After living for close to two years without enough live/work light I decided to make a lighting fixture. One that would meet my specific needs without costing an arm and a leg. I had long thought of putting light bulbs in the hundreds of peanut butter and applesauce jars that I had eaten my way through. I had also collected my fair share of mason jars and thought that they too could make for an inexpensive solution. In the end I chose the mason jars as they don't come with sticky and hard to remove manufactures' labels and I wouldn't have to wait until I ate my way through ten jars of Crazy Richard's chunky peanut butter.
Before I went about an actual design, I searched the web to see if anyone had built a chandelier made from mason jars or similar. I came across several do-it-your-selfers. The best was posted by Our Hiding Place which led me to Pottery Barn's Exeter 16 Jar Pendant Chandelier. It's a really nice design and lists for $399. I was determined to customize mine and make it for less but I wanted detailed step-by-step instructions and I wasn't finding them anywhere.
First thing I did was to determine how much light I needed and what the electrical requirements would be. (Disclosure: I am not an electrician and am not recommending voltage or wiring. Each State has their own codes regarding home wiring. Also, the following instructions will not guide you on how to wire the ceiling leads and wall switch.)
The space where I planned on having the chandelier is over my dining/art table. (I built the table to again, suit my particular needs.) There is an existing electrical port in the ceiling that unfortunately, due to inept design is positioned too close to one wall restricting the width of a ceiling fixture. After identifying the maximum voltage I could then decide on the number of jars and matching bulb wattage. (Voltage, watts and amps are different. Again, I am not an electrician but am lucky enough to have a friend who is one hell of an incredible licensed electrician. If you don't know what you're doing, consult a licensed electrician.)
Based on my space and lighting needs, I decided on 10 jars with 25 watt bulbs. (Before you decide on the jars and the bulbs make sure the bulbs will fit inside the jars.) I tested different jars and bulbs first, before committing to the final design. I wanted to make sure that the heat generated from the bulbs wouldn't cause the jars to break or create condensation inside the jars. For the tests I purchased a simple lamp cord kit from the local hardware store. (It's a cord with a plug on one end and a socket on the other.) I already had a couple of mason jars on hand. My test proved successful so I ordered the rest of the needed parts. (See list on last Step or visit: http://brucekatlin.blogspot.com/ which includes links to vendors' sites.)
Before I went about an actual design, I searched the web to see if anyone had built a chandelier made from mason jars or similar. I came across several do-it-your-selfers. The best was posted by Our Hiding Place which led me to Pottery Barn's Exeter 16 Jar Pendant Chandelier. It's a really nice design and lists for $399. I was determined to customize mine and make it for less but I wanted detailed step-by-step instructions and I wasn't finding them anywhere.
First thing I did was to determine how much light I needed and what the electrical requirements would be. (Disclosure: I am not an electrician and am not recommending voltage or wiring. Each State has their own codes regarding home wiring. Also, the following instructions will not guide you on how to wire the ceiling leads and wall switch.)
The space where I planned on having the chandelier is over my dining/art table. (I built the table to again, suit my particular needs.) There is an existing electrical port in the ceiling that unfortunately, due to inept design is positioned too close to one wall restricting the width of a ceiling fixture. After identifying the maximum voltage I could then decide on the number of jars and matching bulb wattage. (Voltage, watts and amps are different. Again, I am not an electrician but am lucky enough to have a friend who is one hell of an incredible licensed electrician. If you don't know what you're doing, consult a licensed electrician.)
Based on my space and lighting needs, I decided on 10 jars with 25 watt bulbs. (Before you decide on the jars and the bulbs make sure the bulbs will fit inside the jars.) I tested different jars and bulbs first, before committing to the final design. I wanted to make sure that the heat generated from the bulbs wouldn't cause the jars to break or create condensation inside the jars. For the tests I purchased a simple lamp cord kit from the local hardware store. (It's a cord with a plug on one end and a socket on the other.) I already had a couple of mason jars on hand. My test proved successful so I ordered the rest of the needed parts. (See list on last Step or visit: http://brucekatlin.blogspot.com/ which includes links to vendors' sites.)
