I would disagree with two of LaShawn's instructions.
1) I never recommend Ott lights to anyone, because although they make all sorts of claims about their light being natural, and have gotten into a lot of different distribution pipelines, I can't see what they have to recommend them.
Instead I would use a Chroma 50 Daylight fluorescent which is closer to the original Verilux lamps that GIA used to use in the Diamond Light. https://www.google.com/#q=Chroma+50+daylight Or even regular Daylight fluorescents would probably be closer too. Or Chroma 65 if you want them a little bluer. (higher CCT)
2) I would not line the unit with "bright white" paper. Such papers have fluorescent brighteners in them to make them bright white(Fluorescent Whitening Agents or FWAs). These fluorescent compounds absorb UV-A and Violet light from the fluorescent light and and re-emit blue/cyan light. This makes them appear whiter. You can read all about it here: http://www.soraa.com/public/docs/Whiten ... 1-2013.pdf
The company furnishing the above pdf has some LED light sources that would probably be very good to use. They run on 120 volts AC , or 12 volts DC and are dimmable and would be better than any fluorescent lamp. The lamps are only about $25 each and two of them in sockets would work great. Unfortunately they cannot be made small enough yet to fit into a Gemolite base and are not yet quite as good for colored stones as a halogen or xenon arc lamp would be. But they would probably be great for diamond grading certainly superior to any fluorescent light. They do make great claims for color rendition, red rendition and no UV nor IR. I have not tried one yet but have located my St. Louis dealer for them.
The GIA DiamondLite is lined with non fluorescing white acrylic plastic. The insertion and removal of the Lexan sheet to block the UV leakage from the fluorescent tubes is a relatively new development. But if a lining with brighteners is used(when the Lexan filter is added or removed) the appearance of the background will shift, and the amount of blue light, reaching the diamond, and the graders' eyes will shift too.
A better lining would be a flat white non fluorescent spray paint(Barium White is better than Titanium Dioxide White). White melamine would probably be better too and easy to find at the home depot. Check to make certain it does not fluoresce. Material I have purchased at Home Depot in the past did not fluoresce.
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:33 am Posts: 524 Location: East Coast
There you go Thanks G4Lab for the insight
I was looking to build a collapsible box unit using sheets of non-fluorescing white acrylic plastic and then use self-adhesive Velcro strips to hold everything in place. Along with small tabs so the shelf/platform can be raised or lowered as needed. That way it can be easily packed and carted off-site at a remote location instead of hauling around a large cumbersome Diamond Light that are way over-priced.
I'll have to check out the LED Idea and the other lights you suggested as well
Once again thanks for the input
_________________ High Sierra Gem Lab La Shawn Bauer, G, G, GG, ASG/AGA, CGL/AGA, CGL/IJO, CDG/IJO, RMV, CM/NAJA
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Instead of velcro I would suggest using the pre laminated melamine that both Home Depot and Lowes sell in many sizes and it's easy to cut. In stead of using velcro, use the circular gadgets that they use to assemble knockdown furniture. http://www.woodcraft.com/category/3/100 ... dware.aspx
Woodcraft has lots of schemes for that. Velcro is good if you want it to be portable. But fasteners are available that would be almost as quick and more solid while assembled.
You did mention the Daylight lamp option in one of your pdfs that I just looked at.
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