I like your vise mounting idea. Having the ability to swing it out of the way when not in use is clever. I would like to see a closer view of the way it is connected to the bench.
There's a better view of the swing arm vise in last week's video, ua-cam.com/video/XTTN1T76tzo/v-deo.html about pulling wires around corners. The mount is a 3/4 bolt through the bench slab and the sawhorse frame.
@@BronZeage I made the sliding base this morning. I will get a long enough bolt today and drill the hole in the 2x6 top and into or near the 2x6 cross member. Thanks for the idea and info.
@@BronZeage I bought a 1/2” carriage bolt hoping the carriage head on the underside of the work bench will stop any spinning when tightened on the top of the table.. If it is unstable I have the option of upsizing the bolt the base or adding a c-clamp etc. this will work perfect as i have an old 4.5” craftsman Vise that I restored, and the swivel base was damaged beyond repair so it is currently bolted solidly to a oak 1x6 which is c-clamped to the bench. this system is going to be the swivel mechanism. You have a brilliant idea.
I’m restoring a chandelier, it currently has 12/2 wire, and I was wondering if its safe to use 14/2 wire, to make it easier to pull the wires through the arms, plus since I’ll be using LED bulbs in it?
@@anthonywalsh7778 14 and 12 gauge are overkill for a chandelier. Regular lamp cord is 18 gauge. For most chandeliers, I use 20/2 wire. It's easier to pull through an arm and for external wiring, it lays down better. It's a short run for a single bulb. A lot of the chandeliers I see are European and most use a wire equivalent to our 22 gauge. I always use 18 gauge for the trunk wire.
So Home Depot was a bust for wiring. My chandelier has 8 lights that will be LED bulbs. Would running 18/2 for the whole chandelier be sufficient/safe? For the runs from the lights and the trunk line? Thank you again!
@anthonywalsh7778 18/2 is fine for the arms and the trunk. As shown in all the videos, the wire under the screws is tinned and the connection is soldered.
I would not do that. If the liquid weld does not have the same conductivity as the copper wire, it could create heat which shorten bulb life and damage the socket. When I have an 8 light or larger chandelier, I melt solder in a small pot and dip all the wires in a row. This requires applying resin flux to the wires first.
We found a chandelier exactly like this in a salvage shop in New Orleans! Thanks to your videos we are going to rewire it for an old place in Nola we are renovating. We soldered new 18 gage lamp wire to the old wire, but it just will not go through the arm, using the smallest solder possible. We are using beeswax, too. Any more tips? Can we use smaller wire just for the arms? Many thanks!
I use 20/2 wire for most chandelier arms and 18/2 for the trunk. Cast brass arms often have rough spots that catches the wire. Sometimes it's possible to pull from the opposite direction without snagging. I'm in Baton Rouge, so in the worst case, you can bring it to the Lab.
We finished our chandelier!! It is stunning! We wouldn’t have attempted without this video. So much better than the several thousand dollar fixtures that were the inspiration. I think it totaled about $200 and looks so much more impressive. Thank you soooo much!
@@claytonb3377 I use 20gauge lamp cord for the arms and 18(SPT1 or SPT2) for the trunk wire. When Im rewiring a chandelier for a dealer, I use a cord set, which makes it easier to display.
Hello, I have received a 28” Spanish Chandelier from the 1940’s. Unfortunately it sustained an impact in shipping with one branch about 15-degrees bent inward and another about 10-degrees. I have it mounted and working. Would appreciate any guidance on whether I should risk bending the branches back. Also thinking about adding shims at the housing. It’s a glorious chandelier.
It depends on how bad the bend is. There's a limit to how much brass can be deformed before it becomes brittle and will crack. This sounds like it can be straightened by hand.
It's best to remove the arm and put it in a vise with wood pads on the jaws. Put the bend at the edge of the jaws and gently press it back straight. It's possible to do this on the fixture, but this requires enough strength to hold both ends of the arm.
@@joecoty3981 You are very welcome. I have several videos about straightening and repairing chandeliers that were so badly damaged, heat was needed to get them right. Spanish brass tends to be fairly soft, so you should be able to get all the arms even.
Hi there, I really appreciate your great work space and great efforts. I am in the process of rewiring an Italian brass sconce. Problem is the incredibly sharp turn the brass tube is making. Racking my mind on a sollution! I have 4 to rewire with 5 brass tubes in each. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
Okay. Please watch last weeks video about wiring a sconce which has a 90 degree turn. There are several tricks to this, each one getting successively more extreme.
That depends on local building codes. It's not required in my area. Modern light fixture come with a ground wire. A ground wire makes it likely a breaker will trip sooner if a short occurs and less likely to shock a person. I seldom see a ground wire in vintage or antique light. There's no reason not to have one, but the risk of short circuits is very low. All the chandeliers I have seen that were tripping breakers suffered from a problem that existed when installed. An inspection would have found the problem.
I like your vise mounting idea. Having the ability to swing it out of the way when not in use is clever. I would like to see a closer view of the way it is connected to the bench.
There's a better view of the swing arm vise in last week's video, ua-cam.com/video/XTTN1T76tzo/v-deo.html about pulling wires around corners. The mount is a 3/4 bolt through the bench slab and the sawhorse frame.
@@BronZeage I made the sliding base this morning. I will get a long enough bolt today and drill the hole in the 2x6 top and into or near the 2x6 cross member. Thanks for the idea and info.
@@Rusty_ok I said 3/4 bolt, but it's actually 5/8. The slot is 3/4.
