OP
rae
Field Bee
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2009
- Messages
- 826
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Berkshire
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 8 and 3 nucs...it's swarm time...
Arrgh, I hit post too early on the above, then hit the edit limit. So I'm reposting here:
Oh lordy, all the wood fetishists are out in the open! Yes I'm on arbtalk, but not very much (seems to be very low traffic). I used to be on Arboristsite a lot, and I still dip in when the chainsaw thing gets me going.
I don't have the edger for the Granberg, I just rotate the log. The edger would make it easier, but it would be another bit of kit. I assume that is a great lump of Cedar? Must smell lovely - 2-stroke and cedar chips. That is a serious wood yard you have there - Granberg, bandsaw, and there's a firewood processor somewhere in there....
Anyway, back to the task at hand - the side "handles" for the hives. I'm not bothering to make proper joints for them, butt joints all the way, more than strong enough. I'm using "framing" - I think it is what builders use to frame doors - 1 1/8" thick by 5 1/4" wide.
Tilt the saw over and make the first sloping cut. The "long" edge should be an inch and a half (see here: http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/learning/documents/number 4 national hive.pdf)
Then set the saw vertical again (check it with a square, most of the scales on saws are about 5 degrees out), and make the next cut, again giving a "long" edge of an inch and a half:
The cut out a square section, an inch and a half wide. Because the board is 1 1/8", you'll need to trim it to 1", or the handles will stick out:
This is a good illustration that a saw blade is about 1/8" thick - lots of people don't realise this and wonder why their cuts are about 1/8" out - it is because they have assumed the blade has zero width, or have measured from the wrong side of the blade.
You should end up with some lengths like this:
Yes, I know I've made too many of the sloping (bottom) bits! Now you need to cut them to length. To do this, you need to make sure that you measure the gap they are going into - the right length will be the length of you "short" sides, - (2 x the depth of the slots you cut). In my case, the length is 17" - 2 x 3/16 which is 16 5/8". Cut them up, using a 14x12 side to keep them square they're all the same length:
Next step is to use the router to cut the rebates (1/4 x 1/2 in the bottom and 11/16 x 1/2 in the top). Standard stuff. Here is a natty tool from Axminster (only a few quid) that is worth its weight in gold for setting router fences:
One important thing to note with routers. The blade in the above picture will be rotating anti-clockwise. You must always make sure that all of the cutting is being done in a direction that is pushing towards you - if cutting is done by the bit that is going away from you, it will grab the work and fling it forward - with some violence. If you need to cut deeper than the radius of the blade (as the pic is set up to show), do it in two passes. Or get a bigger blade!
Right, that's all of the parts made. Let's start some assembly, starting with some 14 x12s. You'll need more clamps than you think (I use 6) - 14x12s come adrift while clamping all too easily. You'll also need a square, check for squareness constantly, all across the depth of the box. Set the "short" sides to be 1/4" lower than the "long" sides at the bottom of the box. If you've got everything right, this will be perfect at the top. Here are two boxes drying, the handles will go in later:
Oh lordy, all the wood fetishists are out in the open! Yes I'm on arbtalk, but not very much (seems to be very low traffic). I used to be on Arboristsite a lot, and I still dip in when the chainsaw thing gets me going.
I don't have the edger for the Granberg, I just rotate the log. The edger would make it easier, but it would be another bit of kit. I assume that is a great lump of Cedar? Must smell lovely - 2-stroke and cedar chips. That is a serious wood yard you have there - Granberg, bandsaw, and there's a firewood processor somewhere in there....
Anyway, back to the task at hand - the side "handles" for the hives. I'm not bothering to make proper joints for them, butt joints all the way, more than strong enough. I'm using "framing" - I think it is what builders use to frame doors - 1 1/8" thick by 5 1/4" wide.
Tilt the saw over and make the first sloping cut. The "long" edge should be an inch and a half (see here: http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/learning/documents/number 4 national hive.pdf)
Then set the saw vertical again (check it with a square, most of the scales on saws are about 5 degrees out), and make the next cut, again giving a "long" edge of an inch and a half:
The cut out a square section, an inch and a half wide. Because the board is 1 1/8", you'll need to trim it to 1", or the handles will stick out:
This is a good illustration that a saw blade is about 1/8" thick - lots of people don't realise this and wonder why their cuts are about 1/8" out - it is because they have assumed the blade has zero width, or have measured from the wrong side of the blade.
You should end up with some lengths like this:
Yes, I know I've made too many of the sloping (bottom) bits! Now you need to cut them to length. To do this, you need to make sure that you measure the gap they are going into - the right length will be the length of you "short" sides, - (2 x the depth of the slots you cut). In my case, the length is 17" - 2 x 3/16 which is 16 5/8". Cut them up, using a 14x12 side to keep them square they're all the same length:
Next step is to use the router to cut the rebates (1/4 x 1/2 in the bottom and 11/16 x 1/2 in the top). Standard stuff. Here is a natty tool from Axminster (only a few quid) that is worth its weight in gold for setting router fences:
One important thing to note with routers. The blade in the above picture will be rotating anti-clockwise. You must always make sure that all of the cutting is being done in a direction that is pushing towards you - if cutting is done by the bit that is going away from you, it will grab the work and fling it forward - with some violence. If you need to cut deeper than the radius of the blade (as the pic is set up to show), do it in two passes. Or get a bigger blade!
Right, that's all of the parts made. Let's start some assembly, starting with some 14 x12s. You'll need more clamps than you think (I use 6) - 14x12s come adrift while clamping all too easily. You'll also need a square, check for squareness constantly, all across the depth of the box. Set the "short" sides to be 1/4" lower than the "long" sides at the bottom of the box. If you've got everything right, this will be perfect at the top. Here are two boxes drying, the handles will go in later:
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