Bench Lamp

Rod Renshaw makes a brace of handy small bench lamps.

Rod Renshaw

As I have got older, I notice that things I used to do without really thinking about them have got more difficult, especially if the available light is not good or not well placed.

This has often caused me to think that a bench lamp that was easily moved and adjusted would be very useful but I had not got around to organizing something and I often found myself using a battery torch to illuminate things, but a torch is not ideal because it wobbles and needs a spare hand to hold it.

I have an old but well-made surface gauge that I bought many years ago and that I no longer use, and I suspect many readers will have one or can pick one up at a sale. It had occurred to me that a small spot lamp attached to this would be useful but the thought of finding a lamp holder and reflector and switch and flex to a transformer etc. etc. meant that it never got made.

When light-emitting diodes (LEDs) became readily available, with their much reduced current consumption, I thought a self-contained lamp would be possible as a small battery would give a reasonable life, but I still did not get around to making one.

Then I was browsing in our local Pound shop and saw a “headlamp” - that is, a self-contained LED lamp intended to be worn on one’s head with an elastic strap to keep it in place. This seemed ideal for conversion into a workshop lamp with a minimum of effort.