Modding Mini Lathe lights mod

Working on a metal lathe requires good light to see what you are doing. The problem is that many model engineerign workshop lights currently are either:

• Expensive
• Incandescent (inevitable mill/lathe vibrations are a killer for the filament)
• Battery driven --which means that they run out of juice just when you need them
• Weak
• All of the above

But such obstacles are a puny challenge for a modder! So here's my cheap solution:



Five IKEA Jansjo USB lights (£2,-- each); one five-port USB charger (£13,--) and some self-adhesive magnetic tape (£2,-- a metre).

The charger:



It's a compact device with more juice than we could possibly need:



Magnetic tape applied:



Stuck to the back of the shield. Four strips of tape give a good magnetic pull.



Insert the lights... et voila: behind the shield...



And the front view:



Plenty of fully adjustable light on the work area.



Simples!

 

That's a very neat little mod. Nice work.

No danger of coolant splashing over the edge and soaking it though, is there?

 

Don't use coolant. Some cutting fluid at most. Brass and aluminium don't need it and the mini lathe really isn't that suitable for hard steel.

 

Epic modder's understated solution, nice work

 

Nice one Nexxo

 

Thats a pretty cool idea.. Reminds me of the Sentinals in The Matrix

 

Ahhh the joys of being a modder

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using tapatalk

 

You spent money and you have the nerve to call it cheap?

-Oh, wait. I bought the resistors used in my work light. Still, it was like 15 cents...


Did I read 5Amp on the charger? I think you can light up the rest of your tools with some cable splitting. -Maybe build a USB powered drill.

 

Those little IKEA LED lights are great. I've got a couple for my desk, powered from the USB hub in my monitor. They're awesome.

 

Yeah, the charger is totally overrated but I could not get a lower Amperage 5-port USB hub.

Still, it works really well. I've got two clip-on lights as well, but they will go onto the mill.

 

Now I've got a mill, I've been modding a bit for that. The tool that holds the spindle so you can loosen/tighten the draw bar for the shank (or the collet nut on the collet shank) that came with the mill is a bit puny: it's basically a metal rod with a small plastic handle.



So modification is called for! Below the tool with a bit of brass bar I have lying about:



And after some work on the lathe:



That's better!

 

You shouldn't have dropped the ban hammer. Now I can tease you.

I like your knob, (never thought I'd sat that.) -Just be careful not to drop it on anything. I think big brass knobs are on your country's weapons ban too.

 

Large knobs have never been on the UK's weapon ban list - they were a staple of most of our comedy in the 70s and 80s

 

As I said he's been bitten by the upgrade bug lol nice bit of knob there Nexxo your old knob was puny lol

 

I can stop anytime I want. I just don't want to, OK?


Anyway, my wife likes a big knob.

 

More lathe modding! The five USB LED lights (IKEA Jansjo) are a versatile light source for the lathe, but unfortunately the magnetic attachment is not very strong. Any operation on the lathe that results in strong vibration causes the USB adapter to slide right off...

You can buy adjustable LED work lights with a strong magnetic base to stick on the lathe or mill, but these easily cost £45,-- and are often quite big, being intended for larger machines. Soooo... would it be possible to mod a cheap £10,-- IKEA Jansjo light:



To a cheap £15,-- magnetic base?



Of course there is!



Examination of the Jansjo light reveals that it is bolted to its weighed base by two M3 crosshead screws fitted in two metal 5mm diameter , 7mm length prongs which are spaced 16mm apart (centre to centre). The plastic collar is 25mm diameter.



The magnetic base meanwhile has a centre mounting hole with M8 (1.25 pitch) thread.

So using a bit of 25mm diameter x 17mm lengthbrass bar, I milled an adapter of about 12mm high with 5mm M8 screw thread, with two 3mm holes all the way through spaced 16mm apart. Then I used an M3 square countersink:



...to drill 7mm deep countersinks in the top for the prongs, and 3mm deep countersinks in the bottom (on the M8 screw end). The result:



And fitted on the light:



And screwed in the magnetic base:



Tidy. And below in place on the lathe:



Sorted.

 

Very clever Nexxo It's what engineering is all about "invent and make" isn't it

 

It's getting pretty compulsive. The purpose of a workshop with tools is to make more workshop tools.

 

You want a power feed for that mill, I'm doing some milling well a lot actually and without the power feed my arms would drop off lol I just need to get a decent vice for it now