Big Ass Lights - How do you light up your bench?

[STFDAC20]

FT Forum Friends -
Hey, I am not trying to sell anything but was wondering what everyone does for their bench areas. My wife and I built a new house a year ago, and we have yet to finish the basement. I have secured an area for my RC bench, etc. It had had no outlets (didn't finish, just roughed in somewhat). It had one light in this room, a single bulb with an energy efficient light. It gave some awful shadowing when I was soldering my Electrohub and during assembly.

Today my gift to myself came in. I instantly went to Home Depot to change out the cheap light fixture with a outlet at the ceiling (dual purpose - light power and a source for other tools).

I got the Big Ass Light for homes and shops. It is 24" long and kicks out 13k lumens with the LEDs. It is also 110 degree angle lens so it is concentrated on my work area. I am not losing the light in areas of less value.

I am including a link and some pictures of my area - please I know its not organized right now. I just got more stuff thrown down from the wife.

In my opinion, it was well worth the $399 for this fixture. No more straining of the eyes and giving some serious light to work with on my bench. They even allow you to try it out for 60 days or get your money back. I wanted this for the Christmas break since I will be spending some time in my little man cave.

http://www.bigasslight.com/homes-shops/

 

[Fyathyrio]

That looks pretty good, how many fixtures is that, just one?

I did a custom version over a year ago, works great, tons of light, and room to grow as my needs change. By using a separate 12v power supply I've been able to add on a few different tricks like outside 10w floods, a small light for the steps, and even some red LEDs behind a painted glass clock.

Here's a couple samples

before...



and after...

 

[STFDAC20]

Yes, it is one unit. I am looking to do some soldering tonight before SOA! I am excited.

Sounds great! Try attaching your pictures again!

 

[Gryf]

Old school for me... a 48" shop light with a couple of task lights to kill shadows when necessary.

Gryf

 

[earthsciteach]

From the folks who brought us Big Ass Fans?

Ouch! $400 is out of my price range!

 

[Kurt0326]

Would be nice to have a set work bench. I have to setup and take down every time.

 

[STFDAC20]

I hear you

Would be nice to have a set work bench. I have to setup and take down every time.

I understand your pain! I was in that boat until we built a new house and I staked a corner in the basement!

 

[STFDAC20]

From the folks who brought us Big Ass Fans?

Ouch! $400 is out of my price range!

It is a bit high in price, but well worth it. So far I get a lot of positive comments when they enter the room. After I do some more side instructing, I will be getting a couple more lights for the garage.

 

[Tritium]

Three 5 meter rolls of 12V led strip lights mounted on 2 pieces of Dollar Tree foam-board. Running from Solar, old PC power supply or 3S LiPo.

Thurmond

 

[nerdnic]

Would be nice to have a set work bench. I have to setup and take down every time.

Kitchen table represent!

 

[Kurt0326]

Kitchen table represent!

THAT'S RIGHT! Kitchen counters, table, island. It's all mine till the wife gets home. So an hour before, I'm cleaning like a man... Lots of good light there.

 

[Balu]

Would be nice to have a set work bench. I have to setup and take down every time.

Make that: Put your whole gear in a car, drive 70 km and get everything out again for the weekend.

 

[jhitesma]

By the time I get the Kitchen counter clean it's too late for me to work at it Our house is small and our daughter is still scared to sleep with her door closed. So once she goes to bed the living room and kitchen (which are directly across the hall from her bedroom door) are off limits

Thankfully I was able to clean off our dining room table and claim it for myself The dining room itself is too small for more than one person to actually sit at the table without moving the table into the center of the room and blocking access to our backyard and back room so it tended to just collect junk. I cleaned it off to make room for one of my builds, and have managed to keep it clean since so it's kind of mine now - though I do still have to be able to clean everything off when we have parties or company. Just means my "bench" gets a good thorough cleaning/re-organization on a regular basis.

The lights in that room are horrible though. There's a skylight with florescent tubes embedded in it directly over the table - but it has a leaded glass insert over it so the light from it is purple dim and funky. There's also a ceiling fixture, but it's behind me when I'm at the table working so it doesn't give good light. There's also a track light with one fixture - but it doesn't really light the table very well. So my main light comes from a small desk lamp/magnifier I picked up at Fry's electronics about 10 years ago for $10 on a whim. It actually give good light and good magnification. But it's on a really short arm with funky limited adjustments so it's a serious pain to get it to light my work area decently.

I've been looking for some kind of adjustable arm lamp I could graft it onto instead - or maybe something with a better light and magnifier to replace it with. But I'm not looking to spend much so that search is taking awhile. I figure if I keep hitting the thrift stores eventually I'll find something worth messing with.

I've been thinking about building an LED light head as well...but the big problem is still a good easily adjustable and removable way to mount it.

