3 Ring Chandelier

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I'm starting a new project, a 3 ring tiered chandelier, to be 1"x1"x1/16" square tube rolled to 3 different diameters. then hung from chain.I have a HF roller and a homemade roller that i started to practice ans see ho each does and how far i can roll this tube and at what difficulty.The other catch is i don't have a 1" square die, these were rolled with a 1 1/2" round die and came out quite well, however I am going to turn 3 new 1" square dies from some 4" derlin rod i have and see how that does. I think am going to roll these into half circles and then weld them together... what do you guys think of this plan? I think the hard part there is going to be getting the radii the exact same.Some pics of my practice rings and my bending stand:and this is my homemade roller which works well for round tubeLast edited by MetalArchitect; 09-25-2009 at 10:16 AM.
Reply:A couple more pics these are the right diameter, I cut and welded them together last night but these pics are prior to that.just have to make sure everything is straight and level then going to weld on 4 hooks to each ring to add the chain that will connect them.
Reply:Your pics are so large that it's also blowin' your text off the right side of the screenIs that an old Ford you got stashed in the garage, beautiful trucks."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:X2 on resizing the picts first.Looks good so far. I'm curious what this is for. I added up all the bulbs and got 1660 watts total! They're going to need a dedicated 15 amp line for this chandelier! .No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Or a sh#tload of candles "Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:I thought of something else. Has any thought been given to how this is to be wired? I'd want the wires to be hidden in the tube, but that would be a real PITA to wire with the rings welded shut. I guess they can just have the wires on the top, but to me that would look like $hit personally.From the plans, I'm guessing this is the standard funny papers from a Designer. All looks and no thought as yo how to make it work in the real world..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:DSW - Drawing note states "Electrician provide dedicated 20amp breaker".  Lower right corner.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:I missed that Duane, good eyes. That print's darn hard to read on my screen..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:C'mon guys, ctrl + is the quick key for zoom Fire!, Fire! Oh wait, that's my torch...Lincoln PT-225 TIGLincoln 175 MIG
Reply:The wiring will be inside each tube ring and then transfer between tubes where the chain connects as to hide the wiring. The wiring will also travel up the chain to the junction box.Holes will be drilled in the tube where each socket will be mounted, I'm hoping I can snake through a string or small wire so i can loop the wire through than snag it and pull up the 2 wires through each hole. I would have put eh wire in prior to welding the tube but the hole thing will be powder coated and oven cured.With that many bulbs and dealing in NYC I insist on a licensed Electrician to install and make sure that a dedicated circuit is available to handle the chandelierI design, draft, and fabricate, so I don;t need crazy shop drawings because I'm working from my own plans and usually know how I'll handle the project prior to drafting though sometimes will run into a problem or you guys find a problem for me Last edited by MetalArchitect; 10-07-2009 at 01:05 AM.
Reply:Sam,yeah that's a 1976 Ford Bronco that's slowly getting a frame off, though the tub is all fiberglass. The rust was so bad I decided to scrap most of the sheet metal. Can't wait to get i back on the road!!
Reply:I've got that HF tube roller still sitting in its box.  I'm impressed you were able to roll the square tube on the round dies without it twisting or kinking.  I've been planning to take one of HF's 1/2" square tubing dies and (somehow) machine it out so it will roll 1" tubing -- but maybe I don't need to do that.Thanks for posting this.  Any more details on how you did the bending and any special steps you had to take would be appreciated.Jack OlsenMy garage website
Reply:Again please resize the picts so we can read all your text.You might want to do some tests on how you plan to wire this before you go too far. Especially before you have it coated in case you need to make some changes. I can see the posibility of you having to cut a groove in the top of the rings to wire it.Most small light sockets like I think you will use, will have an threaded rod with and I.D. of about a 1/4". I usually find that standard lamp cord (18/2) is a PITA to get thru the tube and around tight bends. You will need 2 sets of wires (4 individual wires total, 1 neut. in and 1 out, 1 hot in and 1 out) to each light socket to make this work right. If you just use only 2 wires you will end up running the bulbs in series and if one goes out, they all will. My guess is that you will end up needing to use individual stranded wire to do this instead of lamp cord, probably 14 Gage minimum (15amp) if you run them all on one line. You might be able to get away with smaller Gage wires if you break up the bulb groups. Run 4 groups on the 2 largest rings and run the feeds up to the top. The electrical guru's here can probably tell you how small on wire size you can go for a certain number of bulbs. Unfortunately stranded wire looks like crap compared to lamp cord on the chains..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:sorry! Pics resized!I under stand what you mean by 4 wires, but if i pull in 2 wires around the whole loop, than through each hole pull up the 2 wires to make a small loop out of each hole, than cut that loop, I than have 4 wires... 2 hot and 2 neutral...I am hoping to drill the holes for each lamp than tie a small bolt to the end of a string and than pass it thru one one... than rotate the ring (leaving some slack in the string) so the bolt will roll around the ring and pull the string thru till i get it out the same hole it went in! Than tie the end of the string to the 2 wires and pull it back thru the way it came I like to assemble everything prior to paint (kinda like the truck in the back ground) to make sure everything is 100% and doesn't need anymore grinding. So I'll test this out and see if it flys.thanks for the replys
Reply:Finally got the lamp sockets and bulbs...it has 60 bulbs and the sockets are recessed into the tube and secured from underneath with a small hook that screws into the sockets hickey. The 3/4" hole that each socket fits into should make it easier to wire.
Reply:Good looking chandelier, but holy cow that is a LOT of bulbs!  Must be one heck of a large room for that beast.
Reply:Nice looking chandelier!  And I agree - that is a LOT of light bulbs!  Is this going in an entryway?
Reply:thanks, I think once its coated black and has a couple gold accent pieces it should look real sharp...was hoping for bigger diameter bulbs. But this was the largest size in the candle base.The unit will hang above a stair in a bar in lower Manhattan.
Reply:got the rings and chain back from the powder coater...they look great also got most of the sockets wired in the biggest ring I would finish up the big ring tonight but the rest of the sockets are out in the garage and its raining cats and dogs outside.tomorrow this should be finished up!
Reply:Almost done.... Still have to trim the chain to proper length, and set the decorative chain the hangs below the ringsI didn't want to run all the lights on the outlet i plugged it into.Last edited by MetalArchitect; 10-25-2009 at 11:11 PM.
Reply:Looks great.  Interested to see it installed.Miller Millermatic 212... and that's about it... for now...
Reply:Cant wait to see this hung.Chris