Track lighting for curio cabinet (1 Viewer)

[Steven Chong]

Does anyone know a source for halogen track lighting for a curio or display cabinet? In department stores, I have seen display cabinets with tiny low voltage halogen lamps that can be positioned on a powered track.

 

[Njja]

Steven:

Have you tried the lighting department at Home Depot?

They have quite a variety of different lighting options available, and they

have reciently acquired Angelo Lighting one of the countries largest electrical

supply houses.

Of course you will have to find the right associate, but they should be able

to answer your needs.

John

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

Isn't halogen lighting bad for figures ?

 

[ucla1967]

Steven,

I would be very carefull regarding halogen lighting in your curios. I have several with halogen, but they get very hot so I don't turn them on often or for very long. They could damage your figures.

 

[Louis Badolato]

I believe Jim Hillestad, the expert on these issues, warns against using Hallogen lights. I would recommend giving him a call (he's a K&C dealer in PA under the name "The Toy Soldier Museum"). He's a bit gruff sometimes, but very helpfull.

 

[jazzeum]

Here is Jim's web site that has his email and phone number, http://www.the-toy-soldier.com/displaytips/tipstoc.html

I've had many a big collector tell me that they're mere amateurs compared ot Jim. He used to be, but is no longer a K & C dealer.

 

[kilted vampire]

Steve check out juno lighting.com. Also a dimmer is a great way to go and they can be added to your cord if nothing else. I'm an electrician by trade. Lots of different undercabinet lighting is available including better flourescent lighint and xenon. Home Dispicable has a fair selection,but do check out juno.

 

[Steven Chong]

Dear Guys,
Thank you for the advice. I understand that the danger of halogen lamps is the excessive amount of heat produced by them. I know the display cabinets at the K&C Hong Kong headquarters actually have fans to vent out the heat. I plan to alleviate the heat problem by: 1) not having the lamps on all the time; and 2) using a low voltage system. At this point, I am trying to decide whether I want shelves of glass that are 8' 4" long and 23" wide -- very heavy!

 

[Steven Chong]

Steve check out juno lighting.com. Also a dimmer is a great way to go and they can be added to your cord if nothing else. I'm an electrician by trade. Lots of different undercabinet lighting is available including better flourescent lighint and xenon. Home Dispicable has a fair selection,but do check out juno.

Dear Kilted Vampire,
I am having problems accessing Juno's spec sheets for their low voltage, mini track system. Do you know the dimensions of the track? Thanks for your time and kind attention.

 

[OzDigger]

I guess personal taste plays a part here, but I've found internal lighting seems to throw to many shadows. My cabinets have mirrored backs and glass shelves and I have placed them to take the advantage of the natural light during the day by having them edge on to a window. To display at night I use track mounted spot lights on the ceiling in front of the cabinets and in this way most shadows are cast towards the rear of the cabinets, which is where I put my less attractive pieces anyway

In a nutshell overhead interior lighting is ok if you don't have alot of models on display, but to many, and you can't see them for the shadows. Or maybe I just need to buy still more display cabinets.

 

[Steven Chong]

Dear OzDigger,

I plan on mounting the low voltage halogen (or xenon) lamps vertically like the picture below, plus have overhead lights at the top.

View attachment 1884

 

[Njja]

Steven:

That is a great looking cabinet, and it will make a wonderful display.......

now if you can just pry a couple of pieces from Andy on your next visit

........

Njja

 

[OzDigger]

Very nice Steve, I do prefer mirror backs though.

 

[Steven Chong]

Steven:
That is a great looking cabinet, and it will make a wonderful display ...

The pictured cabinet the basis of my planned cabinet. 9' length, 86" high, 23" depth with storage cabinets at the bottom and a mirrored back -- I agree with you OzDigger!

 

[OzDigger]

The pictured cabinet the basis of my planned cabinet. 9' length, 86" high, 23" depth with storage cabinets at the bottom and a mirrored back -- I agree with you OzDigger!

Now that's a cabinet

 

[jazzeum]

Dear OzDigger,

I plan on mounting the low voltage halogen (or xenon) lamps vertically like the picture below, plus have overhead lights at the top.

Steven,

Who's the manufacturer?

 

[TORICDA]

Steven and anyone else who may be thinking of lighting their displays with halogen lighting should reconcider. Running several halogen lights even on low voltage in a enclosed display case will emitt enough heat over time to degrade the paint quality of painted plastic or lead figures . You will have to measure the cubic area space inside the display case then ensure that you have the correct size/power of inlet air and exhaust air fan(s) correctly positioned for proper air circulation. If you don't mind the fans visible in your case or hearing them humm in the background then no problem.

There is another lighting solution. "LED lights" or "rope lighting" this form of lighting gives very very little to no heat, nothing that would require fans. They can be purchased in various lenghts sizes and colours. I believe some retailers have an option to custom order them to your specs.

I haven't ordered from this seller but just for an example I did a quick search on ebay for LED lights and found these

http://cgi.ebay.com/LED-Light-Strip...QQihZ003QQcategoryZ116019QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

A thorough search on google/yahoo/ ebay for LED lights or rope lighting, I'm sure you'll find something that'll suite your needs.

 

[REVWARBUFF]

This is an interesting question. I too have been wondering what type of lighting to use once I get my display shelving in place. I love the advice and insight everyone gives on this topic. One further question though, is fluorescent lighting an advisable option? Or is that just as bad as halogen? I was considering using those small fluorescent units in my display. Is that a bad choice? Can someone please answer for me? Is LED or that rope lighting the optimal way to go?

 

[boot51]

This is an interesting question. I too have been wondering what type of lighting to use once I get my display shelving in place. I love the advice and insight everyone gives on this topic. One further question though, is fluorescent lighting an advisable option? Or is that just as bad as halogen? I was considering using those small fluorescent units in my display. Is that a bad choice? Can someone please answer for me? Is LED or that rope lighting the optimal way to go?

According to Jim Hillestad flourescent is the only choice for an interior light source, do everything possible to avoid halogen and incandescent bulbs. For every 10 watts of energy halogen lamps consume, they produce one watt of visible light and nine watts of pure HEAT.

Fred

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I'm curious why fluorescent lighting is recommended. I always thought that fluorescent lighting faded things like furniture. So I assumed it would be bad for painted figures as well.