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Tell us about yourself: "I've been programming computers for over 50 years, long before microcomputers made the scene. The IBM 360 mainframe and CDC and HP minicomputers I used in the 70s were literally dinosaurs compared to today's computers. These huge dinosaurs, like their predecessors, have been dismembered and buried in a landfill someplace along with most of the software that ran on them. Perhaps someday a paleontologist will dig it up and try to reassemble it like they do with dinosaurs displayed in museums today. If so, they should give me a call because I still have some of my programs on punch cards that they can run through it."
When you try to get something done with inadequate lighting, you know it won’t be easy. Because of landlord restrictions, Barry had to come up with a solution for his brother’s workstation.
Great idea, Barry. Thanks for sharing your project with us!
My brother lives in an apartment and builds computers. The lighting is so bad he often has to resort to using a flashlight. Because the landlord won't allow anything except for picture hooks in the walls of the apartment, I couldn't put a hook in the ceiling to hold the light. I had to come up with a free-standing light stand. I bought a 6,000 Lumen LED Work Light (SKU 9232893) and it works really well for portable use.
I reasoned that a mic stand with a tripod base (which I bought elsewhere) would take up too much room on the table, so I chose a microphone stand that had a flat weighted base and could extend up to 67 inches high. Because the light is only 1 pound, the 5 to 10 lb weighted base was more than sufficient. If the light was heavier I could have C-clamped the weighted base to the table to make sure it wouldn’t tip over. Because the mic stand's base is flat, I was able to put the monitor on top of the base to save even more work space.
As you can see from the pictures, the mic stand has 2 spring arms that allows the light to move closer to the work area, move it higher to get it out of the way, or swivel the light from side to side. If I wanted the light much closer to the work area, I could make the mic stand shorter by removing 1 or 2 of the 14 inch segments that make up its tubular shaft. Flipping the flaps of the light vertical could shine more light into the room rather than onto the work area. The light has 3 power levels to provide the proper illumination at night or when the light is nearer the work surface.
All it took was a mini carabiner to hook the light over the silver threaded arm of the mic stand and a Velcro strap to ensure the light doesn't fall off. If I had a larger carabiner I could have hooked it to the black arm instead, which would have allowed the light to travel back and forth on the swing arm and be anchored into position with a magnet or a Velcro strap.
The light is still portable. I can easily unhook it from the mic stand and use it in the garage. The LED light consumes only 50 watts on high power so it won't get hot like a halogen work light would. All in all, it worked out quite well. It took all of 10 minutes to assemble the microphone stand and hook on the light.
If you had to build it again, what would you do differently? I would have built it years earlier. The little light is getting a workout. When it's not hanging around, it's with me when I'm doing touchup paint on the car in an otherwise dark garage.
(Optional ceiling mount) If this lamp was to be used in an unfinished work area like the basement or garage and I wanted to save money by not buying a microphone stand, I would have screwed in a (swivel) hasp staple to the ceiling of the areas where I wanted to hang the light. I would use a carbineer to hook a chain to the hasp staple mounted in the ceiling and attach the light to the chain with another carabineer. This would allow me to easily adjust the height of the chain by choosing a different link. I would use a Velcro strap or another carabiner to keep the power cord and the end of the chain from dangling. If I wanted to move the lamp to a different area of the basement, I would unhook the carabiner from the ceiling and hook the lamp to another hasp staple mounted in the ceiling of the basement or the garage.
Which Princess Auto location do you visit most? The Portage Avenue store in Winnipeg.