The spider light is the reason many people start building their own lights in the first place: one ceiling outlet, three or more light points, and the cables arc across the ceiling to exactly where the light is needed. Over the dining table, over the kitchen island, in the corner of a room with no connection. Here are the instructions for three drops – four or five work the same way, just with more hooks.
Materials for three outlets
A ceiling rose with three holes (metal cylinder or wood, with three strain reliefs and a connector with at least three outlets), three ceiling hooks for fabric cable, three lamp holders with strain relief, three light bulbs and fabric cable sold by the metre. Tools: drill with a 6 mm masonry bit, three wall plugs, slotted screwdriver, wire strippers, spirit level or laser, folding rule, pencil.
Step 1: mark the positions on the ceiling
Light points first, then the hooks. For a dining table 180 cm long, the three light points sit 55 to 60 cm apart above the centre of the table. Mark the three points on the ceiling in pencil – vertically above where the lamp holder will hang later. The ceiling hook goes exactly there, because from the hook the cable drops vertically.
Step 2: Calculate the cable lengths
Each outlet consists of two sections: the swag from the ceiling rose to the hook and the vertical drop from the hook to the lamp holder. For the swag, take the straight distance from ceiling rose to hook and multiply it by 1.5 – then the cable hangs in a nice curve instead of being pulled taut. Example: distance 80 cm × 1.5 = 120 cm swag, plus 90 cm drop from hook to lamp holder = 210 cm of visible cable per outlet. Add 15 cm for the connection inside the ceiling rose. In the configurator you enter the length per outlet, and the allowance is added automatically.
If you can't decide, order 30 cm extra per outlet. You can always shorten, never lengthen.
Step 3: Fit the hook
Drill at the marked points, insert wall plugs, screw in the hooks. In concrete ceilings, a 6 mm wall plug is enough for a fabric cable with lamp holder and bulb (under 500 g per drop). In plasterboard ceilings, use a cavity anchor or hit a batten. Suspended plasterboard ceilings without a substructure hold a hook with a toggle anchor without any problem, as long as no heavy metal shade hangs from it.
Step 4: Connect the lamp holders
Same as for a single pendant: feed the cable through the lamp holder's cable grip, remove 4 cm of sheath, strip the cores by 8 mm, into the lamp holder's terminals, tighten the cable grip. With 3x0.75 cable, connect the protective earth (green-yellow) to the earth terminal if the lamp holder is metal. You do this three times on the floor before anything goes up on the ceiling.
Step 5: Wire the ceiling rose
Feed three cables from below through the ceiling rose's three strain reliefs, strip 15 cm of sheath from each, strip the cores. In the connector, all three L cores (brown or black) go into the L block, all three N cores (blue) into the N block, earth conductors into the PE block. Then add the ceiling cable: L to L, N to N, PE to PE. Tighten the strain reliefs, hook or screw the ceiling rose onto the ceiling plate, push the cover up.
Switch off the power at the fuse box first and check with a voltage tester that the circuit is dead. If you've never wired a ceiling connection before, read our article Fitting a ceiling rose first, or order the kit pre-assembled – then all that's left is to connect the ceiling cable.
Step 6: lay the cable in the hooks and align it
Lay each cable in its hook and slide the arc so that the lamp holder hangs vertically below the hook. The arcs should all sag by the same amount – the eye notices differences of two centimetres. Only then screw in the bulbs and switch on.
The three typical mistakes
First: hooks too close to the ceiling rose – then you get a corner instead of an arc. At least 50 cm apart. Second: cable ordered to the exact length and cut short while stripping – the allowance isn't a luxury. Third: different drop heights by accident. If you want different heights (a lovely effect over round tables), plan them deliberately with 15 to 20 cm between them; a random 5 cm looks like a mistake.
You'll find matching starting points with real products in the configurator under “Spider with 3 drops” or as the ready-made set Spider Drei Kupfer.