Task Light Helper

This weekend we went to Point Reyes National Seashore for our anniversary.  Kayaked on Tomales Bay one day and hiked around the next.  The lighthouse at the southern tip of Point Reyes was pretty cool.  It's very foggy there much of the year, so the lighthouse was sorely needed when it was built in 1870.

Point Reyes lighthouse

Last year I upgraded my shop lights from two single-bulb 48" fluorescent fixtures to four 40" LED fixtures.  While the light situation is much, much better, I still sometimes have a need for a direct task light. Several months ago I bought a relatively cheap battery-operated LED task light for the shop.

Task light has 7 LEDs

It's been handy to have, but sometimes I need it in places that are hard to get it.  The light has a magnet on the bottom, so I thought about making something to help get the light where I need it.

Magnet on bottom of task light

First, I experimented with how strong the magnet was.  I found the circular magnet was really only strong around its perimeter.  So I tried setting several screws in a block of wood to see if the magnet would hold well enough.

Screws to attract the magnet

It held, but not very strongly.

Light held to screws, but would fall off easily

Then I tried placing the magnet on a flat piece of metal, in this experiment a saw plate.

Holding strong to a saw plate

This was definitely the ticket.  Even though this saw plate is junk and I could cannibalize it for a piece of steel, I went out and bought a small piece of steel (mending plate?) at the local hardware store.

Then I set about designing and building a frame that would allow some flexibility.

Sketchup drawing of the plan

The upright is 44" long on top of a 1 1/4" thick base.  The design allows the 24" boom arm to angle up or down and also to come forward or back about 12".  The slotted design of the upright allows the boom arm to be locked into position with a hex-head bolt and knob.

This is made from scrap oak for the upright and boom arm and pine for the base.  I only got a couple pics of the actual woodworking, but here's the base being marked to width using the panel gauge I built recently.  Worked great.

Gauging the width of the base with new panel gauge

I allowed myself a tiny bit of personal flair by beveling the top edges of the base.

Beveling the end grain of the base

The hole in the upright that holds the bolt was mortised out in the hex shape to house the bolt head.

Hexagonal mortise for bolt

And the other side gets the knob.

Adjustable boom arm is fixed in position by tightening the knob

I attached the steel plate to the end of the boom arm with screws.

Steel plate on end of boom arm

The steel is only about 1/16" thick, but the light's magnet really holds well.

Task light held to boom arm by magnet

And the finished product:

The task light stand

I know this will be nice to have when I need more light in a specific area.  For example, when sharpening saws or when sawing to a line that I can barely see.