Workbench with lighting

[mike93lx]

I built a new workbench and incorporated a space to have some lighting underneath to help with cleaning/maintenance.

This is the frame of the bench. To this, I bolted a melamine countertop that I found for free on the side of the road. The wide boxed section on the left is where the lighting goes.

I cut a 1/2" piece of Lexan and marked out the countertop for the cutout.

The cutout with the rabbeted edge and the lexan dropped in place.

I made up a panel with four 24" T8 tubes. The ballast is mounted underneath and the panel is screwed into the bench's framework.

To protect the bench/lexan/lights, I purchased a small roll of translucent silicone sheeting. It seems to be holding up to cleaning solvents pretty well.

The silicone diffuses the light really well.

If I did it again, I'd set it all closer to the front of the bench. I'll see how this goes and might cut a new panel sometime later.

Any comments/criticisms?

 

[bpm990d]

Neat. Can we get a pic of the entire finished bench?

B

 

[yanici]

Nice job. Hey, can I bring my X-Rays over?

 

[strangenh]

ETA: Beat me to it!

That's awesome! Do you read oldschool x-ray films in your spare time?

 

[mike93lx]

hey now... don't be jealous.

 

[strangenh]

hey now... don't be jealous.

Heh. It is a sweet workbench. I've got a Verilux worklight (has an "any position" swing arm) that I use to get various lighting angles. I like the idea of underlighting but haven't used it since I actually used my pop's old home-made X-Ray reading table (now you know why I thought that when I saw yours) for model car assembly some... oh mumble... decades ago. How does it seem to work for you?

 

[FhvnLT4A]

just out of curiosity, where is the ballast located??? I wondered based on the air flow if it might prematurely overheat.

 

[jim42]

Nice job

 

[mike93lx]

just out of curiosity, where is the ballast located??? I wondered based on the air flow if it might prematurely overheat.

the ballast is underneath the panel and is in the open with some spacers setting it off the panel. It'll be fine, especially since it won't be on for extended periods of time.

 

[JimB]

i will say that you certainly did a nice job building the bench, but what

does the light under the bench accomplish... i don't get it, except for the

glare it produces.

 

[LoginName]

Not bad.

Just one precautionary note... if you reload (or ever decide to take it up), and use an electronic scale, that fluorescent light could cause your scale to throw a fit.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

Nice workmanship!! Whats the light for, photography related? I prefer not to be looking into a light but to have it shine down on what I'm doing.

 

[AppleSeeds]

Looks really well constructed, nice work!

 

[The Goose]

Impressive!

 

[atmay]

Very nice! I think some light from underneath would come in handy sometimes.

Hell...a workbench would come in handy too

 

[Titan]

SO....what IS the intended purpose of the under-table lighting?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[flintoid]

SO....what IS the intended purpose of the under-table lighting?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I could think of a number of reasons why it'd be great. Cleaning is probably the #1 reason you'd want it.. it allows you to get fixed angles of light into, lets say a receiver, through a mag well, etc. so you can see dirty in cavernous regions. It'd also help during gunsmithing, if you're sanding down bare metal and you want a fully lit object so you know how even of a job you're doing on removing a surface finish, rust, or getting a patina right on a surface.

But cleaning I could see many uses for a different directional light. I use angled lights to peer into my AK receivers when I'm cleaning all of the red yugo surplus primer paint from a range trip.

oops... didn't see that he had already explained lol

I built a new workbench and incorporated a space to have some lighting underneath to help with cleaning/maintenance.

 

[meth0d]

Looks good, that's a neat idea with the light underneath. I'd also like to see a picture of the whole finished bench.

 

[mike93lx]

I could think of a number of reasons why it'd be great. Cleaning is probably the #1 reason you'd want it.. it allows you to get fixed angles of light into, lets say a receiver, through a mag well, etc. so you can see dirty in cavernous regions. It'd also help during gunsmithing, if you're sanding down bare metal and you want a fully lit object so you know how even of a job you're doing on removing a surface finish, rust, or getting a patina right on a surface.

But cleaning I could see many uses for a different directional light. I use angled lights to peer into my AK receivers when I'm cleaning all of the red yugo surplus primer paint from a range trip.

oops... didn't see that he had already explained lol

That's exactly it. I thought that it might be helpful, so I went ahead and set it up. It wasn't all that expensive (mostly because I already had the Lexan).

If the room is bright, this seems to work pretty well. In a room without great lighting, I could see glare being an issue.

I haven't used it much since setting it all up, but once I do, I'll post some more feedback,

 

[DaveAnt]

Nice job, how did the lexan hold to chem's so far