoor or high CRI (>87).
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/pdfs/74fr34080.pdf

Part of my Job with was to sit in DC to try to explain to the activists why the new standard will not have the savings they expect and that the supply of materials to make the high tech phosphors in T8 is controlled by China.
Don’t buy T12 fixtures – the replacement bulbs won’t be available in the future. T8 or T5 only guys. There will likely be some T12’s that can meet the new standard….but the price will really hurt!!

-- Its never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

That is some pretty interesting information Dave, I really appreciate your input. This is something that I was unaware of.

For this project I used fixtures that I had on hand and were free. But ironically I have been considering better light in the future because the 4’ x 4’ boxed lights do not cast light across the ceiling and this creates dark zones on the sides.

This thought process has me already considering what fixtures and layout I will have in the future for the best lighting situation.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

One of the features of our new (to us) home was the 4ft 2 tube fixtures every 6 feet in the sho…uhhh garage ;-) The only downside with so mahy fixtures and the low ceiling is I hear the buzzing of the ballasts when I stop whatever it is I am doing and sit quitely for a moment…a small price to pay for great lighting.

Your shop looks great, thanks for the great idea for the temporary bracket…I fought with balancing fixtures on my head whilst I screwed the fixture to the ceiling LOL!

-- ...it's rennovation time!!!

I work alone quite a bit so I have to frequently get creative.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com