Lighting

Brad brought up the process of "tomming" or using wood rods, sticks, broomhandles (whatever) to pin in place the frame when gluing it to the bottom planks and in my situation I can't really do that because of my lighting along the ceiling joice, but in future projects, it might be prudent for me to remember this when I set up my lighting.

On the topic of lighting, I cannot stress how important it is! I have four flourescent "shop light" fixtures. That's 8 four foot tubes. Really it's fine, but personally, I would like more so I can see angles, flats, curves, hills and valleys better. The point that I am at now with shaping the rails and such is going to be really tough withougt enough lighting. When I used to dabble in shaping living with the folks back in Philly I used to hang whatever flourescent lights that I could find from the ceiling down low at rail level or attach them to the walls at rail height just like most shapers do in their shacks. You really can see any deformities much easier with a lot of lighting. Of course the hippie in me suggests flourescent as after they have warmed up are tons more effiecient than incandescents. You're wallet will thank you too.

Personally, I like flourescents better for this sort of thing. If I'm at home reading or on the PC, I like the color of incandescents as they are warmer, but for working, I like cool or warm white flourescents. Cool whites are slightly blue and for scientific reasons unknown to me preferred by shapers as well as blue as a backdrop for eyeing up the rails, etc...

I have some experience with varnish, laquer, polyester resins of all kinds and polishing them up. Usually I've always done them in a semi dusty environment, but the environment that I am going to do this in now is extremely dusty and I have a dark forboding about having to wire wool out a million dust particles.

One tip I received somewhere on dust is lighting related. I understand that flourescents emit electromagnetic radiation in the form of negative ions and that they attract the positive ion dust particles, so if one is glassing (etc...) to leave the lights on so those particles don't drop off the lights on to your work.

Maybe I'll clean up those tubes beforehand so they have some extra attraction to the dust. Maybe it will work better.

Does anyone have any more dust elimination ideas?