Building My New Watch Repair Workshop.

[Mark]

The shipping cost cousins is charging is really ridiculous.

The bench light costs 74£ and the shipping is another 63£!

I have ordered a lot of stuff from cousins, mostly watchparts & small tools. For these items the shipping costs is reasonable.

But for this case it just makes no sense.

 

£63 for delivery is a bit excessive to be fair.

 

I just paid £8.99 for the 48hr service, it should not be much more in reality to send to your location which is not a million miles away.

 

 

I hope this light plays well with my recording. At the moment I use a magnifying ring lamp (with the magnifier removed) to enable the camera to see directly down. But the lamp does get hot and I would guess the colour temperature to be more in the region of 3000 which is much more yellow. I always find myself craving natural light. Hopefully these issues will be resolved by the end of next week :)

[bobm12]

Interesting, I've never thought about temperature and color linked together in this context! No wonder my pictures come out kind of yellowish! All I can say: never too old to learn!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[Mark]

Lamp arrived today - can't wait to try it out but will keep it in the box until I finish the workshop. Should be finished by next week anyway :)

[Marc]

I like the look of this lamp but I don't like the price so I have it in mind to build my own.

I reckon I can pick up the bits I need for about a tenner.

 

My wife uses these for her doll's houses; eBay #141472381811.

It's £4.99 for 5m delivered which will give me 24W of light if I use the whole lot to make a 50cm x 8cm panel, against 21W for the Cousins item.

 

Add this for power; eBay # 201270927022 @ £3.59 delivered and that leaves me £1.42 for a switch.

 

I have some 1.5mm aluminium sheet in the shed to make the panel, and some square dowel to make an articulated boom.

 

This is definitely a project that I will undertake in the near future. It probably won't be as pretty as the Cousins one but I don't mind that. I will post pics when I do it.

 

 

I also have an upgrade for my microscope and camera lighting on its way but as that is a birthday present I can't reveal more at the moment.

[Geo]

I like the look of this lamp but I don't like the price so I have it in mind to build my own.

I reckon I can pick up the bits I need for about a tenner.

I like your style Marc. I had intended to do something similar myself having kitted out my whole kitchen for less than £30. The trouble is I have so many projects on at the moment it would possibly never get done and the Cousins one was perfect for my application.

Please post the final result. :)

[Don]

The Cousins lamp looks great and reasonably priced if you're in the UK. I'll have to scour the internet for a similar lamp available in the U.S.

 

Looks like a cool project, Marc. I'd like to see the outcome too.

 

I've been thinking about using 4 of these Nichia leds that I already have from another project thermally expoxied to some flat bar aluminum for a heatsink. I have a 350mA driver too, but I figure that will only get me about 400+ lumens. I may try a 700mA or 1A driver and see what kind of output I get. I was hoping to find a used tube lamp to put everything into. The leds you're looking at say they output 270-300 Lumens/Meter. Are you planning to do more than one row for your light?

 

Don

Edited February 26, 2015 by Don

[BlakeL]

The Cousins lamp looks great and reasonably priced if you're in the UK. I'll have to scour the internet for a similar lamp available in the U.S.

 

Looks like a cool project, Marc. I'd like to see the outcome too.

 

I've been thinking about using 4 of these Nichia leds that I already have from another project thermally expoxied to some flat bar aluminum for a heatsink. I have a 350mA driver too, but I figure that will only get me about 400+ lumens. I may try a 700mA or 1A driver and see what kind of output I get. I was hoping to find a used tube lamp to put everything into. The leds you're looking at say they output 270-300 Lumens/Meter. Are you planning to do more than one row for your light?

 

Don

 

Reef or Plant light?

Edited February 26, 2015 by BlakeL

[Don]

Reef or Plant light?

 

Actually, I was going to mod some flashlights with the Nichia 219 and maybe make a work light. It's a great led with a nice color temperature and high CRI. And it's pretty much a direct replacement for the Cree XP-G.

[Mark]

Just a quick update. Finished installing the units and cut the surfaces. Electric sockets are in place and wired in.

Just need to raise the watch repair work area to the desired height.

I will lay the floor tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ash145]

Not a bad weeks work Mark and you've managed to fit in the day job too...

[SSTEEL]

Your on fire Mark, keep it up, you will be working in there before you know it :)

 

Are you going for a fixed height work area, or adjustable height?

[Geo]

It's good to see the work progressing well Mark, you should have had a video camera fixed somewhere to produce a stop motion movie of the construction.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Geo

[clockboy]

Mark your work rate is very impressive. Where do you get all that energy from.

Is there a secret nectar ?

[bobm12]

 

Your on fire Mark, keep it up, you will be working in there before you know it :)

And love it too!

[Mark]

Thanks guys.

 

Didn't manage to lay the floor. I had quite a lot of wood left over so decided to put it to good use by building a new desk for my computer and recording stuff. Spent the whole day yesterday on it and should finish that today. Then I can lay the floor (less dust). After that, laminate the worktops, fix the architrave's and skirting boards, move in, start working! :D

[Geo]

You're on the home straight! :)

[SSTEEL]

Coming along nicely :)

[Mark]

Finished the desk (mostly). Quite happy with it. Space for my screen, two reference monitors, 8u of rack space for audio equipment ( I have a 2u tube preamp and hope to get a compressor in the future).

The pc can sit nicely below. Just need to sand and varnish. Very happy :)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Geo]

That's looking very good indeed Mark, you're a man of many talents! :)

Edited March 1, 2015 by Geo

[SSTEEL]

Can't wait to see the finished article housing your equipment :)

[clockboy]

That's looking really good Mark. Your wonder how you ever managed before when finished 

[bobm12]

It will be an excellent desk and plenty of space when finished am sure. Impatient to see the end result!

Edited March 1, 2015 by bobm12

[SSTEEL]

Hi Mark, i see you plan on getting a compressor?  I get through quite a few cans of compressed air per annum, and the cost stacks up @€10 a pop, so have been looking for a more cost effective solution, and a friend of mine, also a watchmaker, he uses a Scuba divers air tank.  It costs less than a can of air to fill, and it lasts a year.  Reason I will be going this route too is its quiet, as my workshop is in our large living room, this would be the best viable solution for me.

[Mark]

I was talking about an audio compressor - it's a little hobby of mine to mess about with music.

That's a great idea regarding the scuba tank. I currently use a bandit compressor for removing dust prior to watch assembly in the case but it is hellish noisy when it kicks in.

However, it does double up as a tyre inflator and a nail gun :D

[autowind]

Workshop is looking good Mark and I'm sure it will increase productivity as well.

 

You mentioned messing with audio,  are you aware of  http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ it is open source  recording and editing software which I'm sure rivals commercial products.   :thumbsu: