How do you make a feature of something as mundane as a ceiling rose? (For those not from the UK - a ceiling rose is local speak for the thi...
How do you make a feature of something as mundane as a ceiling rose? (For those not from the UK - a ceiling rose is local speak for the thing on the ceiling from which you hang a light. It's purpose is to provide both mechanical and electrical support for a light).
Faced with a requirement to provide a feature light in an entrance hall we faced just this challenge. We could, of course, just go to a standard electrical wholesaler and avail ourselves of the standard white plastic type, perhaps take a trip upmarket and go for something with the "antique style" description (typically this should be read as a warning as opposed an incitement to buy) or consider going fully bespoke.
Fully bespoke did appeal; we could machine something (in fact you'll see just this approach with another light project) in our chosen material(s) and style but then our eBay addiction once again paid dividends with the ideal solution; a GEC FLP industrial ceiling rose.
What we're talking about here is a cast iron item, FLP stamped (this means it's flameproof), heavy and falling firmly into our favourite category of re-using combined with machining (we'd need to make adapter(s) and some special mountings).
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| Flameproof ceiling rose (not available at B&Q) |
To solve this little conumdrum we used the ideas explored when we installed the large doorbell (see You Rang?) when we created machined nuts that look like bolts and had them engage on a stud. So at the workshop we created two threaded nuts, two small washers and two largish standoff washers from hex stock. We also cut some M6 studding which we use to turn those threaded nuts into bolts.
At the site we drilled holes in the ceiling and then used M6 Intersets from Rawlplug (use the setting tool it makes all the difference). We removed the M6 bolt supplied as part of the Interset which left, in effect, a captive M6 nut in the ceiling.
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| Fixing (L > R) - threaded nut, small washer, standoff, threaded stud and interset |
Whilst at the workshop we also machined an adapter to allow us to use a M20 wiring gland in the M25 exit from the ceiling rose and a bush to hide the wiring exiting the back of the rose and into the ceiling (the standoff washers meant the rose would sit some 15mm off the ceiling).
We also needed to add a proper earth to the rose so a hole was drilled and tapped allowing us to bolt an earth point in place. Note - this is a critical safety aspect that cannot be overlooked!
Installation was now relatively simple; the lighting power was switched off at the consumer unit and the M6 studs super-glued into the threaded nuts we'd made. We then used these "bolts" to bolt the rose to the ceiling after threading the wiring through the bush and into the rose.
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| Parts 2 Go! |
This was a feature light - the point was to look good not to provide security light levels of illumination. With that in mind we selected one of the increasingly available squirrel cage light bulbs. These have a relatively low light output (40w is about the maximum) but have an elaborate internal filament which combined with the external bulb design make for a very cool look. You'll be seeing another one of these used in another project hinted at in "The Pipeline: enahpoloH"
This was a great little project for us; it combined our passions of re-using and machining to create something which is unusual and meets the brief.
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| Light triptych |
Explosion Proof/FLP
You'll see this quite often when looking at vintage industrial electrical items - it doesn't quite mean what you may think it does. The items themselves are not explosion proof per-se (or flameproof) - rather they are rated to contain any spark, naked flame with the confines of the fitting and are therefore safe to use in environments that present an explosion risk.- [message]
- Warning!
- Finally to safety; electricity is great, without it our world be a darker place in so many ways BUT it can kill you. If you have any doubt at all about what you're doing just stop. It's not worth it, really it isn't - you can't appreciate your cool stuff if you're dead.
