What Kind of Lighting for Your Treadle?
11-30-2013, 03:08 PM
#1
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What Kind of Lighting for Your Treadle?
What kind of lighting are you using for your treadle sewing machine? Electric lighting similar to the use with any other machine, or do you use lighting that doesn’t depend on grid electricity like your treadle sewing machine?
I have a neighbor here in Oklahoma that rigged up a generator on his treadle to produce electric lighting while he treadled his machine. A battery can store the energy while his generator is not turning, and LED lighting makes the energy last longer. I don’t remember what he said about additional drag of the generator on his rig, but it sounded like a fun project.
I use natural daylight for a lot for my treadling activities, including sewing outside when weather permits, but once the sun goes down, I’ve got to switch to something else for lighting. I’ve been trying to figure out what would work best for non-grid lighting power. Don’t get me wrong. I DO NOT want to go off-grid! I’m an ex-highliner that worked most of my life to keep the grid on, so I want to enjoy its benefits. But, in a power-outage situation, or if a person is just really into energy conservation, is anyone using some type of solar energy for lighting at their treadle sewing machine at night?
The solar lights that you can put along your walkway have been suggested as a reserve source of lighting indoors during a black-out situation on some survival sites. The lights that have on-off switches are charged during the sunlight time of the day, and then used sparingly in the home during nighttime. I have a few of them, but I don’t get enough light out of them to replace grid-lighting at my machine. They tend to serve about the same as a decent nightlight, but not bright enough for me to see to rip out black thread on black fabric, or any other combination of same-color thread-color sewing situations.
I’ve got a battery-powered gooseneck light on my Singer 31-15 treadle that lights up the needle area pretty good, and a herd of kerosene lamps to light up the room around me, but I’m wondering if there is something better.
Anybody using something better?
CD in Oklahoma
I have a neighbor here in Oklahoma that rigged up a generator on his treadle to produce electric lighting while he treadled his machine. A battery can store the energy while his generator is not turning, and LED lighting makes the energy last longer. I don’t remember what he said about additional drag of the generator on his rig, but it sounded like a fun project.
I use natural daylight for a lot for my treadling activities, including sewing outside when weather permits, but once the sun goes down, I’ve got to switch to something else for lighting. I’ve been trying to figure out what would work best for non-grid lighting power. Don’t get me wrong. I DO NOT want to go off-grid! I’m an ex-highliner that worked most of my life to keep the grid on, so I want to enjoy its benefits. But, in a power-outage situation, or if a person is just really into energy conservation, is anyone using some type of solar energy for lighting at their treadle sewing machine at night?
The solar lights that you can put along your walkway have been suggested as a reserve source of lighting indoors during a black-out situation on some survival sites. The lights that have on-off switches are charged during the sunlight time of the day, and then used sparingly in the home during nighttime. I have a few of them, but I don’t get enough light out of them to replace grid-lighting at my machine. They tend to serve about the same as a decent nightlight, but not bright enough for me to see to rip out black thread on black fabric, or any other combination of same-color thread-color sewing situations.
I’ve got a battery-powered gooseneck light on my Singer 31-15 treadle that lights up the needle area pretty good, and a herd of kerosene lamps to light up the room around me, but I’m wondering if there is something better.
Anybody using something better?
CD in Oklahoma
11-30-2013, 04:19 PM
#2
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 8,091
So far I've use natural light from the windows, outdoor light, and house lighting with an additional clamp on light near the machine.
At one time I thought about hooking up a bicycle generator system with a battery like your neighbor did to the treadle, but never have gotten around to it.
I can't really tell how much extra effort it would take to treadle the machine before I'd try it. But I'll bet it does add some considering how it made pedaling my bikes a lot harder.
Joe
At one time I thought about hooking up a bicycle generator system with a battery like your neighbor did to the treadle, but never have gotten around to it.
I can't really tell how much extra effort it would take to treadle the machine before I'd try it. But I'll bet it does add some considering how it made pedaling my bikes a lot harder.
