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beehive super rabbet

18K views 42 replies 15 participants last post by  TWheels 
#1 ·
The sides of a beehive super box have a sort of tapered rabbet cut in them making it easy to pick it up. See picture. How is this produced?
 

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#6 · (Edited)
Hand pocket hole with the cove Vertical bit

Vertical Raised Panel Router Bit
#1703 Cove 1-5/8" 1/2" $25.00!
MLCS Raised Panel Carbide Tipped Router Bits 2

To put into to place,chuck up the bit in the router table,setup two stop blocks,push the stock into the bit,make a pass or two it's taking a ton of stock out.. :)
You may need to use the
MLCS Router Collet Extension
http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/router_collet.htmlMLCS Router Collet Extension

to get it deeper off the edge of the board :)
But it should be easy and quick job ..
You can also just glue on a top edge to the board after the bit has done the job if you don't want to use the Collet Extension,,some dowels or some screws will hold the top edge in place..:)



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#7 ·
My problem is that the profile is not cut into the edge of the board but in the center to be used as a recessed handle. Gluing bits on the board is undesirabe as the board is exposed to the weather (it's the side of a beehive) and since the hive could weigh 100 lbs, the handle has to be strong and secure. One hundred pounds of honey and angry bees all over your shoes could ruin your whole day!
 
#9 ·
Welcome Bill! I can see that you have your name and state, I am sorry, if it sounded that i didn't want to respond, but that isn't true. I was in the middle of posting, and had to leave. Glad that you are here, and i hope you are enjoying the forums. Howard,
 
#10 · (Edited)
Hi Bill, As a beekeeper who makes 1000's of supers, you would have trouble cutting the handle with a router. Try using Dado's on your bench saw. Clamp two stops to the fence. Using the front stop lower the super end onto the dado and push to the other stop. While this gives a "square" edge top and bottom it makes for an easy handle but won't turn any water which may lodge in the cavity. A 30mm X 130mm dado makes a comfortable handle
 
#12 · (Edited)
The problem with a RAS is shavings in the
eye and the saw gets in the way of the work and makes the job potentially dangerous. However to do it safely with a bench saw, have good clamps to stop the super end from kicking back. You are removing a large quantity of timber if you do it with one depth setting and START FROM THE FRONT to eliminate any kickback.
 
#13 ·
Hi Bill:

I can't give you the perfect solution but if you mount your router into a set of skis and set your workpiece at an angle, this will allow you to move the bit into the workpiece and stop at any given point. This will carve out a grip similar to what you need. I would suggest you do a plunge rabbet first to establish the finger holds then, use the skis to angle into your rabbet. Make sense? Hmmmm, I'm not sure but I tried.
 
#14 ·
Hand grips were cut with a router in the 1920's by making a 1" slot about 3" long but were given up for the style Bill wants because they were uncomfortable to use while carrying a full super. The commercial manufacture of super ends used a cutter head shaped as the handle groove as Bill has drawn using a cutter, mounted similar to a dado. In NZ this style has long been superceded by a long cut using standard dado's as they provide a comfortable handle, are easily gripped mechanically and cheap to make using standard tools. Complete supers, frames and all woodware for a beehive can be made using a RAS (needed only to cut to length) a bench saw and a jointer. 30 years ago I changed to a Manley style frame (to coincide with our countries change to metrics). In my opinion this was an excellent decision, as the supers are easier to handle as they are 10% lighter, the frames are truely self spacing, produce fatter combs, thereby less hand scraping during uncapping and are a breeze in auto uncappers. They are also cheaper to make as you use 8" rather than 10" timber and the endbars are parallel rather than shaped as Hoffman style are. Additionally we use only 2 wires and the combs withstand the extracting forces far better.
 
#15 ·
Hi

In the states they sold pop by the wooden case and it had a handle in the sides of the pop case that worked very well for a very long time and then the alum.can took over the market ..but they still use the same pocket hole in the cardboard boxes..

