Extractor question

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Well all I can say was that whoever used the s/h extractor I bought will have fine metal filings in their honey as a result of no lubrication (the ball was half worn)
 
Here we go ... back together, all cleaned ... legs repainted ... new stainless nuts and bolts all round ... cage modified to take my nationals.... motor and gearbox bearings lubricated ... put a bit of beeswax in with the ball bearing in the socket .... all now working like it should (albeit with empty frames to test it). Very smooth running, not too noisy. Replaced the plastic honey gate with a nice stainless steel one (thanks Dani ... fitted a treat !).

I'll have to put some casters on it though as I can barely lift it ! Can't wait to try it out properly ...
 

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Here we go ... back together, all cleaned ... legs repainted ... new stainless nuts and bolts all round ... cage modified to take my nationals.... motor and gearbox bearings lubricated ... put a bit of beeswax in with the ball bearing in the socket .... all now working like it should (albeit with empty frames to test it). Very smooth running, not too noisy. Replaced the plastic honey gate with a nice stainless steel one (thanks Dani ... fitted a treat !).

I'll have to put some casters on it though as I can barely lift it ! Can't wait to try it out properly ...
Impressive
 
Here we go ... back together, all cleaned ... legs repainted ... new stainless nuts and bolts all round ... cage modified to take my nationals.... motor and gearbox bearings lubricated ... put a bit of beeswax in with the ball bearing in the socket .... all now working like it should (albeit with empty frames to test it). Very smooth running, not too noisy. Replaced the plastic honey gate with a nice stainless steel one (thanks Dani ... fitted a treat !).

I'll have to put some casters on it though as I can barely lift it ! Can't wait to try it out properly ...
Philip that’s a really good job
 
Well done Pargyle, you must have a decent w/s with the right tools to carry out the conversion. I like the motor mounted on the top, did that come already fitted to the extractor or was that another of your modification?
 
pargyle said, "I'll have to put some casters on it though as I can barely lift it ! Can't wait to try it out properly ... "

Fitting casters may be very helpful for moving the extractor when that is necessary. May I suggest though that you obtain casters which have a built-in locking brake. It is most likely that if your extractor is even slightly unbalanced when the frames are being spun that your extractor will have a mind of its own, and may wander around the floor and/or collide with other objects in the room.
 
Well done Pargyle, you must have a decent w/s with the right tools to carry out the conversion. I like the motor mounted on the top, did that come already fitted to the extractor or was that another of your modification?
Most Lega extractors have a top mounted motor, handy for cleaning, but in general, base mounted motors are far better, and more stable (used both, so speaking from experience)
 
pargyle said, "I'll have to put some casters on it though as I can barely lift it ! Can't wait to try it out properly ... "

Fitting casters may be very helpful for moving the extractor when that is necessary. May I suggest though that you obtain casters which have a built-in locking brake. It is most likely that if your extractor is even slightly unbalanced when the frames are being spun that your extractor will have a mind of its own, and may wander around the floor and/or collide with other objects in the room.
That’s what I have done with mine. Need to brake only one castor I find
 

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pargyle said, "I'll have to put some casters on it though as I can barely lift it ! Can't wait to try it out properly ... "

Fitting casters may be very helpful for moving the extractor when that is necessary. May I suggest though that you obtain casters which have a built-in locking brake. It is most likely that if your extractor is even slightly unbalanced when the frames are being spun that your extractor will have a mind of its own, and may wander around the floor and/or collide with other objects in the room.
On the contrary, you want the castors to allow movement due to imbalance. That will relieve stresses on the legs, which can lead to failures.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threa...the-workshop-today.21943/page-112#post-711436
However braked castors are useful when tipping the extractor to aid draining.
 
Well done Pargyle, you must have a decent w/s with the right tools to carry out the conversion. I like the motor mounted on the top, did that come already fitted to the extractor or was that another of your modification?
The motor is as it was manufactured... it's quite a lump but they have mounted it on a piece of stainless steel that really is overkill ... the legs are about twice the thickness of my modern manual extractor - they really don't make them like this anymore !
 
Well that did not go to plan ...I'm not big on measuring ... I have lots of form for drilling holes without really accurate measurements only to find that they are in the wrong place ! So, I measured the bits of wood the castors are going to sit on very carefully, checking and double checking (there is only one hole in the foot of the legs and the castors have four holes, one at each corner). Plus, I wanted to raise the whole thing up an extra inch or so in order that I can get a bucket under the honey gate.

I recessed the hole for the single bolt that will hold the block onto the bottom of the metal foot of the leg so that it will sit under the mounting plate of the caster.

Whilst I measured, positioned and drilled the holes to perfecction ... I failed to recognise that where the ends of the holes that will attache the caster come out on the topside of the wood block there is not enough room to get the nuts on the retaining bolts ....

Back to the drawing board - that will teach me a lesson ... I will go back to not measuring accurately and doing it by eye !
 
Bobba said, " Using bees wax is a great idea, but I wonder if it may become too runny if it gets hot and melts. I may give it a try next year and see if it is ok. "

I would like to venture an opinion, even though I have not seen an extractor of the type you mention.
Purely from a mechanical point of view, when two metal surfaces form a moving contact area, there will be some friction which will cause some of the metal to be worn (and to form a black "powder"). When a suitable lubricant is used, there is a fluid layer, which may be ever so thin, that prevents metal-to-metal contact, and therefore no abrasion of the metal.
I think that the use of beeswax as a lubricant is a very appropriate idea. If that spindle mount gets hot enough to melt the wax (above 60C), then just think of how hot it would get without lubrication (and how much frictional wear would occur)! The biggest problem might be if the beeswax remains solid, and does not form a protective layer between the metal surfaces.
If you use beeswax on the spindle mount, even if it does not get hot enough to melt, then hot wax is very slippery and would be an excellent lubricant. Moreover, if any of that wax were to get into the honey, why should that be a problem? The honey which you are wanting to harvest was stored in wax by the bees. Beeswax and honey are completely compatible substances

Sorry - I meant to say gets too hot and evaporates. I completely agree with everything you say.

Great job on the extractor BTW Pargle.
 
Well that did not go to plan ...I'm not big on measuring ... I have lots of form for drilling holes without really accurate measurements only to find that they are in the wrong place ! So, I measured the bits of wood the castors are going to sit on very carefully, checking and double checking (there is only one hole in the foot of the legs and the castors have four holes, one at each corner). Plus, I wanted to raise the whole thing up an extra inch or so in order that I can get a bucket under the honey gate.

I recessed the hole for the single bolt that will hold the block onto the bottom of the metal foot of the leg so that it will sit under the mounting plate of the caster.

Whilst I measured, positioned and drilled the holes to perfection ... I failed to recognise that where the ends of the holes that will attach the caster come out on the topside of the wood block there is not enough room to get the nuts on the retaining bolts ....

Back to the drawing board - that will teach me a lesson ... I will go back to not measuring accurately and doing it by eye !

You could use a 'T' nut. T-nut - Wikipedia loads for sale either online or your local friendly builders merchant.
 
Well done Philip.

You can rebuild mine if you want:love:
 
You could use a 'T' nut. T-nut - Wikipedia loads for sale either online or your local friendly builders merchant.
Yes ... I have some T nuts and I did think about that option ... but they sit a little proud of the surface and so i would have to recess them and the bolts I had would have to be cut down - more measuring - and it all got too complicated ! There comes a point where it's more expedient to cut your losses, learn from the mistake and do the job properly ! Good idea on your part though ... T-nuts are incredibly useful ...
 
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