Best Lighting to Show off Swirls/Scratches

[Monk]

So what is the best lighting to "show off" swirls and scratches so that they can be addressed, other than direct sunlight? I saw some references to Xenon flashlights, but could an array of flourescents accomplish the same without having to keep putting down tools and getting the flashlight? What about one of the Sears portable rechargeable flourescents worklights?

EDIT: How about Sears' 1000W Halogen?

[Accumulator]

I never see much of anything under fluorescents (except on white, weird how well they work for that), and I have a pretty bright collection of them in my shop (dozens of 8' tubes). Halogens work better, but the best I've found is a high-wattage incandescent (I use 300W) used in an otherwise dark room. This seems to best simulate the kind of lighting where you see previously-invisible marring. I'm able to spot *everything*, even on silver- no more surprises at the gas station/parking lots at night

I end up using five different light sources: fluorescents for general illumination, ceiling mounted high-wattage incandescents and halogens for general swirl-spotting during polishing, hand-held incandescent (in dark room) for final swirl-spotting, and natural sunlight for holograms.

[RDVT4ME]

A xenon light will show up more than you may want to see. It is truely amazing what shows up under the xenon light. I got mine for around $20 at Pep boys.

I generally use portable halogen lights in my garage, but I really only trust seeing it in the sunlight for the final inspection.

[the3dwizard]

Mike was using something like this Xenon light during the training here in Dallas. Plan on picking one up for myself.

[RDVT4ME]

Originally posted by the3dwizard
Mike was using something like this Xenon light during the training here in Dallas. Plan on picking one up for myself.

Yep, that's the one I got at Pep boys.

[96Lude]

It is true that fluorescent lights do not show swirls in the paint too well. I have fluorescent lighting in my garage and my paint looks perfect, yet if I bring my car outside I can see some minor swirls.

Do any of you know if this light would work well, it says it is a Xenon LED flashlight:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396669959&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443285610&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474396670271&bmUID=1143075964037&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true

It looks almost the same as the pic that was posted above.

[Superior Shine]

Originally posted by RDVT4ME
A xenon light will show up more than you may want to see......

Thats an under statement!!

[Tenchu2525]

Originally posted by Superior Shine
Thats an under statement!!

haha.

Ignorance is bliss

[sneek]

i dont know wat u posted the link to but there is a xenon one that you can get at canadian tire for 29.99 that is the same as wat all the pros use

[96Lude]

sneek: My link should work. I tried clicking on it a few times to test it. The link I posted leads to a Xenon light which is also 29.99 so it might be the one you are talking about.

[Jeff Smith]

Kind of a sidenote here.

The other night I used the Dual Xenon light at night to show a buddy some of the results I had been getting recently with some Rotary practice I am putting myself through. I was surprised in that the Xenon would not pick up any of the minor swirl I had under direct sunlight. The Xenon is good but does not beat that sun. I spent a couple of minutes with him wlaking around trying to find a scratch or some swirl and could not pick up any. It was slightly visible under the sun.

Also, and more to the point, after I had noticed that the Xenon did not pick it up as well as the sun, the thought poped into my mind about the possibilty of one of these new fangled lazer levels. I was wondering if one of those things would do well at all when swirl/scratch hunting. I have one in my Storage Unit and will try to remeber to look for/grab it the next time I work up enough enenrgy to hunt through that stuff.

Has anyone else tried this. I know this isn't what Monk is after but I figured while we were kincking around lighting I would throw this in there.

[the other pc]

I just ran out and tried a laser pointer. Couldn’t see diddley with it. The spot was too intense to see anything near the center and the speckle (interference pattern) dominated the surrounding area. When I held it a low grazing angle it did light up surface dust particles.

That was just with the optics of a cheap pointer though. Maybe with the right optics a laser could be made to work better.


PC.

[the other pc]

Just tried using half a pair of 7x35mm binoculars to expand and re-collimate the laser pointer's beam. The pattern was much larger and less intense with a lot less interference speckling surrounding the primary spot. Still got a lot of speckling in the spot though.

Anyway, it made a fun little light show but I still didn’t see any defects in the paint.

On the other hand, the metal halide street lights did a great job illuminating spider web scratches.


PC.

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by the other pc
Just tried using half a pair of 7x35mm binoculars to expand and re-collimate the laser pointer's beam. The pattern was much larger and less intense with a lot less interference speckling surrounding the primary spot. Still got a lot of speckling in the spot though.

Anyway, it made a fun little light show but I still didn’t see any defects in the paint.

On the other hand, the metal halide street lights did a great job illuminating spider web scratches.


PC.

hehe, Cool Beans. Thanks for trying. I'll likely still give it a whirl myslef though. Give my neighbors something else to wonder about. I'll tell 'em I am taking depth measurements with lazers of my wax or something.

[sneek]

96Lude: ya I have that one! one bulb an LED and ones a Xenon and it works. It is by Noma. the top bulb is Xenon and the bottom is LED. it has a 85h run time on Xenon and 80 on LED. I find that the Xenon is much better at finding defects when compaired to an LED

i can get pics up if you wait a week! SPRING BREAK!!!
i think its a good buy!