Should have used a raking light

[JSpill]

I just finished the first of four grandfather clocks I promised my children. I was very happy when it left my basement shop to go to its new home. Upon seeing it in my son's living room I became disappointed when I noticed the shoddy sanding job I did on it. The natural light in his living room revealed several sanding mistakes that went unnoticed in my shop. I could have done a better job if I had used a bright light to run over the surface to highlight where more sanding needed to be done. In the future I intend to closely look at the surface that was sanded using a bright light at various angles.
If you are somebody that uses a raking light procedure when sanding, what kind of light do you use?

[EricU]

I just use a clip-on light, actually a nice one with a magnetic base.  I find I have to move it around to really do a good job of seeing problems.  I am happy that led bulbs are so cheap, I would go through bulbs relatively quickly because I drop the light occasionally

[MichaelMouse]

Another thing you might try is a water wipe and high angle flashlight sweep.  Torn fiber will absorb more, and show dark.

[Steve N]

If you have any shadows in your shop you may want to increase the number of lights, especially in the area where you finish. I used to have unseen finishing problems, they magically disappeared when I added lighting.

[fredhargis]

There may be better things, but I just use one of the clamp-on reflector lights with a BR30 bulb in it.  I'm not sure it's important exactly what light you use. I've even held boards up in the sunlight to see if there were problems.

[frigator]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00251...UTF8&psc=1

I use this lamp attached to bench...has two kinds of bulbs in it and long arm so you can swing it to the side and see the piece at various angles.

[jteneyck]

I don't know if this applies to you, Jim, but I had a hard time seeing scratches because of my poor close up vision.  I found if I wear safety glasses with 2X magnifiers that I can see them just fine.  I also added several 4' LED shop lights to improve the lighting in key areas, especially as relates to finishing. 

John

[daddo]

Of all the projects I've done in all these years, I can count on one hand the number of times I may have had a perfect finish no matter the lighting or the methods I use. I have a lot of talent but finishing is not one of them.

It is good to know though, it can be achieved by some.

Some woodworkers here astonish me.