A Lottery funded project to restore York Minster’s East Window has been aided by the creation of illuminated workbenches by J Wedgewood and Sons using Applelec’s LED Light Sheet. Providing bright, even illumination, LED Light Sheet has eliminated numerous problems encountered by the Trust’s restoration team using their previous fluorescent tube workbenches.

Created with 5300K colour temperature LEDs, LED Light Sheet provides consistently even illumination across the surface of the two new workbenches, thus eradicating the team’s previous issues of inconsistent light and flickering fluorescent tubes. Both tables have been fitted with dimmer controls enabling brightness to be adjusted to each worker’s preference and project suitability.

Designed and fabricated specifically for York Glaziers Trust by Warrick Gabb of J Wedgewood and Sons, with advice from Applelec and input from the Trust, the new tables have vastly improved working conditions in the studio. The cool running of LED Light Sheet is highly beneficial to the team as is prevents the paint from drying too quickly and leaving uneven and unsatisfactory marks.

Nick Teed, senior conservator at York Glaziers Trust, said: ‘I just wouldn’t look back from LED Light Sheet, as there are so many advantages over fluorescent tubes. I can give you a huge list of the things we needed this technology for; it’s just about every stage of the conservation process but most importantly, we need a cool environment otherwise it’s incredibly difficult to paint on glass. Now we can spend less time worrying about the consistency of the paint and more time focusing on the quality of the work we are doing.’