I was so inspired by the incredible chandeliers in the UC Berkeley International House that I decided to try my hand at producing one myself!


 
It takes a bit of patience and fine motor skills, but if you'd like a weekend challenge I say GO FOR IT!

This is what you'll need:

2 wood rings (I used one 24" and one 30" diameter ring)
Several copper or steel 1/4" pipe clamps (I used 22 copper clamps as I had 22 lights)
Several 1/4" brass or steel screws (you'll need two for each clamp)
1 3/4' Candelabra Sockets
18/2 natural cloth covered twisted wire 
Sisal 1/4" rope
leather or waxed cotton twine 
Ceiling canopy
Wire strippers
Screw driver


 
Start by deciding how many lights you would like on each ring and then mark the inside of your rings with where they will be placed. If you are using 22 lights on your top ring, divide the circumference of your ring by 22 and you will find the measurement for the space between each light.


 
Once you have your marks, screw your pipe clamps in, but leave them loose so that you can tighten and secure your sockets once they are wired.


 

 
After you have finished attaching all the clamps to both rings, start your wiring. The wire should be cut to lengths that will fit between each light socket with some room to drape a bit between each socket. Strip both ends of each wire. Take two sections of wire and attach (by twisting together) the stripped ends. Attach the neutral to the neutral, and the load wire to the load wire. The neutral wire will usually be a white or neutral color, while the load wire will be black or red, or in my case, blue.


 
Now take the two wires where they are attached and bring the attached ends up through one of your pipe clamps.


 
Then wire the neutral ends to the neutral screw (usually silver) on your socket, and load/hot wire to the load or positive screw on your socket (usually the brass screw). Now just continue in this way until you have wired all the sockets on your ring. The last socket on each ring will need a long wire that will go all the way up to your canopy.

After wiring each socket, I wrapped a piece of electrical tape around them so that in case the wires happen to touch the copper clamp, they would not short out. Then I secured each socket by slipping it down into the clamp and tightening the clamp screws. Now you can cover the black sockets with their cardboard socket covers.


 

 
Once you have both rings wired, it is time to attach the rings. Divide your ring circumference by 3 to determine where you need to drill your holes to attach your rings with the sisal rope. Your bottom ring will have a total of 3 holes and your top ring will have 6 holes (2 directly in a vertical line with each other).


 
Decide how far below the top ring you would like the lower ring to hang, cut your rope, slip it through the holes and secure the rope by wrapping it with a leather cord or waxed cotton twine. Then attach an additional length of 1/4" sisal rope to the top holes in the top ring. These will be used to hang your light from the ceiling canopy. Be sure to wrap the wire extending from the last socket on each ring around your rope to take it up through the canopy. This is what you will wire to your electrical box. 


 
Voila! You now have a full blown double ringer! I used 25 watt Edison bulbs in my chandelier which I also have on a dimmer switch. They give a nice soft glow.

*PS...I like to get my electrical parts from Grand Brass. They have great service and fantastic prices.
*PPS...I was able to get my wood rings from a cabinet maker with a C&C machine.