@@BronZeage I bought a 1/2” carriage bolt hoping the carriage head on the underside of the work bench will stop any spinning when tightened on the top of the table.. If it is unstable I have the option of upsizing the bolt the base or adding a c-clamp etc. this will work perfect as i have an old 4.5” craftsman Vise that I restored, and the swivel base was damaged beyond repair so it is currently bolted solidly to a oak 1x6 which is c-clamped to the bench. this system is going to be the swivel mechanism. You have a brilliant idea.
@@Rusty_ok Thank you again. The reason I made the swing arm vise is I need a way to hold chandelier arms, without taking them off the chandelier.
I like you use of the shrink tubing, it works well in tight spaces.
Don't tell anyone, but in a previous life, I worked on cars. Solder and shrink wrap is "best practice" for repairing automotive wire harnesses.
Thank you for this. So many helpful tips and details I wouldn't have thought of. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
You are very welcome and Thank you as well.
I’m restoring a chandelier, it currently has 12/2 wire, and I was wondering if its safe to use 14/2 wire, to make it easier to pull the wires through the arms, plus since I’ll be using LED bulbs in it?
@@anthonywalsh7778 14 and 12 gauge are overkill for a chandelier. Regular lamp cord is 18 gauge. For most chandeliers, I use 20/2 wire. It's easier to pull through an arm and for external wiring, it lays down better. It's a short run for a single bulb. A lot of the chandeliers I see are European and most use a wire equivalent to our 22 gauge. I always use 18 gauge for the trunk wire.
Holy cow! Really? I guess I’ll go with the thinner gauge wire. Thank you so much!
@anthonywalsh7778 You are very welcome.
So Home Depot was a bust for wiring. My chandelier has 8 lights that will be LED bulbs. Would running 18/2 for the whole chandelier be sufficient/safe? For the runs from the lights and the trunk line? Thank you again!
@anthonywalsh7778 18/2 is fine for the arms and the trunk. As shown in all the videos, the wire under the screws is tinned and the connection is soldered.
Bron I was wondering if instead of tinning the end of The Wire could you just dip the end into some liquid weld
I would not do that. If the liquid weld does not have the same conductivity as the copper wire, it could create heat which shorten bulb life and damage the socket. When I have an 8 light or larger chandelier, I melt solder in a small pot and dip all the wires in a row. This requires applying resin flux to the wires first.
Thank you. Good info.
We found a chandelier exactly like this in a salvage shop in New Orleans! Thanks to your videos we are going to rewire it for an old place in Nola we are renovating. We soldered new 18 gage lamp wire to the old wire, but it just will not go through the arm, using the smallest solder possible. We are using beeswax, too. Any more tips? Can we use smaller wire just for the arms? Many thanks!
I use 20/2 wire for most chandelier arms and 18/2 for the trunk. Cast brass arms often have rough spots that catches the wire. Sometimes it's possible to pull from the opposite direction without snagging. I'm in Baton Rouge, so in the worst case, you can bring it to the Lab.
Thank you! We will try the 20/2 in the arms and keep you posted. Really enjoying all the videos
@@user-lm8ok2bj1u Thank you as well. When you are in Baton Rouge, please stop by the Lab to say hello.
We look forward to that!
We finished our chandelier!! It is stunning! We wouldn’t have attempted without this video. So much better than the several thousand dollar fixtures that were the inspiration. I think it totaled about $200 and looks so much more impressive. Thank you soooo much!
what gauge of wire did u use for the arms and for the main one going to the ceiling?
@@claytonb3377 I use 20gauge lamp cord for the arms and 18(SPT1 or SPT2) for the trunk wire. When Im rewiring a chandelier for a dealer, I use a cord set, which makes it easier to display.
Hello, I have received a 28” Spanish Chandelier from the 1940’s. Unfortunately it sustained an impact in shipping with one branch about 15-degrees bent inward and another about 10-degrees. I have it mounted and working. Would appreciate any guidance on whether I should risk bending the branches back. Also thinking about adding shims at the housing. It’s a glorious chandelier.
It depends on how bad the bend is. There's a limit to how much brass can be deformed before it becomes brittle and will crack. This sounds like it can be straightened by hand.
It's best to remove the arm and put it in a vise with wood pads on the jaws. Put the bend at the edge of the jaws and gently press it back straight. It's possible to do this on the fixture, but this requires enough strength to hold both ends of the arm.
Thank you, even if I can split the difference. Much appreciate the replies. I do have a traditional bench with wood vises.
@@joecoty3981 You are very welcome. I have several videos about straightening and repairing chandeliers that were so badly damaged, heat was needed to get them right. Spanish brass tends to be fairly soft, so you should be able to get all the arms even.
Hi there, I really appreciate your great work space and great efforts. I am in the process of rewiring an Italian brass sconce. Problem is the incredibly sharp turn the brass tube is making. Racking my mind on a sollution! I have 4 to rewire with 5 brass tubes in each. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
Okay. Please watch last weeks video about wiring a sconce which has a 90 degree turn. There are several tricks to this, each one getting successively more extreme.
@@BronZeage I will, many thanks.
Does this chandelier require a ground wire
That depends on local building codes. It's not required in my area. Modern light fixture come with a ground wire. A ground wire makes it likely a breaker will trip sooner if a short occurs and less likely to shock a person. I seldom see a ground wire in vintage or antique light. There's no reason not to have one, but the risk of short circuits is very low. All the chandeliers I have seen that were tripping breakers suffered from a problem that existed when installed. An inspection would have found the problem.
Nothing wrong with that wire .
Just put a drop of locktite on the brass screw tighten , and use a little wire wheel with dremel
I'm not sure if you mean reusing wire. I don't do that on customer work.
Trying not to panic with old wire being lodged inside.
Never panic.