Looking for some clamp on lights

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194
Location
Atlanta, GA
I'm looking for a couple of those light fixtures that you can clamp to the top of a workbench and that can swivel around (but I don't want the kind with the magnifier). The issue is that my bench is 3.5" thick and most of the ones I've seen look like they're designed for tops much less than that (in fact it seems rarely spec'd). Any suggestions appreciated, thanks.
 
The 3.5" top is a problem. I picked up a couple of them searching the "Thrift Stores" for a couple of bucks. One didn't have a clamp so I drilled a hole in the top to accept the mounting stem. As for your your thick top, perhaps you can clamp on a thinner piece of wood and then clamp the mounting piece to the thinner piece.
 
I think Bill's got your answer. Either a hole in the bench or a thinner piece of wood extending off the edge of the bench would do.

If you had a magnetic base for the lamp, you could use a flat metal plate screwed to the benchtop. I use a blank metal cover made for a fourplex electrical box. It's attached to a wooden benchtop to hold a magnetic light or the magnetic base on the remote switch for my lathe.
 
I'm not sure what they're called, but any artists' studio usually has several "clamp-lights" - simple lightbulbs with reflectors and an on/off switch mounted on a spring clamp. They work very well, are inexpensive, and due to their simplicity are also quite durable.
 
I did something like this but it turned out to be more in the way than helpful. I got better overhead light but this may be just what you are looking for (once you get the lights).
 
I had an old halogen drafting lamp that fit on a post that clamped to the drafting table. The clamp wouldn't fit on my bench. I had an old craftsman brand 6" C clamp that the handle kept falling out of that I could fasten anywhere along the edge of the bench. I put the clamp on, took out the handle and slipped the lamp socket over the clamp's screw. Works like a charm.
 
Thanks all. I did find an industrial task light that looked like it could be mounted to the side of the bench (Grainger), but they were like $110 each. So "plan A" is to try some of your ideas.
 
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