A Sticky Light

This little guy is the JANSJÖ LED Work Lamp from Ikea. It's standing in its own spotlight, so to speak:

It's small - that's a 6" ruler sitting on it - but as you can see, it throws a powerful beam, and the flexible arm allows you to put the light right where you need it. It's also dirt cheap - only 10 bucks! I was at the Ikea store in South Philly a few weeks ago, and grabbed a couple of these. I knew I could make good use of them in the shop. Here's the link on the Ikea site: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20169658/

I experimented a bit, and realized that while the heavy iron base (it's cast iron with a plastic cover) works great on a desk, it's hard to use on shop equipment. Then I stumbled on a video from Chris at Clickspring, the machinist I've referenced several times on this blog. Turns out he had discovered the same lamp, and had adapted it to use a magnetic base. Here's the link to his video: 

https://youtu.be/n6JkUO8AHOQ

It's all very straightforward machine work, but I still get a sense of accomplishment when I carefully measure something, use the mill controls to precisely place the holes, and it all lines up. I used the scrap stock I had around, so my design is slightly different from the one Chris posted:

Because my aluminum stock wasn't quite thick enough, I had to make the small brass spacer shown on top of the right-hand base above. I precisely drilled a larger piece, and then used my vertical bandsaw to slice thin spacers.

The precision bandsaw vise I made (link) was instrumental in making such thin slices.

Now, I can securely stick the base out of the way, with the 45-pound magnet holding it securely in place, and get the light right where I need it. Success!