Thursday, October 3, 2013

DIY Brass Lindsay Adelman Chandelier - PART THREE

If you're just joining us, this is PART THREE of the Lindsay Adelman chandelier project. Check out the first posts here and here.




1. With all sockets wired and ready to go, we will refocus on the main hub, which has been collecting wiring pairs from each socket. For our chandelier design, there are five pairs of wires. 






Little helper Panda Bear! But seriously, kitty claws are sharp and can puncture the wiring insulation or shred your woven cord as seen above. (Jake knew we'd be taking pictures so he wore his best pair of 90s maternity shorts. You're so welcome.)



2. Begin by separating the wiring pairs. Strip all the wire ends just as we did at each socket. After stripping all 10 wires, tightly twist the individual wire strands into one stiff strand, careful not to break any of the tiny wires.



3. After twisting each wire, group each set of white/black wires and twist them tightly together. Make sure to include every wiring in each pairing and twist them into a stiff and straight line.





4.  Now feed the Rayon braided cloth wiring through the main vertical tube (the one that points toward the ceiling) and pull a few inches out of the hub end (seen above). The braided cloth frays badly when cut, so make a few passes with a cigarette lighter underneath the frayed end to stiffen it enough to pass through the tube (seen below).




5.  After pulling the Rayon wiring through the hub end, cut the cloth back to expose the two individually-wrapped wires inside. Strip each of these about 1".




6. Wrap the twisted pairs (as completed in Step No. 3 above) around the respective wire colors of the Rayon wiring, and add a tightly twisted wire nut onto each group of wire. Make a final check that only white wires are grouped together and that they're touching only white wires, and vice-versa.



7. Wrap each combined wire pair with electrical tape, beginning at the wire nut and working downward as far as you can. Make a final check that no wire strands are exposed, then stuff both pairs into the hub and screw on the brass hub cover.



8.  Add the round hook at the end of the main tube and pass the Rayon wiring through it (above).




9. At this point, your plans may diverge from ours slightly. If you're going ahead with the plug-in option, wire the plug to the other end of the Rayon wiring using the Adelman plug wiring instructions. You will also need to provide a structure on the ceiling which the hook will mount to (a simple garden hook will work), and a method of hanging/swagging the wiring to the ceiling or wall.

Our setup will be hard-wired to the previous light fixture's wiring, and those are the steps shown below.



10.  The switch-out of our old junction box to a new shallower one was briefly described in Part I of this DIY.

SAFETY WARNING!!
You are working with live wiring, and will therefore need to turn your circuit breaker off before you even think about touching the wires in the ceiling. Use a circuit tester (with good batteries) to first test a live socket in the house to ensure the tester is working properly, and then test the wiring in the ceiling to ensure it is off.



11.  We installed our low profile junction box and pulled the wiring through.








12.  Thread the ceiling canopy over the Rayon wiring, and then have someone hold the chandelier while you wire the Rayon wiring to the existing ceiling wiring. Again, use wire nuts and wrap the pairs with electrical tape.


13. At this point, the final step is simply to attach the canopy to the ceiling. Here are some moody evening glamour shots of the chandelier for your enjoyment.





Thanks for sticking with me through three monster posts, and I hope you are feeling inspired and motivated to build yourself a beautiful chandelier. Good luck!!

                                                  

2 comments:

  1. Love this! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Ok this is the coolest thing ever. I am so inspired! I have been wanting a bubble chandelier but the ones I like are larger and pricey. Now I think maybe I can tackle it on my own!

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