How much light does a shop need?

[Bay Area Dave]

Keith, time to change your glasses: I did answer your "list" question already. (the is one small typo - I left out the word "on")

dave

Unisaw A100 wrote:

[Tim Douglass]

I used to be able to hear that too. Several years running farm equipment, shop tools and chain saws seems to have cured the problem.

Tim Douglass

[Robert Bonomi]

*BELIEVE* it. Today, there are artificial replacement lenses available.

Historically after the surgury, one wore glasses with *very* thick lenses. Almost hemispherical.

Years ago, I worked in an opthalmic lens laboratory. We had a separate machine for griding 'cataract' lenses -- for glasses, not implantable.

I think it was powered up _twice_ in the 18+ months I worked there.

[Robert Bonomi]

I peeked. It's the third one from the left. Hope that helps.

[Bay Area Dave]

Robert, I'll never forget the time I saw an old-timer Navy man in Olathe, Kansas, at the Naval Air Station, circa 1964, sporting what could have passed for Coke bottle bottoms. He said he had cataracts. The glasses were dark green. Is there a reason they were green instead of gray, other than HIM having asked for that color? I presume it was due to light sensitivity, but you don't often see green sunglasses.

dave

Robert B> >

[Andrew Barss]

Gfretwell wrote: : The book I have says you want 50 foot candles measured 30" from the floor. That : will be more on the order of 1.5 - 4 w/ft flourecent. I suppose if OSHA isn't : inspecting your shop you can go with less.

I have eight 4-foot bulbs on the ceiling of my shop, which is about 260 sf. They're either 32 or 40 watt, and they seem about right -- lots of light, but not too bright (floor is a medium brown color). That's about 1 watt per sf (ceilings are 10 feet) (assuming 32 watts).

-- Andy Barss

[Dennis M. O'Connor]

Flourescent lights have a problem with color accuracy. I don't like them in places where color is important, like kitchens (food color matters !) and anywhere I might be trying to match a color (we take color samples out of the store into the sunlight to check them).

So, my shop (about 600 sq.ft., 9' walls, vaulted ceiling, white walls) has 20 in-ceiling "cans" for light, about

1/3rd of which have halogen floods and the rest have 75W incandescent floods. For daytime work, it has three skylights, two medium windows, and three small ones.

It's enough.