I've read two or three threads about work light stands similar to the one you've put together, and you've convinced me that it's worth the investment to get the LED lights.
I've been struggling with the lighting in my garage and have had to redo various things once I see the car in the sunlight. I bought an inexpensive halogen light from Harbor Freight, thinking that would help, but not only is it blinding and hot, it makes the paint look far worse than it actually appears when viewed outside in full sun.
Do you know if the stand that you're using is heavier than the one on Amazon? Just wondering how sturdy it is when raised up.
^That is not a bad thing in my opinion... if there are defects that halogens will highlight that are not present in sunlight, then that is the exact reason to check your work in various light sources. Might as well make the paint look its best in all lights.
I have the exact stand that I provided a link to.
LED bulbs are awesome! Just don't get too crazy with them.
How would one get "too crazy" with them?
I found the dual LED lights on my Nokia icon cell phone work the best of anything I've tried for close up paint inspection....and its free...so to speak as in not having to buy a new piece of hardware.
Small LEDs like that are definitely useful in some cases, but it is still a pain (in my opinion) to have to get the light out to inspect each section. Mounted lights make it more efficient for me since I am not reaching for my inspection light on a regular basis.
Nice write up! I made this set up a few weeks ago, but currently only have 1 PAR38 bulb.
Just for everyone: Make sure that the bulb you get is a SINGLE DIODE bulb. I could only find a PAR38 5000k single diode (the one that Zach linked) at Lowes (Utilitech). The ones at Home Depot are multi-diode.
I believe these are actually several diodes, just clustered very tightly. I know what you mean though... they are not separated like this.
This is awesome man!
I have been thinking about buying my first set of halogen work lights, but I would much rather build this. Like you said, they are too damn hot. I have one small one right now that I use in the basement, and it puts off an unbelievable amount of heat. Plus the LEDs should be safer and last a long time. My spotlight is LED, so I know they work well.
Thanks for the write up! You rock!
:wave:
I could live with the heat of the halogens if they were the best at showing defects, however in the few comparisons I have done so far, LEDs are much more revealing than halogens which makes it even better! No heat, and better results.
Now we just need to figure out a way to get the bulbs overhead so that they're parallel with the horizontal panels!
Easy... you just need a light stand with an extension boom like this....
Here is a technical question for you Zach..... Can you produce too much lighting with "daylight" LED and in your opinion (and experience) how many bulb/lumens etc... would that be?
In other words.... could you detail with a rig like yours that contained 4 bulbs or would that be too much light? I am sure there is a cut off point when the light just becomes too blinding?!
I have no technical answer for you, but I will guess....
My guess is yes, you can have too much light, however I would not think 4 of these bulbs would fall into that category. These are finely focused points of light, which compared to halogens, are much easier to deal with IMO. The halogen work lights emit a TON of light and in a much broader pattern. When comparing the halogen lights to these LED lights, the halogens definitely overpower/wash out a lot of the detail that the LEDs bring out.
