# Let there be Light! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067 "2014-07-01T03:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/1 "2014-07-01T03:20:49Z")
I just finished [this](https://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/14538874755/) chandelier. The idea, design and construction were all mine- it’s illuminated with high-power LEDs, and consumes around 17W for the equivalent of 100W of incandescent light. I had the LED holders machined to my specifications in China, and the “spider” (the starburst globe holder) laser-cut locally. I spent the last two days cutting and crimping steel-cored fishing leader and stringing Swarovski crystals. (I posted this in the “crafty dopers” thread, but that seems to be played out…) ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/2 "2014-07-01T07:51:01Z")
Wow! Is that ever spiffy! You did one heck of a great job on it! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/3 "2014-07-01T14:48:33Z")
Thank you. We had been looking for a light for our entryway, and we didn’t like anything we saw. My wife mentioned offhand that she always wanted a chandelier, so I decided to make a modern version for her as a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Inter\_Alia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@Inter\_Alia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inter_Alia)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/4 "2014-07-01T15:13:03Z")
I love it! You did a great job! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/5 "2014-07-01T15:18:25Z")
nice! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/6 "2014-07-01T16:23:54Z")
…et Lux erat. Very, very nice. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/7 "2014-07-01T16:28:12Z")
Way cool! Color me impressed **beowulff**! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/8 "2014-07-01T17:22:49Z")
That’s is really nice. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/9 "2014-07-01T17:24:50Z")
Very impressive! If you don’t mind my asking, how many hours did you have to invest in that piece? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/10 "2014-07-01T18:42:23Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Very impressive! > If you don’t mind my asking, how many hours did you have to invest in that piece? It’s an interesting question… There are really two parts to this answer: 1. The “NRE” (Non-Recurring Engineering) time that I spent designing the two fabricated pieces and having them made, and the time I spent choosing and sourcing the globes and crystals, and… 2. The actual assembly once I had everything ready. So, for part (1), it probably took several weeks spread out over a year and a half to get everything ready to assemble. There’s actually kind of a funny story (well, it’s funny if you are an engineer) - the LED holders (the cones under the globes) are actually much more difficult to machine than they would appear to be. There is an off-axis hole drilled in them for the wire, and that makes them hard to manufacture. In fact I had to go to China, because the local machine shop was prohibitively expensive (they wanted $35 ea. - I had them made in China for $10). I would have preferred to keep everything local. Anyway, I’m not a Mechanical engineer, and I know just enough drafting to be dangerous. I drew up the plans for the cones, and then gave them to a friend to check (he _is_ a Mechanical engineer). He agreed that my drawings were correct. So, I sent them to the machine shop in China to be quoted, and they drew their own drawings for my approval and fixed my “mistake.” I red-lined them and put them back they way I had drawn them the first time, and the next round of drawings came back _identical_ to what I had sent the first time. I guess they looked at them and thought “nobody would want _that_ - he must have meant _this_.” In the end, they did a very nice job (although it took 2 months to get the parts). I ended up driving to a local metal supplier and picking out the piece of aluminum (4’ x 10’) I wanted, and then had it sheared to fit in my SUV. I then drove that to the laser-cutting house, and sat with their CAD guy to make sure everything was going to cut the way I expected. A week later, I drove back to pick up the pieces (I had 6 cut). I also spent a lot of time going to bead shops and being crystals on ebay until I got the ones I wanted. I ended up buying them in bulk from Asia (they claim to be Swarovski, but I seriously doubt it). I also needed to test various LEDs. The ones I eded up using are Cree XLAMP neutral-white. They are maybe a little to cool (color temperature), so I may get some slightly warmer-toned ones to try. I also found the globes one ebay, but I ended up buying 24 of them directly from the distributor. As I was playing with the design, I found that regular “zip cord” wire was too stiff - the wire would always get somewhat kinked, and so the loops from the lights to the bottom of the fixture wouldn’t hang right. I ended up spending a lot of time sampling different wire types, and finally found a super-flexible silicone sheathed wire that worked perfectly (expensive, of course). When it came to actually assembling it, my wife went on a trip Wednesday, and was coming back on Sunday, so that put a hard deadline on the project. I probably spent about 12-16 hours over those 5 days getting it all put together. I had to make a fixture to size the support lines to exactly the same length, and machine the hanger which holds everything up (I have a drill press, which helps). The next thing I need to do is figure out how much each one costs… (Now, aren’t you sorry you asked?) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/11 "2014-07-01T19:45:35Z")
That is beautiful. Great job. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/12 "2014-07-01T19:56:22Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > (Now, aren’t you sorry you asked?) Not at all, my background is in engineering so I live that kind of detailed response 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/13 "2014-07-01T20:01:42Z")
If you’re willing to take the time to document it, [instructables.com](http://instructables.com) has a [few different contests](http://www.instructables.com/contest/) that your light is eligible for. There’s some pretty sweet prizes. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/14 "2014-07-01T20:23:41Z")
Very impressive. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/15 "2014-07-01T20:57:28Z")
Very elegant. Well done! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/16 "2014-07-01T21:45:58Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > If you’re willing to take the time to document it, [instructables.com](http://instructables.com) has a [few different contests](http://www.instructables.com/contest/) that your light is eligible for. There’s some pretty sweet prizes. Thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out. And - I really appreciate all the nice comments from everyone! ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/17 "2014-07-02T06:02:22Z")
That’s truly beautiful! If you don’t mind me asking, how much did it cost you? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/18 "2014-07-02T17:06:12Z")
How did you go about finding machinists in China? And what gave you the idea to look to China (I’m guessing your ME friend?)? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/19 "2014-07-02T20:40:34Z")
Very, very impressive **beowulff**. Superb job. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067/20 "2014-07-02T22:42:34Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > That’s truly beautiful! If you don’t mind me asking, how much did it cost you? Thanks for asking, because I needed to do an accounting anyway. It looks like the per-piece cost was around $675. I could probably bring that down a bit with some judicious shopping. The majority of the cost was the crystals. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-there-be-light/692067.md?page=2)