Joe
11-30-2013, 08:13 PM
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Location: Springfield Oregon
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Carbide head lamp?? Seriously, I'd look at solar charging an LED with more LEDs in it. Harbor Freight sells some. Or perhaps using some with LithiumIon rechargeable batts, but recharge em off the house AC while it's on, and a solar charger when it's not.
12-01-2013, 02:38 AM
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My son gave me one of those LED battery-powered head-mounted lights to use for working on machines, and it does light things up pretty good. I think it’s the 5 LED Head Lamp from Harbor Freight. I used it for sewing with my Singer 29K70 at the shop a time or two, and it worked pretty well, but tended to be a hassle since I had other lighting right there handy that I didn’t have to put on my head. I even hung it on the machine between uses, to try to get myself to put it on when setting down to the machine, but I soon hung it back by my repair bench where it had been.
I haven’t ever tried it at my home shop where I use my Singer 31-15 treadle. I may have to get another one for home. They’re cheap. They’re magnetic too, but I don’t recall ever trying to use it mounted on the machine. Maybe it was the head band being in the way. One problem I have with the head-mounted light working up close is bifocals. I was surprised at how many times I tilt my head up and down to change lenses. Strapping a light on my head showed me.
I’ve wondered about using a mirror, like a bicycle or motorcycle mirror mounted somewhere to reflect light from another source such as a flash light or lantern? It might even be helpful during daylight both indoors and out, except for having to be constantly adjusted to follow the sun. I know that when sewing outdoors in direct sunlight on large pieces of white billboard vinyl or white canvas, everything gets so bright that it actually can become difficult to see the needle area in the shadow of the machine head. During the hottest part of the summer, I spend as much of my outdoor sewing time in the shade of trees as I can. That can cause the natural lighting to change regularly.
I’m with Joe on the generator drag while sewing. I don't want to work any harder than I already am. I think a better solution would be to treadle a battery charger to recharge light batteries, and then use battery-powered lighting while sewing. Maybe rig up a battery charger similar to a bobbin winder, and run it without sewing? I like the sound of a solar solution, but getting the light concentrated at the needle area could still be the challenge.
CD in Oklahoma
I haven’t ever tried it at my home shop where I use my Singer 31-15 treadle. I may have to get another one for home. They’re cheap. They’re magnetic too, but I don’t recall ever trying to use it mounted on the machine. Maybe it was the head band being in the way. One problem I have with the head-mounted light working up close is bifocals. I was surprised at how many times I tilt my head up and down to change lenses. Strapping a light on my head showed me.
I’ve wondered about using a mirror, like a bicycle or motorcycle mirror mounted somewhere to reflect light from another source such as a flash light or lantern? It might even be helpful during daylight both indoors and out, except for having to be constantly adjusted to follow the sun. I know that when sewing outdoors in direct sunlight on large pieces of white billboard vinyl or white canvas, everything gets so bright that it actually can become difficult to see the needle area in the shadow of the machine head. During the hottest part of the summer, I spend as much of my outdoor sewing time in the shade of trees as I can. That can cause the natural lighting to change regularly.
I’m with Joe on the generator drag while sewing. I don't want to work any harder than I already am. I think a better solution would be to treadle a battery charger to recharge light batteries, and then use battery-powered lighting while sewing. Maybe rig up a battery charger similar to a bobbin winder, and run it without sewing? I like the sound of a solar solution, but getting the light concentrated at the needle area could still be the challenge.
CD in Oklahoma
Last edited by ThayerRags; 12-01-2013 at 02:57 AM. Reason: Included web link
12-01-2013, 02:49 AM
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12-01-2013, 06:33 AM
#8
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Interesting discussion. What do sewists do in third world countries? Also wondering about inventing a gizmo, dynamo?, that would attach to the treadle to use the mechanism to charge a battery??? Sort of like the hand crank on the radio I own.
12-01-2013, 07:08 AM
#10
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They probably go to bed and get some rest like most other ordinary people do when it gets too dark to see well. LOL! I don’t see much auxiliary lighting in the photos that I’ve found of 3rd world sewing scenes in remote locations, so I don’t know. Most times, they’re out in front of a hut or building in the sunlight for the photograph.
CD in Oklahoma
CD in Oklahoma
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