Mill Ring Light

Lighting has always been a challenge in my shop- especially on the mill. The fact that the cutting area is shadowed by the spindle and motor makes lighting this are particularly difficult. Mini mills are if anything more difficult to light than their full size counterparts, as the work area is actually a tiny little space.

I saw a creative idea some time ago on Sherline's tips page. A user had retrofit a ring light from a lab microscope around the spindle of his mill (http://www.sherline.com/tip50.htm). A clever idea- a ring light evenly illuminates the work area, and eliminates any shadow cast by the cutting tool. But it's not the easiest (or cheapest) thing to find.

http://www.sherline.com/images/litemite.jpg
(Image borrowed from Sherline. Hope they won't mind)

Another user went one further, and designed and made his own. Now there's an idea! He even posted a fairly detailed set of instructions on making it.

http://www.sherline.com/images/Tip50b.jpg
(Also borrowed from Sherline)

After looking it over, I decided that I definitely needed one. I created a design based on materials I had on hand or could easily source. This is what I came up with.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-01.jpg

It's a two part aluminum ring that magnets onto the bottom of the spindle.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-03.jpg

For lighting, I used a dozen ultra bright 3mm LEDs (http://www.futurlec.com/LED/LED3WULBpr.shtml). To power it, I found a 3.3 Volt charger for a cell phone that I probably had a decade or more ago. Using a bit of math (http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz), I figured out what value of resistor (http://www.futurlec.com/Res12W.shtml) I needed to keep from blowing out the LEDs. I also got a pair of audio style barrel jack connectors to replace the old cell phone power connector.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-02.jpg

The LEDs are all connected in parallel- common V+ and ground. (Make sure you take this into consideration when you're selecting your resistor.) The resistor is hidden under the red heat shrink tubing here.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-07.jpg

I used three small set screws to hold the LED plate into the housing.

The housing was made from 2.25" x 0.75" stock, and the LED plate was made from 2" x 0.125".

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-08.jpg

I covered the back with electrical tape, to leave a non-marring surface. Under the tape, I epoxied two rare earth magnets to hold the housing in place around the spindle. I also milled two holes to fit over two screw heads on the spindle bearing. These screw heads locate the housing in place when in use.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-06.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-04.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-05.jpg

It makes a huge difference in milling operations- plenty of light, right where I want it! Of course on a mill, the work piece moves with the table- but a ring light will always stay in place and illuminate the cutter. This light doesn't work with every milling accessory that Sherline makes. Some tools (like the sensitive drilling attachment) are two wide, and block light from reaching the work area. But for most operations, like milling, fly cutting, and center finding, it provides light just where it is needed.

If I were to make this part again, I would probably make it thinner. I'm confident that I could make it out of 0.625" thick stock, and am pretty sure that it could be made to work with 0.5". I would also probably put in 15 LEDs instead of just 12- but I haven't yet felt like it really needs more light.

This one was of course made on and for Sherline gear- but with a little adaptation, a design could be made for just about any mini mill.

Thanks for watchin'.

Great idea and I really need one of these! I usually end up with no room and four desk lamps around the milling area...argh! This got me thinking and I'm considering reverse engineering one of these puppies:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Pack-Round-24-Led-Ultrabright-Magnetic-Worklight-Camping-Torch-Work-Light-Lamp-/131426997720?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1e99a8d5d8

They're cheap as chips and I shouldn't have to get my head around the resistance calculations. They have switchable battery too, so no leads etc. in the work area!?

This got me thinking and I'm considering reverse engineering one of these puppies:

That's similar to what I did for the lathe. I'll post more pics and a description when I get a chance.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-09.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-10.jpg



They're cheap as chips and I shouldn't have to get my head around the resistance calculations. They have switchable battery too, so no leads etc. in the work area!?

I had an inexpensive battery powered work light for the mill at one point. But I left the damned thing on by mistake- so when I wanted to use it, it was perpetually dead. I quickly learned not to bother buying batteries for it, because inevitably I did it again. Couldn't make it work for me. :shakehead

But really, calculations for LEDs and resistors are very straightforward. As long as you can solder, it's not hard to do.

That's similar to what I did for the lathe. I'll post more pics and a description when I get a chance.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-09.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/ring-10.jpg






I had an inexpensive battery powered work light for the mill at one point. But I left the damned thing on by mistake- so when I wanted to use it, it was perpetually dead. I quickly learned not to bother buying batteries for it, because inevitably I did it again. Couldn't make it work for me. :shakehead

But really, calculations for LEDs and resistors are very straightforward. As long as you can solder, it's not hard to do.

That's very nicely done! I'm not too worried about the battery situation, we have a house full of AA & AAA nicads...that's the advantage of having a 4 year old with too many toys, LOL! :)