DIY LED Work Light (much better than halogen!)

[zmcgovern45]

Both certainly work great at highlighting the majority of defects... I just find LEDs to be brutally honest when showing marring and other lighter defects. Notice how the holograms really jump out in the LED Lights and are very hard to see with halogens.

For production detailing, using any lights for inspection is a step above most shops! heck, even thinking about inspecting your work is a step above many shops haha! Clearly you have a lot of experience so stick with what works best and keep knocking em out!

-Zach

[Dapper Don]

So I have found the weakness when it comes to these light stand boom arms. Balance and mobility. So with my handy dandy internets and the help of Amazon I purchased these saddle style sand bags, sand, plastic bags, and casters.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A2L77EE7U53NWQ

50 lb. All-Purpose Play Sand-55141 - The Home Depot

http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Easy-St.../dp/B0025W9AKC

[zmcgovern45]

Yep, those sand bags were mentioned earlier in this post as a way to weigh the stands down... to me, the materials for the original build were chosen largely to fit a budget similar to LED work lights at your local hardware store while way out performing the off-the-shelf options.

If budget is of no concern, there are WAY better stands out there like the ones I now use.



Manfrotto 231CS Chrome Steel Column Stand with Sliding Arm 231CS

I picked mine up locally off of craigslist from a studio that was going out of business... 3 stands for $150 total... they retail for over $250 each!

[Dapper Don]

I saw those and think they are really sweet, I tried to get one myself but shied away at the cost and that they were discontinued. Not to mention the fact that it would need to be folded and put away. I really wanted the boom arm feature and thought that with the Amazon lights you spec'd being cheaper than your original build, I could apply the savings to the light stand/boom and still came out cheaper. The exta $40 for the sand bags and wheels were negligable. I still put the whole thing together for under $160.00 total and its still cheaper than anything out there while outperforming anything 2 or 3 times the total cost. Again, thank you so much for this thread Zach.

[Kiddetailer]

I just got my stand but how do you pit it together properly? Do i take off the rubber cap or leave it on? Just put the
Top onto the stand and screw on tight? They dont look like they fit together

[Kiddetailer]

On with rubber cap still not sure if this is how its suppose to go on

[zmcgovern45]

It should go down further. If not, remove the rubber cap. The light holder should fit onto the metal collar.

[Kiddetailer]

Rubber cap off

[zmcgovern45]

That's down too far. The set screw should contact on the smaller diameter of the collar. Look into the base of the bulb holder. There should be enough room to fit with the rubber cap on. You just have to put it on straight.

[Kiddetailer]

With rubber cap was the 1st photo, 2nd photo is as far as it would go without rubber cap. This photo is raised up a bit without rubber cap