Thaddeus I use ceiling mount track lighting. The highest lumen, led daylight flood bulbs you can find. 1650 lumen,

Lowes has them. A three light system works well

Scott

Swing arm lights are great for lighting specific areas of your shop, but every one I've ever purchased has been either at yard sales or second hand stores..... I just can't justify spending the crazy money the want for them brand new.

I think it's important to note that you want various TYPES of light in your shop. Florescent, LED, Sodium Vapor, Halogen, etc. all show things that the others don't. Before I realized this, I had only Florescent lights in my shop, built all the knives for a show, and when I got to the show and pulled out my knives to place on the table, I was flabbergasted at the imperfections I'd missed! The show hall had Sodium vapor lighting, and everything I had missed under the Florescent lights in my shop, stuck out like a sore thumb under the Sodium Vapor lights. I ended up with only three knives on my table at that show, and when I got back home, I started adding various types of light to my shops.

Personally, I hate "soft white" bulbs of any type. They cast a yellowish light, and hide everything when it comes to knives. Pay attention to the "color" range....lights in the 5000-5500K are as close to outside daylight as you can get, and are the best bulbs I've found to date. I found them in LED format at Home Depot, and after buying a box of four to try, I went back and purchased 6 boxes just to make sure I'd have them when I needed them. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

Thank you for the recommendations!

Scott, I will be sure to check them out, Thanks!

Ed, good points about the different lights. Is there certain lights used in the judging room at the ABS annual show?

Thanks again!

I finally just welded up my own out of 1" square tubing and bolted them at strategic locations. They're three feet long, with an additional 1 foot arm bolted to the end so they articulate over a large radius along the benches and grinders. I clamp flood lights to them.

One of the smartest things I ever did in my shop.

Like Ed, I buy mine at the second hand store. I can usually fine them for two or three dollars.

Dale

Well, this is timely....almost.

I just finished reworking my shop and adding LED shop lights over all my benches. Before, I only had the 4 ft fluorescent lights on the garage ceiling, no wonder my grinds were off.... <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

That's a very good point about different styles of lights. I'm going to build a light box/photo booth with some bright LEDs that I have, but I'll look at some other types and maybe call it an "inspection" booth!

Thanks for the great info, Ed!

Also, the "boss" just gave me the green light on the pattern on my "medium" sized knife. I drew it out and built three different versions, trying to get the handle right. It's a go!

Is there certain lights used in the judging room at the ABS annual show?

I can't be 100% certain, but I believe in Atlanta, there are both Sodium Vapor and Halogen lights. I think the trick is the "color temp" of the lighting you use to do the final inspection of your knives. I actually have 3 different swing arm lights at my finish bench.... one is Halogen, another is florescent, and the third has an LED bulb that is 5500K. (I also have a sodium vapor bulb that I change in/out of that light).

What I've discovered is that any type of light bulb, as long as it's either a 5000K or 5500K (color range.... and both of those are considered "daylight" bulbs) is the best to use for finial inspections. They seem to "show" more imperfections they any other color range of bulb.

I'm going to build a light box/photo booth with some bright LEDs that I have

Do yourself a favor.... especially in a photo cube/booth situation.... bright is good, but temp color of the lights is more important. I purchased this item: https://www.amazon.com/Studio-Softbox-Lighting-Backdrops-Upgraded/dp/B00QQ31UHW/ref=sr_1_20?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1497707041&sr=1-20&keywords=photo+cube

I also purchased a second set of the same bulbs, went to the hardware store and purchased 3 of the 2 into 1 sockets: https://www.amazon.com/Socket-Splitters-Standard-Converter-adapter/dp/B01G3V3ARY/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1497707265&sr=1-1&keywords=2+into+1+light+socket and put two bulbs into each of the 3 "soft boxes". I have it set up in it's own little area in my basement. If you use this type of "light tent", it's important to note that if you have lights surrounding it, such as florescent or other ambient lighting, TURN THEM OFF when using the "light box" for taking knife photos. I learned that the camera will pick up some of the outside/residual lighting, and if that outside lighting is "soft white", you will usually get a yellowish cast to your photos that is really difficult to get rid of/correct via photo editing software.

I found a swing arm for about 20 bucks at an art supply and put one of those leds from home depot in it. I also found a swing arm flourescent light at an antique store for 10 bucks if I turn one or the other off you can see different things. At my grinder and disc I found two pipes at the dump (one fits inside the other) welded a nut on the pipe so I can lock it. I can slide it in and out. I use a clamp light with an led bulb.