So, I finally got around to building that Mason Jar “Chandelier”. I’ll give you the basic overview and you can post any questions in the comments section.
Step one: Gather materials:
A box of mason jars, Lamp sockets, Lamp Wire, copper pipe and 45 deg unions.
Also, basic Electrical Know How. If you have never worked with electricity before I would not attempt this project! In fact, for everyone’s safety (and my own legal well being) I’m not suggesting that anyone try this project, I’m just showing you what I did.
Step Two: Drill out the Jar Lids
I used a drill press, as you can see, along with a hole saw.
I used a pipe clamp and some long bolts to hold the jar in place, then you just swap lids to drill the next one. It actually went pretty quickly.
Step Three: Install lamp sockets into lids
Fit the sockets and rings into the jar lids then mark the places where the little tabs hit the lid.
Cut a small slit with a razor knife where each of the tabs is located.
Then you can press the tabs through the slits and fold them over with pliers. This will hold everything securely onto the lid.
Step Four: assemble and wire the lights.
Once you have as many as you need it’s time to wire them up. The lamp sockets have two screws inside which you connect the positive wire to one and the negative to the other.
I do not have good pictures of the wires being installed but it’s pretty basic.
The nice thing about a lamp is that there is no way to install a light bulb “backwards”just make sure the connections are good and secure and nothing is shorted out.
You can simply put a plug on the other end and hang the lights from the ceiling as desired or you can wire them directly into the ceiling.
If you plan on using a copper ring to set several lights through, go on to step 5. If not skip to step 6.
Step Five: Making a copper ring.
I used half inch copper and bought a bag of bulk 45 degree unions off of ebay.
Really you can use any shape you want, I was going to do a circle but it is not possible to bend one as small as I wanted using half inch pipe. so I opted for an octagon instead.
Use a pipe cutter or hacksaw to cut 8 pieces of copper to equal length.
Fit the pieces together to make sure everything is correct. I used lead solder and a torch to connect the pipes but since it doesn’t need to hold water you should be able to use hot glue or just about anything else to connect them.
Once they are all together it is back to the drill press to drill a hole for each wire. This all depends on the size of your chandelier and you could probably get away with using a hand held drill for this step.
Step Six: Hang the thing!
Just run the wires through the ring, (or just bunch them together) at whatever length you like then clip the top of the wires even.
If you have more than about 4 lights, the wires will be too bulky to fit into an electrical box. You will need a separate box in which to connect all of the wires together and then from there have a separate single wire that connects to the wall or plug.
If you are going to wire them in the ceiling make sure to use a metal box with a clamp that will pinch and hold the wires themselves; you never want the weight of the lamp to be on the wire nuts connecting them.
And that’s it! I know I did not give detailed description or pictures of the wiring but if you are not sure what to do, please have someone who is experienced with electricity show you. Be safe and good luck!
-Sean
living/skillfully 