cutting slots for mesh

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

protheroe

Field Bee
Joined
Jan 21, 2012
Messages
799
Reaction score
58
Location
Ammanford
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
a few
my floors up till now all have batons above the mesh.if i want to slide the mesh into the floor then what tool can i use, as the smallest router bits i can find are 3mm or is the mesh dropped into a rebate.some of the professionally made floors look like they have thin slots but i cant work out what they use to cut them.3mm seems a bit wide for such thin mesh.
 
Last edited:
Use a table saw with a narrow kerf blade?

You could fill the gaps with a suitable glue (don't want little crevices left for harbouring any nasties, anyway.
 
i was thinking of that but dont want to go all the way through and then fill the gap.
 
One way of creating thin slots is to cut a rebate, then secure a batten into the rebate, leaving just the required thin gap.

Another way is to run the wood over a table saw, with the blade set to the required height.

The 'cowboy' way of creating a thin slot is to fit an angle grinder with the appropriate thickness cutting disk, and run it along the wood - I use this method to insert lollipop sticks as foundationless starters when making home-made frame top-bars, and keep a few worn-down disks just for this purpose.

LJ
 
Maybe use a small diameter, narrow kerf, router slot cutter, would cut just past where you need the slot but not right to the end of the piece, where i imagine there will be a cross bar.
 
thinnest slot cutter i can find in a reasonable price range is 2mm,a bit wide but think i will give it a go.
 
1/16th or 1.5mm [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freud-63-100-16-Inch-Cutter-4-Inch/dp/B0002TUCRA/ref=sr_1_16?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1414750319&sr=1-16&keywords=slot+cutter"]Freud 63-100 1/16-Inch Slot Cutter Set 9/16-Inch Depth Cut (1/4-Inch Shank): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools[/ame]
 
thanks hm.had a look and thats over 50 quid with delivery.think i will have to settle for a cheap 2mm slot cutter.
 
Last edited:
I think the 6mm slot and a 5mm filler strip sounds to me like the best (simplest, cheapest with a decent result) way …
 
6mm slot and a 5mm filler strip

Do we actually know the thickness of the mesh?

I don't - nor do I know the available sizes of router bits and stripwood.
Nevertheless, its the method that I - a rubbish carpenter - would find easiest to create a fairly deep but mesh-thin slot.
 
Measuring once, or guessing, is the downfall of many a budding carpenter. Finding the actual measurements helps hugely before cutting!
 
To be honest, I don't really understand why you want to cut a slot for mesh anyway - but then, I don't understand quite a lot of things ... :).

I don't know if it's relevant to what you're doing, but when I fit mesh to the floor of Long Hives, I simply router out a 10mm wide rebate, about 2mm deep. I then lay the mesh into the rebate, staple in place using the shortest possible staples, and fill the remaining rebate with automotive body filler. That way the mesh lies about 1mm below the floor surface.

I've done over a dozen like that, and no problems thus far.

LJ
 
'Fraid the issue here may be simply changing the size of the entrance (perhaps to obviate the need for mouseguards?).

Perhaps we need a clear description in the opening thread; maybe it is something else.

Personally, unless there is an issue of a 22mm, or so, entrance gap I don't really see the reason for the OP. I reckon a few screws though a batten suffices perfectly adequately.

I simply answered the question in the OP. It now seems to have progressed further than a simple answer.
 
i use a lot of woven plastic coated mesh which cant be flamed so it would be easy to replace when needed and also i feel if i am going to build a floor then i may as well do a decent job rather than batons ,rebates,glueing or filling.i think slots would be the quickest and the best method all round.
 
If you are going to do a good job then some stainless steel mesh would be a better job than the coated steel. The pierced galvanised sheet is also good with the advantage it can give some rigidity to the floor if properly fixed in place.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top