good hobby desk lamps?

I got mine at Staples for $40 bucks. It had a magnifying glass and LED lights. Small but good enough for me. Check online stores like Hobby Lobby, Staples, Walmart, Michael's, etc... maybe even Harbor Freight.

I got a beaut from Menards, a flourescent ring lamp magnifier.  I had an old one, about thirty or forty years old that was a gift, but remembering at the time they ran about 30 bucks.  This cost me the same. It is positionable very nicely, with pantagraph style arms, and the magnifier is good, about six or seven inches.

I think mine is similar to BlackSheep TwoOneFour's. It's round, with a magnifying glass surrounded by LEDs. I think I bought it at Office Depot, for about $40. I like it a lot.

jtilley - yup that's the one.

What's nice with the one I have is you can mount it 2 ways - desktop or clamp. I like mine on a table clamp.

My homemade bench top was not sturdy enough for the clamp, so had to include a piece of 2 x 4 under bench, drill a hole into it, and insert the pivot pin (the piece that goes into the clamp/base.  Seems to be working okay now.  I mounted it on left edge of bench, and I guess since it hangs over the middle of bench and I tighten the positioning clamps tight, it puts quite a bit of torque on the bench where it mounts :-(  The old clamp had just torn off the corner of the particle board bench.

I have a swingarm desk lamp that uses a 50W halogen bulb. Plenty of light, easily moves to wherever I need it. Need a new bulb for it so right now I'm using a combination of LED and CF lamps.

Don, particle board will do that. I spent plenty of time handling the stuff in my younger years when building houses and learned to hate everything about it.

What lighting is brightest/best? Fluorescent or LED?

I have an incandescent now similar in shape to this - http://bit.ly/1EYwugJ

But it isn't bright enough.

I got a 2 bulb fluorescent fixture at Menards and hung it over my bench. I use the daylight bulbs in it.

I also have a two clamp style lamps I swing out when taking pictures.

Then I have my old magnifying clamp light behind me and an desk light with an organizer built in on my right.

You can never have too much light in the basement corner.

I've tried several lights. I installed two 4 tube ceiling lights when I did the man cave, switched 2 tubes in each fixture separately. I can turn on 4 tubes with standard cool white bulbs or 4 tubes with daylight white bulbs, or all 8 together for overall room lighting. Then I have 2 under counter flourescents over the bench, a halogen desk lamp with a magnifier ( I find I don't use it much), and a machine lamp, like used for drill presses and other shop equipment, with a gooseneck, clamped to the shelf over the bench with a 100 watt GE "natural" light bulb in it. I use that one a lot. Finally, I built a 36" W X 22" D X 20" H spray booth that has a 18" two tube fluorescent in it. I think I finally got it, after buying and returning several desk style lights. I like the machine lamp because it doesn't take up any bench real estate and I can direct the light exactly where I want it

EJ

Ott light. Highest quality light source u can get

Ordered it from Rockler Woodworking and Hardware, stock #20174, called a 24" snake arm lamp.

i715.photobucket.com/.../IMG_1257_zpsc86016e8.jpg

I really like it.

EJ

Nathan T

Ott light. Highest quality light source u can get

+1 for the Ott light.  I love mine.

Found 1 that is just right. Actually  I've learned I don't need/se the magnifier on the lamp I currently have. I use other types of magnification. So this type of lamp - with 100 watts will be perfect! Thanks for all the help!

Never heard  of ott light before. Did a google iwill check them out

Here's the machine tool light in use. It doesn't get in the way cause it's mounted to the shelf above the bench. I like that.

EJ

Yep - I think that's gonna work great for me. Thanks.

I never worry about solar spectrum. I very seldom display my models under sunlight, so I don't worry about matching colors to sunlight.  Most places I display my models (shows and stuff) use fluorescent lights, which is what my shop and bench lighting is.  Most of my lights around the house in places I have my models are fluorescent also.

Only time I have my models in sunlight is when I am doing my realistic photography.  I love sunlight for the photography because of the harsh realistic shadows.  But, my camera has light balance ability and my photo editing software will correct if camera does not get it right.

I went to Home Depot and grabbed one of those aluminum work lights with a clamp on the end and clamped it to top of my spray booth.  I replaced the incandescent bulb with an LED one it works very well.  I then got two of those swing arm ones that you clamp to the table and also replaced the bulbs with LEDs, so I have an overhead fixed source and one source on each side that I can maneuver a bit.  A little unorthodox, but three lights for less than $100.00.

John

I use an OttLight lamp with a natural spectrum bulb.

I've not had much luck with the lamps that have a large round magnifying glass and attach to the edge of your desktop. The clamp they include simply doesn't work. They have to be screwed down. The last one I had was screwed down but after about 3 weeks it broke at the point where the pin goes into the base. Absolutely no way to repair it. I've gone to using regular old shop lights that use the long tubes.

mitsdude

I've not had much luck with the lamps that have a large round magnifying glass and attach to the edge of your desktop. The clamp they include simply doesn't work. They have to be screwed down. The last one I had was screwed down but after about 3 weeks it broke at the point where the pin goes into the base. Absolutely no way to repair it. I've gone to using regular old shop lights that use the long tubes.

Indeed, I have had such poor luck with those clamps I now discard them.  I modified my bench surface by securely fastening a piece of  2 x 4 under surface at corner and drilled a hole in it to match the pin diameter of the lamp.  That mounting pin now sits in the hole through the bench surface and the 2 x 4.

I tried a c-clamp type lamp, but it always seemed to get in the way. Here's my solution.

At Lowe's they have PLUG-IN (not hard-wired) Track Lights that hang on the wall with 2 screws, and have a 6' power cord. each unit is $35.00 and has 3 lights. I bought 2, for a total of $70.00--the problem is, the halogen bulbs in them get SO hot I was sweating buckets sitting under those things.

So I bought 6 LED replacement bulbs. They're cool, energy efficient, and long lasting. They were pricey at $18.00 each (x6) but it was well worth it!

You can loosen and swivel (articulate) each individual light, so if I need more light for my spray booth, I aim a couple over that way.

SUPER BRIGHT, WHITE LIGHT!

(This pic was taken with halogen bulbs before I upgraded to the LEDs)

Rob- I see you have a ring light/magnifier also.  Do you prefer the new lights to that?

LOL! Halogen bulbs tend to be hot lights. That's why I like LEDs.

i just go to ARC or Good will and see what they have. each of my bunker workstations has a dual flourescent 6 foot light plus 2 gooseneck lamps. i alos have 3 pole lamps i can move around.

i like Incansescent space heaters in the winter. working at a station with 3 100w bulbs gets nice and toast on a cold day.

I'm using a little fluorescent desk lamp I simply found in the apartment dumpster years ago.

I got an OTT Lite, model 641 because of this thread. I couldn't be happier. It doesn't 'swing around' but it is very sturdy, adjustable for height, and puts out great lighting.