I need some advice on some lighting for detailing can you help please?
Anytime I get questions via e-mail, a PM or a FB message I prefer to invest my typing time where
A: It's easier for me to share links, pictures and videos.
B: More people can read and thus benefit from the information. (no just one set of eyeballs
So I get an e-mail asking,
advice
Hi
I need some advice on some lighting for detailing can you help please ?
ps
messaged you on facebook maybe its faster for me to explain there
Hi Errol,
Thanks for sending me an e-mail asking for my advice on lighting for a shop.
You'll note that when you send me a message from Facebook the "Automatic" reply tells you to send me an e-mail and that's because Facebook messaging is a horrible interface for any SUBSTANTIAL discussion on ANY topic in the world including car detailing.
You didn't include very much in the way of details?
- Is this for a brick and mortar shop?
- Or mobile detailing in someone else's garage?
- Or mobile detailing outside?
- Or detailing your own cars in your garage or in your driveway?
So here's my best stab at this....
Good lighting is important. That said, I've buffed out cars in damn near dark.
If you dial in your TEST SPOT and get great results, theoretically you can repeat the process you used in the test spot to each section of paint and never even look at the paint while buffing and still get great results because you PROVED your prcess in the test spot.
So overhead florescent lights that light up the car so you can see where your working at are all you have to have. There are numerous threads on this forum that share specific types of light fixtures and bulbs that I can dig up if it's really important to you and if it is really important to you then click the link below and join the forum and interact here where it's easier for me to help you as well as our other great members.
Click here to join the AGO forum
Besides that I use, recommend and endorse SCANGRIP lights and have multiple articles here on the forum that simply don't "share" well on Facebook messages.
Again, I can search for the links and then copy and paste them into this thread if you like?
For example, here's just ONE article I've written on SCANGRIP lights....
SCANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light - Product Review by Mike Phillips
The SCANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light - Model 03.4561US
I love this light!
I haven't loved a swirl finder light since my last beloved Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light finally died on me. That's saying a lot since I've been using the Brinkmann ever since 2006, that's 11 years ago and a lot of swirl finder lights have popped up on the market since then and while a lot of them work very well this is the bomb!
Shedding a little light in 2006
This is a picture of me using the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light in one of my Meguiar's Roadshow Classes in Dallas, Texas back in 2006. Some of you may recognize the name Scott Hair? Scott attended this class.
I've been waiting, looking for and hoping for a swirl finder light that would do everything the Brinkmann would do and more and the SCANGRIP Sunmatch meets all my needs and expectations.
Let me explain.
Not just for your eyes
Most people want and need a swirl finder light so they can see the true and accurate condition of the finish on a car. I need this too of course. But I also need a swirl finder light that enables me to capture the swirls with both my camera and on video. The SCANGRIP Sunmatch works perfect for pictures and video. This is where most of the other swirl finder lights don't have the right type of light as well as enough power. They work fine for your eyes but getting great pictures or video of paint completly lit up showing swirls has been a struggle. This is very important too because the power in the after shots is created in the before shots. I even have an article on this topic here.
My review?
I feel like a kid at Christmas getting the toy I had been hoping and wishing for all year long!
I'll say it again... I love this light! And if you like quality tool, not inexpesive toys or copies of the real deal but the real deal then you're going to love this light too.
At the end of this review I've included the technical aspects from the manufacturer but while the product features are interesting and important what's more fun and what you really want to see is the light in action!
So lets get on with it....
Here's the SCANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light
This is a 1947 Lincoln Zephyr that is here for a detailing class on machine polishing paint.
When you see the swirls you'll completely understand what the car is here...
This picture is a picture without the light on and only using overhead florescent lights.
In this picture you can see my hand and the light, which are in focus while the fender and the light on the fender are out of focus. I want you to see that I'm holding the light about a foot and a half from the fender.
Here's the swirls as revealed by the SCANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light
And or course you can get them here,
All SCANGRIP lights
See how with a forum I can insert links, text and pictures in a LINEAR manner that you simply cannot do on Facebook.
Hope that helps...
And if you're reading this... that means you click on the link that I sent you when I replied to your e-mail.
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