It was hard to get your hand in all the way in the hole the norm because of the bottles...but one could pick up 4 or 5 at one time by using the handle hole...

I know the hole can't go all the way into the bee hive but the same type of handle would work I'm sure...
just a simple pocket hole put in with a router..

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#16 · (Edited)
As I said we used this style of handle but changed in the early to mid 1900's in favour of the style Bill wants and later to a long slot dado'd into the end. No doubt for cost. The English style and early US style used a handle attached to the end. This limited the ability to stack piles of supers close together. The main point is to have a comfortable handhold as heavy weights are carried, and with mechanical handling something that is uniform and universal. Ease of manufacture and cost also play a part:yes4: When you have hold of a heavy super of honey and 1000's of angry bees chasing you it helps having a handle which works while you are running lol:dance3:
 
#21 ·
Yes this is one way to do them. To cut a dado tho after 10 min set up would take 5 seconds at the most. Place the board against the front stop, lower to make the cut and push to the second stop. It is completely safe as the saw is covered by the board at all times and should it kick, which is unlikely, will only kick back to the first stop, a distance of about 50mm
 
#25 · (Edited)
They are all at home in the hive. The supers are the honey storage boxes. If left on the hive over winter they are inclined to get damaged with wind or stock (Cattle mostly or in your country, bears as well) Also there is no need to keep them on the hive over the winter as the honey has been removed and more heat would be wasted needing more feed to keep warm. In the spring the supers would need to be removed and replaced several times to check the condition of the hive. It is convenient to store the boxes inside after extracting the crop as it saves the cost of a trip to replace them on the hive, (although this would be needed during the next spring) and any repairs to the woodware can be made during the winter months.:yes4:
 
#27 ·
After studying all the above suggestions, I think that Ron's idea using the skis has a lot of merit, followed by Bj's latest suggestion in which case I would use a milling vice so that the correct angle can be quickly found and set.
 

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#35 ·
Thanks Peter:

I did a quick look and it is quite an education. I'll go back and learn some more. We have a problem here in Canada with the monoculture farming the bees aren't getting the right nutrition so the hives are dying off. Price of honey is going through the roof. 1L of _Canadian_ honey is $9.49 Cdn. Blended South American & Canadian honey is somewhat cheaper but not by a lot.

I hope the situation is better in Croatia.
 
#36 ·
We produce quite a bit of honey locally. Acacia and chestnut mostly, although unspecified flowers probably accounts for as much. The locals seem to keep their hives on old trailers that they move around. I don't think our price differs a lot, but then we are talking artisan stuff rather than big commercial operations. I keep thinking of having a go, but I'm not convinced I'd save much money over buying it locally. Making two or three hives could be fun but then I'd have the hassle of selling the surplus honey. I'm not sure just having a single hive would work.

Cheers

Peter
 
#40 · (Edited by Moderator)
Half Moon Hive Handholds Jig

Hello all!
I know this is an old thread, but the topic is still quite timely.

Although you can use a router, there is a VERY well designed, functional, and easy to make and use jig for a Skil saw, that is pretty much a go to for anyone wanting to create the nice half moon handles, quickly and easily.

I am too new to the forums to post URLs yet, but if you do a search for WHIMPY HOGAN'S Jig, you can see the easy to build plans.

Mr. Cleo Hogan, the inventor, has been a beekeeper for over 30 years, and his jig plans have become a staple for beeks who build their own hives...
EDIT: I forgot, he also has a WONDERFUL YouTube video showing it in action.

Hope this helps someone!:grin:


link. http://www.beesource.com/files/handhold.pdf
~Moz
 
#43 · (Edited)
I did not see this thread when it started in 2009 so I am a late comer to it. If the problem has hot been solved may I offer a suggestion. Make the cut with a large radius cove bit, with the bearing replaced with a larger bearing such as one of those that are found with variable depth rabbet kits.
 

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