Camera Tripod Shop Light Stand

I had started working on a project late one afternoon. Before I finished it got dark. My work space is actually just outside my garage where I currently do not have any lighting. I'm eventually going to build a fold-away workbench with lighting but have to wait for a friends to get back from vacation to help me.

Any ways, I had already purchased the shop light I'm going to be using but there is no way to hang it yet. So I began looking around trying to figure out what to do. I saw my camera and thought of my tripod. So I set out to find a way to mount the light on my camera tripod. Within a15 minutes or so, I had it mounted.

This is one of those project that came up from an immediate need so I wasn't thinking to make an Instructable so I didn't take any pictures during the design and build phases. It was only after the fact that I decided this might make a good Instructable.

Hopefully there is enough information in the pictures to give you what you need to do this yourself.

Here are the parts you need. You may have to adapt this a bit to what you have on hand. But I think you'll get the idea of what has to happen here. My tripod has a head on it and I decided I wanted to use it so I could adjust the angle of the light.

You need an camera tripod adapter if you want to use an adjustable head on your camera. If not, you have the threads coming from the top of the tripod where in this case they are coming from the adapter. You can do it without a head and adapter, but you may only be able to twist the light horizontally and raise it up and down with the tripod. If your tripod doesn't have a replaceable head, then you probably will be able to tilt the light and not need the adapter.

You will also need A 3/4" to 1" 1/4-20 bolt. 2 1/4" flat washers, a 1/4-20 threaded union and a small screw with a wide head. If yo don't have a screw with a wide head, you can probably use a small washer.

The reason for bolt and union is because there is not enough threads coming from the tripod or adapter to go through the washers, the light's housing and be able to thread into a nut. The union and a longer bolt will allow you to do this. They need to be 1/4-20 threaded because that is what the threads from the tripod or adapter is.

Measure your shop light and mark it in the exact middle about 3/8" from the edge. Drill a 1/4" hole. About 1/8" You want the small hole to be close enough so that when you insert the bolt and then the small screw, you want the small screw to hit the head of the bolt. The reason for this is to stop the shop light from twisting on its own.

What you could do though, it spot weld or solder the top flat washer to the head of the bold. Then it won't matter if the screw hit the bolt head or not. The little screw going through the washers and the body of the light will stop the washer from spinning and this the ho light assembly from spinning.

Put a washer on the bolt, insert the bolt through the hole in the body, add the second washer and then screw on the union. Leave it just loose enough so everything spins freely.

Using something small enough to fit ( I used a Dremel bit) in to the small holes. Spin the washers until the holes align and the shaft of what you are using goes all the way through. Tighten the union down to secure everything in to place.

Screw in the small screw tightly.

If you are using an tripod camera adapter, look for the Lens direction indicator. You want to have your shop light in this orientation. tighten the adapter to the union. Place the adapter in to the tripod.

You now have an adjustable shop light stand.