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Signing UpStep 1: Create Pilot Hole Template For Jar Lids
I decided to drill and wire the jars first, build the unit that would house the wiring after and then mount it to the ceiling. Being married to a hat designer helps with measurements. Together, we created a pilot hole template to drill through the lids of the jars where half of the metal nipple and wire passes through. I placed the paper pilot hole template on each lid and then screwed the outer piece of the locking lid on and marked the centered hole in preparation for drilling.
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Bruce
You can purchase individual lamp cord kits. The ones that IKEA sells are very popular. You can either connect them to a power strip or cut the plug ends off, piggy-back them into one cord. The instructions that this designer used will help you: http://www.sproutingoff.com/?p=206
Good luck and let me know how it works out.
Cast about for a electrical product called a terminal block. Radio Shack probably has them, and many places on line. They come in sizes from one wire to dozens. They insulate the connections and cover some of them cover the connections to prevent accidental shocks.
They look as professional as bus bars, if not moreso. I do like that repurposed bus bars by the way, they certainly are handy.
Find nylon washer and bolts, if nothing else, to raise and insulate your bus bars. Available at hardware stores that have the whole aisle of nuts/bolts/fasteners/wingthingies.
That said, VERY nice looking. Nice proportions. Really well done.
Cheers,
Fin
Terminal blocks are used to connect 2 wires unless a jumper strip is used.
The lamp cord should have only enough insulation removed to expose approx.
1/4" of wire exposed. Electrical tape is only a band aid.
I do like the lamp.
Joe
Safety was my number one concern when building this project. (Electricity scares me). As I wrote in the introduction to the project, I consulted an electrician, as I am not one. Strehlow's comment is correct that, the wired socket pictured is incorrectly wired, (I would have replaced the photos if, I had taken them) I did wire all ten correctly as noted.
Regarding the bus bars being attached directly to the wood: the ceiling is 4' sealed concrete. There are no water sources above however, I agree that the bus bars be place "inside a plastic or metal box within the wooden one" or use Fin's suggestion of using nylon washers to raise the bus bar from off the wood.
Lastly, the screws that attached the sides of the wooden box are accessible, as I puttied them lightly enough for easy location.
Thank you to both Fin and Strehlow for their helpful comments.
Just a thought, but tinning the ends of the wire will keep it from fraying and give better electrical connections.
When placing the wires on the terminals in the sockets, always go around the screw clockwise. This is so the wire gets wrapped tighter as you tighten the screw. On yours, the wire is being pushed out from under the screw head as it is tightened.
Since the socket is hanging from the wire, it must have a strain relief. Typically this would be an "underwriter's knot." Another knot must be at the top. Do not rely on the electrical connections to be structural.
http://hope.edu/academic/engineering/labs/Electricity_Lab/Figures.html
Dropping a ground wire which is attached to the nipple to support the weight would be better. This is especially important as if one of the socket wires do pull off, the metal ring holding the jar in place could be energized.
Regarding the connections inside the box. The bus bars are fine for that but they cannot be attached directly to the wood. They must be on approved insulators. If water gets in there, the wood will become conductive and could start burning or be a shock hazard. And wood is not an approved electrical box. The connections should be inside a plastic or metal box within the wooden one.
A better solution would be to use crimp connectors to gather up all the wires down to a set of pigtails to connect to the in-wall wiring. That would probably be a bit cheaper than the grounding rails too.
The polarity must be maintained too. Yes, it is AC, but the two wires coming out of the box in the ceiling are not equal. The white one is grounded and the black or red is hot. The white wires must connect to the outside of the lamp sockets and the hot wire to the center terminal. This is so if someone changes a bulb with the power on, they don't get shocked touching the base of the bulb.
Finally, the box needs to be accessible. The screws cannot be puttied over. Any point where wires have connections must have an access point. So some other hanging approach would be preferred. A simple approach is to use another nipple protruding through the center that is attached to the ceiling with a flange, and then have a decorative cap nut to hold the box to the ceiling.
I was curious though: your ceiling looks like it's made of concrete, or perhaps panels of something. It goes very well with the chandelier but I was wondering what it was made of.