Making Industrial Mixer Whisk Pendant Lights

Industrial Whisk Lighting Project

April 2014

 

I picked up these industrial whisks on Ebay some time ago and we finally get around to turning them into hanging lights for the kitchen.  They are 10-13 quart sized whisks from Hobart mixers.  I have been waiting for this project for months.

Here's how large the whisks are compared to my hand.  Best part of this project is that no whisks were harmed in anyway, so just in case you ever get an industrial mixer and need to whip up, I don't know, say 13 quarts worth of egg whites, you can just take apart your light fixture. 

You will also need some 1/6" twisted metal cable.   We picked this up at Ace Hardware.  They sell it by the foot.

 

Some 1/6" Ferrules and Stops and a washer for each whisk.  The two packages above are both Ferrule and Stop sets from different manufacturers.  You will need one pack (two ends) per light.   What size of washers?

Depends on the size of your whisk.  You want the washer to be narrow enough to slide in through the slot in the whisk.  But the whisk narrows at the top, so the washer needs to be large enough that it wedges in the whisk and can't fit through the top diameter.  The picture above probably illustrates this better than I can explain it.

We are starting with three regular mini pendant light fixtures you can get them from the big box store.

Step 1-  turn off the power to the lights, unless you really like to live dangerously and don't care for your eyebrows

Disconnect your light fixture.

And mark the wires for easy reassembly later.

Measure how long low you want your light to hang.

Loop one end the wire through the washer and secure by running it through a Ferrule and squeezing the metal together.  Run the wire through the whisk and wedge the washer in the top as pictured above.

Run the other end of the wire through the light fixture's base.

You will need to hold up your light fixture and trim the wire to slightly shorter than the lights electrical cord so that it supports the weight of the light.  This picture demonstrates the difference in length.

Secure the other end of the wire in the base with the second Ferrule stop.

Rewire your light fixture, insert light bulb, and that's it.

I found several whisks with different sizes and shapes.

And when you're all done, turn the power back on.