Tip: Retractable Band Saw Light

[keith204]

A couple years ago I tried various options for unobtrusive band saw lighting, and ended up with something that has served me well ever since. This weekend I uploaded a video & instructable on it and thought I'd share it here.

It's basically a slinky USB extension cable w/ a small flexible USB light.

YouTube Video | Instructable

 

[rlitman]

Nice. Not sure if you've seen them, but there are magnetic sewing machine lamps that would fit this bill perfectly:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-S...b-Magnetic-Mounting-Base-Lamp-DB/254010758720

 

[danielbuck]

I use something similar for my drill press

 

[454ragtop]

Nice. Not sure if you've seen them, but there are magnetic sewing machine lamps that would fit this bill perfectly:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-S...b-Magnetic-Mounting-Base-Lamp-DB/254010758720

X2, put one on a drill press, stupid cheap.

 

[keith204]

X2, put one on a drill press, stupid cheap.

Ooh, that will go good in my miter saw area as well. Looks like the flex arm is rigid enough.

I'm not sure yet how I'd go about mounting it on the band saw so that it would raise/lower without adjustment.

 

[rlitman]

Ooh, that will go good in my miter saw area as well. Looks like the flex arm is rigid enough.

I'm not sure yet how I'd go about mounting it on the band saw so that it would raise/lower without adjustment.

My miter saw and scroll saw are all aluminum, so I couldn't use a magnetic light. If my drill press didn't have a built in light, I'd absolutely get one of these.

As for attaching the plain, non-coiled 120V cord to a band saw, here's an idea:

Lift the upper guide arm to it's highest position, and connect a piece of bungee cord from the lamp to a location high on the upper blade guard where it still isn't visible from the front of the saw. Now lower the guide as far down as possible (stretching the bungee), and zip tie the cord to the bungee every few inches.

Now, when you raise the guide arm, the cord should "shrink" along with the bungee.

 

[cjarvis]

Damnit. Something else I didn't realize I needed...

My band saw and my drill press have built-in lights, but my miter saw could sure use one.

Thanks!

 

[keith204]

How close do you guys want 120V to your blade?

 

[tarbellb]

^^^^ Im not usually a Safety Cop ^^^^^ but....

with LEDs so prevalent, it really makes sense to run low voltage anywhere a blade might break and cut into the wiring.

The LED sewing machine lights are a great update. I used a similar setup on my sliding miter saw to run a "shadow line" system like Dewalt.

 

[rlitman]

How close do you guys want 120V to your blade?

You certainly don't want to put the wire anywhere a broken blade could fly. That's an important consideration.

But there's plenty of safe space that can be used, unless you run a bandsaw without any blade guards (though I cannot imagine why you'd do such a thing).

 

[keith204]

You certainly don't want to put the wire anywhere a broken blade could fly. That's an important consideration.

But there's plenty of safe space that can be used, unless you run a bandsaw without any blade guards (though I cannot imagine why you'd do such a thing).

If you do it, post a how-to.

 

[rlitman]

If you do it, post a how-to.

I would, but my bandsaw has the factory Delta light, and I'm happy enough with that. My scroll saw has a clamp that holds an architect's lamp, which suits my needs perfectly (though I did my own dust blower upgrade that I might have to post a how-to on, which could compliment your light nicely). My chop saw has another architect's lamp that I built into the table, which also controls the dust collection (turn on the light, and the vacuum starts), and my drill press has a good-enough light in it too.

Future ideas include making an over-arm dust collection guard for my table saw. I would certainly integrate lighting into it, though I'm not sure how yet.