Man I miss having a garage. Biggest mistake in buying this house. I have a wood framed storage shed with electricity in it, a steel shed (with electricity attached to it but not in it yet) and a fully framed freestanding office - but no garage. The steel shed has taken over storage duties for most of what was in my garage before (including my workbench) but it's too full to work in even if it was tolerable to spend any length of time in it. The wood shed is also full of storage from stuff that fit in the rental we moved out of but didn't fit in the house. The office was just that - my office. But about 4 years ago I cut down to only working 2 days a week from it, then 1 day a week and now I moved my computer into our back room and that's also storage. Plans are to clean it out and turn it into a workshop...but until our daughter is better at sleeping through the night I can't really go out there after bedtime. And I can't pull a vehicle into it to work on Eventually it will be nice to have my desk out there dedicated as a shop bench though, probably another year or two down the road for that to happen.

 

[SV650Squid]

I got a power compact fluorescent aquarium light for $20 from goodwill, replaced the bulb, and zip tied it to the wire shelf I have over my bench. It's perfect.

 

[jamboree1]

Only question I have... Where did you get the Beer composition sign from????

 

[STFDAC20]

Only question I have... Where did you get the Beer composition sign from????

eBay about 10 years ago. I think you can still find them on there.

 

[Julianabr]

How even is the light?

I've been floating around the Internet looking for info on lighting and I came across this thread. I'm actually a sculptor/artist and I'm looking to use a rather dim corner of my basement as a studio area. My needs seem very similar to yours: super bright light, minimal hot spots and shadows, enough light to do micro detail work.

I've been looking at the big ass lights and had some questions for you: if you were to estimate, what is the length and width of the lit area, before it starts to fall off and become too dim. Does that make sense? Basically, how big a workbench could it light? Were you able to see these lights in action in a store anywhere?

Does anyone else have any other good solutions to this issue? I'm looking for 5000K light temps, and as many lumens as I can get. Any other sites or forums you can point me to would also be helpful.

I thought I'd also pass this along, because this may be of use to some of you all: Aside from BA lights, I've been looking at the T8 LED tubes from a company in Michigan called Toggled. You can use them to retrofit fluorescent shop light fixtures, or pop them directly into LED tube fixtures. The 23w 5000K tubes pump out a hefty 2250 lumens/each. They are a bit pricey at $50/per, though the lower color temps and watts are cheaper. But, being that they are LEDs, you will probably never have to replace them. It's also cool that they are made in Michigan, a state that can use some support for their manufacturing businesses.

Thanks in advance!

 

[STFDAC20]

Give Big Ass Lights a call. They let you trial them for 60 days and if they do not meet your need, they will let you return it for no costs. Also, their customer service is awesome. They will ask all types of questions, and set you up with the right light. They wanted to know my ceiling heights, area, etc.

Here is a spec sheet: http://docs.bigassfans.com/bigasslight/Big-Ass-Light-SL-LED-13k.pdf

I have not measured the light as you described, but I have it off center and over my work area. It provides a lot of light. The room I am using is roughly 10x10 and I am sure the light would go beyond the room.

I did not see them in a store, but again, the trial is what sold me.

I am from Michigan and will have to look up that type of light. I am looking for LEDs for the garage. But I would need 4 of these Big Ass Lights for the garage. That is $1200 USD for lighting - I can justify it - wife not so much.

Jeramie

I've been floating around the Internet looking for info on lighting and I came across this thread. I'm actually a sculptor/artist and I'm looking to use a rather dim corner of my basement as a studio area. My needs seem very similar to yours: super bright light, minimal hot spots and shadows, enough light to do micro detail work.

I've been looking at the big ass lights and had some questions for you: if you were to estimate, what is the length and width of the lit area, before it starts to fall off and become too dim. Does that make sense? Basically, how big a workbench could it light? Were you able to see these lights in action in a store anywhere?

Does anyone else have any other good solutions to this issue? I'm looking for 5000K light temps, and as many lumens as I can get. Any other sites or forums you can point me to would also be helpful.

I thought I'd also pass this along, because this may be of use to some of you all: Aside from BA lights, I've been looking at the T8 LED tubes from a company in Michigan called Toggled. You can use them to retrofit fluorescent shop light fixtures, or pop them directly into LED tube fixtures. The 23w 5000K tubes pump out a hefty 2250 lumens/each. They are a bit pricey at $50/per, though the lower color temps and watts are cheaper. But, being that they are LEDs, you will probably never have to replace them. It's also cool that they are made in Michigan, a state that can use some support for their manufacturing businesses.

Thanks in advance!

 

[colorex]

Okay I love the Big Ass logo I'm sure it's an amazing product worth the money.

But for me, more frugal than Josh Bixler himself, 3 or 4 CFL's (120W equivalent) set up over my workbench will suffice. $8 a piece where I am.

 

[Kurt0326]

I HAVE A BENCH! Now naturally have to light it, so I went to Costco and got this light for I think $35 USD.