Adjustable workbench light - ceiling led lights

Adjustable workbench light – ceiling led lights

this is the way the adjustable wooden workbench light looks

I needed an adjustable workbench light that I would be able to hang off the roof of the shop. I also wanted to be able to attach it to the workbench. I wanted that the adjusting to be done in all directions (height too).

After several tries, I ended up with this design. I finally built it out of ash wood, although my first attempt was to make it out of fir wood.

You can also find the video on our YouTube channel:

How I build a workbench led light adjustable in all the directions and height

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I followed the next steps to built it:

Building the wooden pieces for the adjustable workbench light

1. I wanted to build the work light out of fir wood but, because this type of wood is too soft and the hex screws started to move in the holes after some changes of the position of the work light, I ended by building it out of ash wood (a type of hardwood). Of course, because I needed small pieces for the project, I used only scraps. I always try to waste as little wood as possible. So, every time, when a project allows me to use scraps, I use them.

I started the project by choosing some pieces of ash scraps:

i used ash wood scraps to build the adjustable workbench led lights — I started the workbench led lights with some ash wood scraps

2. I cut them to 4,5 cm width. I wanted to get them to 4 cm width and 1,6 cm thick. After cutting them I planed them using the Metabo thicknesser. I didn’t need to square them.

I cut the ash wood scraps at 4,5 cm width to build the wooden ceiling workbench light out of 4 cm width boards — Cutting the scraps to 4,5 cm width

3. I cut them to length. I needed 4 pieces 40 cm long and 3 piece of 15 cm. I planned to use these 3 short pieces this way:

one piece for the top end of the workbench light (secured with screws to the roof or the workbench)
one piece for the bottom end of it (secured with the screws to the led light support)
one piece for changing the direction, used in the middle of the workbench light

I cut the ash wood pieces needed for the DIY ceiling workbench lights — Cutting the ash wood pieces needed for the project

These are the 7 pieces of ash wood needed for my project.

I used 4 pieces of 40 cm long and 3 pieces of 15 mm long to build the wooden adjustable work led light — 7 pieces of ash wood of 40 cm and 15 cm long

4. Of course, I wanted to make everything look as nice as possible. That’s why I looked for a way to do it. So, I found a bottle cap to draw the ends of the pieces of wood. It just happened to have the right size. I took the cap and I drew almost all the ends of the wood pieces. I left one end of each of the the two small pieces (except the one used for the changing the direction)

I drew the roundness of the ends of the ash wood pieces using as template a bottle cap — Drawing the roundness of the ash wood pieces

5. I cut their rounded ends with the bandsaw.

I used the bandsaw to cut the ends of the boards needed to build the adjustable work led light — Cutting the ends of the boards

These are all the ash wood pieces of my adjustable workbench light.

these are all the ash wood pieces, with rounded ends, used for building the DIY wooden workbench lights — The ash wood pieces after rounding their ends

6. I made a special cutout for the small piece used for changing the direction:

I measured 4 cm from the end of the board
I measured the distance between the blade of the bandsaw and its guide (it had to be equal to the thickness of the board)

I drew a line on one of the small pieces used in the middle of the adjustable light, to cut it with the bandsaw — I drew a line on one of the small pieces

I made the cutout with the bandsaw

i cut one end of the middle small piece of wood used for building the wooden work light — Cutting one end of the small piece of wood

This is what I’ve got:

these are the small pieces used for building the adjustable led light: 2 pieces for securing it to the table, one for securing the led light and one for the middle — The 3 small pieces of ash wood

The connecting system consisting of M6 bolts, hex nuts, fastener nuts and flat washers

For the connecting system, I chose to use M6 bolts, hex nuts, fasteners nuts and flat washers.

In order to use them:

1. Before starting to drill all the holes, I sanded the ends of the boards. This step is very important for the final look. Sanding helped me align the boards when drilling their ends.

I sanded the rounded ends using the belt sander before drilling the holes for assembling all the wood pieces — Sanding the ash wood rounded ends

2. Before drilling the needed holes, I took two pieces of wood. I secured them with clamps, to the bench drill stand. Their position was chosen so that the holes to be centered to the ends of the boards.

I built a guide to drill easily the holes on the ends of the ash wood pieces — The guide for drilling the holes

3. First of all, I drilled large holes using a 35 mm diameter forstner drill bit for some decorative caps. In the end, I decided I like the industrial look of the screws. Yet, the larger holes complete the look.

I used a 35 mm forstner drill bit to drill the decorative holes into the ends of the pieces of wood — The 35 mm diameter forstner drill bit

4. Then, I drilled a 6 mm hole in the middle of the large hole. These holes were used to connect two wooden parts with hex screws, nuts and washers.

I drilled 6 mm diameter holes in the ends of the ash wood boards — Drilling the 6 mm diameter holes

In the edge of the small board used for changing the direction, I drilled that 6 mm hole as you can see in the pictures below. Before that, I marked the center of that cutout.

I drilled the 6 mm diameter hole into the ends of the small piece used for changing the directions of the ceiling workbench light — Drilling the holes in the ash wood piece used for changing direction

I made the same thing with all the pieces. After I prepared all the connection accessories, I realized that there was one more thing that had to be done: to drill the holes for the cable.

these are two ash wood boards ready to be connected with 6 mm hex screws — Two pieces of wood ready to be connected

5. So, I drilled holes with an 8 mm drill bit next to each end, to run the cable through.

I drilled 8 mm diameter holes next to each end of the ash wood pieces of the adjustable work led light — Drilling the 8 mm diameter holes for running the cable

6. I sanded all the pieces with 120 grit sandpaper with the belt sander and I lightly sanded the sharp edges by hand.

I drilled all the holes to assemble the wooden adjustable work led light — All the holes needed are drilled

7. For the stand of the led fixture, I took another ash wood scrap and I drew the shape. I wanted to look similar to the other pieces, and to be as light as possible:

I drew the rounded ends and I continued the drawing until I got a circle
I trace the lines between the two circles
I cut the shape with the bandsaw

this is the wooden support needed for installing the ceiling led fixture — The ash wood support for the led light is cut using the bandsaw

I sanded with 120 grid sandpaper and I sanded by hand the edges

this is the wooden stand used as support for installing the led fixture — The final ash wood stand

8. I applied a layer of mineral oil.

i applied 2 layers of oil in order to protect the ash wood pieces of the ceiling led light — Applying the oil

Assembling all the parts to get the adjustable work led light

1. I drilled 2 holes with a 5 mm drill bit (next to the straight end of the two small pieces) and I countersunk them. The holes drilled in one small piece were going to be used to secure the adjustable light to the roof or the workbench. The other ones in the light holder piece were going to be used to secure the led light.