My cheap ring for the mill light

[44man]

I spent some money for the diodes and resistors. I didn't have anything to make the ring out of. I thought about HDPE but it was $12 for a 12" X 12" piece plus postage.
I made this out of walnut from a tree that fell in my woods long ago. I made it to be a tight fit on the mill so I didn't need any set screws or brackets. I put a mini phone jack plug on it to plug the power supply into. It works like a charm.
Here is the inside part.

[44man]

Here it is on the mill.

[leftiye]

I saw that in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I think! So, It's bright enough? I use two floodlights 100 watts each on mine.

[44man]

It helps but my power supply is dropping to 4 volts. I made the ring for 6 volts. The little supply doesn't have enough mA's.
I have an old computer power supply with a 5 volt output but I robbed the fan from it. I need to find the fan. That should make it brighter without any ripple.
It was fun to make and the metal lathe works great cutting wood.

[44man]

OK, I found all the parts and converted an old PC power supply.
LET THERE BE LIGHT! It works like a charm and I can mount it on the wall by the outlet.

[grumpy one]

It was fun to make and the metal lathe works great cutting wood.

Don't forget to clean up properly - sawdust under the saddle is not good for the longevity of the longitudinal ways. Not as bad as abrasives, but not good.

Yes, if you don't mind the cleanup job, metal-cutting machinery is a great way to machine fine-grained cabinet-making timber. I once knew a guy who permanently assigned an old junk-grade toolroom lathe as a wood lathe. As my father put it, that lathe "never smiled again", but it lasted quite long enough to suit the old guy who did it. Corroded, scored ways didn't really matter for his purposes anyway.

[44man]

I did clean it good. A use for WD-40 at last! :drinks:
I held the shop vac nozzle near the cutter too. Saves a lot of work. I vacuum constantly no matter what I cut anyway to keep the mess down. Can't be without the shop vac.
I'm afraid to open it right now. I made beer and when I use my home made grinder I get a lot of flour from the barley. I hold the vac nozzle above the bag to catch it or it puffs all over the basement.
Not nice to mix flour with oily chips and dog hair! :mrgreen: YUCK

[HotGuns]

That really looks good !:drinks:

Thanks for sharing.