Frame wedge bar - difficulty cutting out

[match]

Hi,

I've just received some flatpack BS brood frames, and have just opened up the pack to start assembly.

I'm used to just running an old blunt knife down the paper-thin strip of wood that holds the bar in place and then using the knife to 'peel off' any excess... but on these ones the wood attaching the wedge to the top bar is about 2-3mm thick. I've managed to cut a couple off with a sharp knife, but it's a bit of a hassle doing so.

These are from a different supplier to who I normally buy stuff from, so I don't know if this is a mistake or within the normal 'tolerances' for such things from different suppliers.

Is this just one of those things that you learn to live with, or should I get back in touch with the supplier?

 

[bontbee]

I keep a Stanley knife handy - and always cut away!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

it's just pot luch with how much is left to cut through - stanley knife does the job every time IMHO

 

[oliver90owner]

Yep, use a sharp knife. Every time. More likely to cut yourself trying to do the job with a blunt knife, unless you are particularly clumsy or don't organise the job sensibly.

 

[bontbee]

I keep a Stanley knife handy - and always cut away!!

Cut away from yourself I meant, of course, not just cut away with gay abandon!

 

[pargyle]

Cut away from yourself I meant, of course, not just cut away with gay abandon!

Actually ... cutting with a craft knife you won't find it easy to 'cut away from you' ... it's not like slicing vegetables.

The better advice is to always keep the hand holding the bar BEHIND the blade. Put the bar on a firm surface, paralell to your body (that way there is no chance of the knife coming off the end and into your leg !) and run the blade from left to right (if you are right handed).

Invest in a good quality Stanley knife and change the blade when it gets dulled (you can re-sharpen them with a stone if you are as cheap as me !).

If you are doing a lot of frames then make a 'stop' with another piece of wood clamped to the bench so the top bar sits against it when you make your cut ... then you only have to hold the top bar in place not stop it moving.

 

[bontbee]

I find it quite straightforward but, perhaps then, I'm doing it wrong? I use the flat surface of either the wedge or the top bar to guide the blade...yeah, sometimes I skim a little to deep on the corner of a wedge, but as it's the "internal" side of the wedge, the bees don't mind. And, yes, hand behind the blade, of course.

PS I do slice some veg towards myself kidney beans being an example. (How do you slice them away from yourself???) - but, usually, I use a board. I guess I chop, rather than slice, veg.

 

[maddydog]

I find using one of those triangular headed paint removers to be perfect for the job. Just drag it along to remove the bits of wood and no danger of cutting oneself.

 

[madasafish]

I assemble foundation with the wedge bar held in a vice with the slit for the wedge bar just available. Makes cutting recalcitrant wedges safer and easier. It also makes assembly of the foundation and the nailing of the wedge (I use a nail gin) much easier...

My vice is a largeish cast iron lump made in the 1930s (? guess). As opposed to my vices built up over a period of years.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I just stand the top bar vertically on the bench and run the stanley knife from top to bottom, if you slip the only think you might get is a slightly grazed knuckle as you punch the bench! trimming the bits left on the wedge is easy holding the end of the wedge between finger and thumb of left hand just move the blade away from you along the edge of the wood