MFT Workarea Lighting

[Mark Katz]

This light kit mounts to interior side of garage door.
https://garagedoorlighting.com/photo-gallery/

That's a neat idea for your use but, honestly, my doors aren't raised that often. I'm still pursuing lighting just for my MFT work area.

 

[acer66]

I put 4 of these in the ceiling of my 829 sq ft shop w 10' walls lights it up like dayiight
https://www.amazon.com/Sunco-Lighti...87cea&pd_rd_wg=XtT4l&pd_rd_i=B0849RDZ4S&psc=1

Yikes, that's a lot of light!

Yeah and I did not know that 10’ is already considered high bay.
But they are dimmable so that is good.

 

[acer66]

This light kit mounts to interior side of garage door.
https://garagedoorlighting.com/photo-gallery/

That's a neat idea for your use but, honestly, my doors aren't raised that often. I'm still pursuing lighting just for my MFT work area.

Could work if your table is in front of the closed  door.

 

[Cheese]

Could work if your table is in front of the closed  door.

Unfortunately, power is supplied to those LED's ONLY when the door is open.  [sad]  It'd be nice if it was switchable.

I like afish's idea with some LED tape applied to the bottom of the door tracks, add a driver and a switch box and you're good.

 

[nclemmons]

I use this light with the bushing insert to an MFT 20mm hole.  Works great and I like the magnifier.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho.../76037-led-magnifying-bench-lamp?item=17J3030

 

[Cheese]

I like afish's idea with some LED tape applied to the bottom of the door tracks, add a driver and a switch box and you're good.

And I'm very serious about this solution...an LED driver, some LED tape and a switch box...incredibly cheap.

 

[afish]

Just to clarify I didnt put the LED on the "tracks" where I live we have these large braces that run horizontally for hurricane protection.  Thats what I stuck the tape to otherwise just stick them to the door like the kit.  What I did looks very similar to the kit but you can buy the parts much cheaper.  I did use the waterproof lights even though they dont "need" to be water proof but they have a nice thick protective rubber layer over them.  This helps protect from getting hit or something. I did this many years ago since I had a few rolls of the LED tape from another project and was trying to find a use for them.

I wanted to be able to use the lights when the door is opened or closed and didnt want to have a cord reel hanging. So I just ran some extension cord along the tracks and left a plug end near the fully open/closed position.  I mounted the LED driver directly to the upper right corner of the door and put a short pigtail on it that could reach either of the 2 plugs.  This does require me to manually plug it in if needed but I have lots of light normally so its not very often I use them.  But when the door is open it blocks a good amount of light and when finishing it provides a good source of low angle light with the door down.

In case you want the automatic version the switch they use is is called a Dakota magnum shooter they are about 20 bucks. You will need to fashion your own bracket to hold it but it looks like you will save yourself a nice down payment towards some festool stuff.

DAKOTA MAGNUM SHOOTER

 

[afish]

How about getting a boom arm for your CT vac and attaching a light on it ?

Just a thougth ... will probably try that when getting my new worktable build (with integrated boom arm).

I had mentioned this early on but in a long winded version and it was probably confusing. 

Im not sure what a festool boom arm cost but Im sure its more than $10 bucks for a piece of EMT conduit.  If you wanted more dedicated task lighting this would be a good method.  You can simply bend a piece of EMT to the size and shape you want (similar to a boom arm) and attach a LED light of your choice to it even LED tape would work.  then just make a bracket to attach to the bench. Im actually surprised more people dont make their own boom arms from EMT   

 

[Cheese]

1. Just to clarify I didnt put the LED on the "tracks" where I live we have these large braces that run horizontally for hurricane protection.  Thats what I stuck the tape to otherwise just stick them to the door like the kit.  What I did looks very similar to the kit but you can buy the parts much cheaper. 

2. I did use the waterproof lights even though they dont "need" to be water proof but they have a nice thick protective rubber layer over them.  This helps protect from getting hit or something. I did this many years ago since I had a few rolls of the LED tape from another project and was trying to find a use for them.

3. I wanted to be able to use the lights when the door is opened or closed and didnt want to have a cord reel hanging. So I just ran some extension cord along the tracks and left a plug end near the fully open/closed position.  I mounted the LED driver directly to the upper right corner of the door and put a short pigtail on it that could reach either of the 2 plugs.  This does require me to manually plug it in if needed but I have lots of light normally so its not very often I use them.  But when the door is open it blocks a good amount of light and when finishing it provides a good source of low angle light with the door down.

4. In case you want the automatic version the switch they use is is called a Dakota magnum shooter they are about 20 bucks. You will need to fashion your own bracket to hold it but it looks like you will save yourself a nice down payment towards some festool stuff.

DAKOTA MAGNUM SHOOTER

1. I'd mount 2 LED strips on the radius of the garage door channel about 30º off of vertical. That way I'd be using the steel as a heat sink.

[attachimg=1]

2. I've used waterproof LED's in the past and have had mixed results. I really had an issue with them retaining too much heat and burning the silicone covering.

[attachimg=2]

3. I'd also like to be able to use the LED's whether the door is up or down. The garagedoorlighting.com group designed their solution for the California climate...the LED's work only when the garage door is open. Unfortunately, they locked themselves out of an additional 80% of the potential market.
I'd mount an electrical box nearby, mount the driver/drivers inside the box along with a remotely controlled switch that could be operated via a separate push button switch or my iPhone.  I'm a fan of the Insteon product line.

[attachimg=3]

4. Thanks for the info on the Magnum Shooters, I haven't seen them before but they're worth looking into.  [smile]

 

[krudawg]

I put 4 of these in the ceiling of my 829 sq ft shop w 10' walls lights it up like dayiight
https://www.amazon.com/Sunco-Lighti...87cea&pd_rd_wg=XtT4l&pd_rd_i=B0849RDZ4S&psc=1

I like em - Electricity must be cheap where you live or you have a large solar system on your roof

 

[Birdhunter]

I friend steered me into getting an LED light from Home depot. I screws into a standard light socket and has three "LED panels" that can be individually aimed to put light where you need it. The light is extremely bright. It's also very white.