None standard Hoffman frames

[polomadh]

I saw a thing today that baffled me. I thought Hoffman frames were standard, that is the flat side of the vertical bar met with the pointed side of the next frame from all suppliers. I have had them from Thornes, Maismores, etc, etc. over the years.

Today at a fellow BK‘s he showed me that frames from a well know suppler were the wrong way round, ie the pointed side met the the pointed side and not the flat of some old frames.

the frames had been assembled correctly.

Am I going mad, or were these frames a 1 off?

 

[Dodge]

Were they seconds perhaps, although I can't see how a machine could make them the wrong way around even in test scenario?

 

[blackcloud]

If the foundation grooves face outward on a good sidebar then he has assembled them badly and is blaming someone else.
I've had some badly machined seconds last year but none so blatantly wrong

 

[Erichalfbee]

Somebody else reported the same a few years back. I've had a quick fruitless search

 

[Newbeeneil]

Somebody else reported the same a few years back. I've had a quick fruitless search

I think it was quite recently but I can't find it either. I would go back to the supplier and complain.

 

[Jimmy]

Somebody else reported the same a few years back. I've had a quick fruitless search

There's this vague comment from 2017
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/importing-from-china.38947/post-577515
but I thought there was more detail than that somewhere

 

[polomadh]

If the foundation grooves face outward on a good sidebar then he has assembled them badly and is blaming someone else.
I've had some badly machined seconds last year but none so blatantly wrong

They were assembled correctly with the foundation in the groove. I am annoyed with myself that I didn’t take a pic, I was so baffled by them.

 

[Wilco]

I find that some suppliers have this from time to time. Usually there are groups of 10-11 frames that match so you can make a box of frames that all match each other. Have they mixed and matched with bulk bought frames when they were assembling them?

I suspect what happens is when the foundation groove is cut the sidebars get loaded into whatever machine they use the wrong way up. Seen with STBK first and Bee Equipment second frames.

 

[nvaneker]

I saw a thing today that baffled me. I thought Hoffman frames were standard, that is the flat side of the vertical bar met with the pointed side of the next frame from all suppliers. I have had them from Thornes, Maismores, etc, etc. over the years.

Today at a fellow BK‘s he showed me that frames from a well know suppler were the wrong way round, ie the pointed side met the the pointed side and not the flat of some old frames.

the frames had been assembled correctly.

Am I going mad, or were these frames a 1 off?

Hi I bought a hundred super frames and about half were the same the wrong way round I contacted the supplier but got no reply

 

[enrico]

So at some point the flat side is to the flat side......certainly not right

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi I bought a hundred super frames and about half were the same the wrong way round I contacted the supplier but got no reply

Who is the supplier?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I saw a thing today that baffled me. I thought Hoffman frames were standard, that is the flat side of the vertical bar met with the pointed side of the next frame from all suppliers. I have had them from Thornes, Maismores, etc, etc. over the years.

Today at a fellow BK‘s he showed me that frames from a well know suppler were the wrong way round, ie the pointed side met the the pointed side and not the flat of some old frames.

the frames had been assembled correctly.

Am I going mad, or were these frames a 1 off?

They're Chinese sourced frames, seen loads of them, they are all opposite to ours - another clue as to the frame's origins is that the ones from China often come packaged in tens in cardboard boxes, and if the original wholesaler buys enough they will even print their UK details on the boxes

 

[polomadh]

I didn’t buy them, so wouldn’t like to trash the reputation of a company (that might well have been mentioned above)

I mentioned this as a word of warning to folk buying cheap frames, might not be 100% and worth a check before you put them away until you need them.

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

I purchased some seconds from a well known suppliers winter sale that were machined with the groove on the wrong side, one pack of fifty from five hundred were this way.
We are now all pre-wired so makes no difference luckily as the effected frames are coming back into use.

 

[gwt_uk]

Yes have had this recently...at first I thought I had assembled them incorrectly but then realised they had been manufactured incorrectly. Am trying a different supplier.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Hi I bought a hundred super frames and about half were the same the wrong way round I contacted the supplier but got no reply

Who were the supplier? I certainly be ordering anything from them if they supply crap goods and don't reply to complaints?

 

[Jb.robert]

I always buy seconds by packs of 50s and there is most of the time a couple of parts which are not good enough to be used.
I found once a side which had the double bottom groves at the top making it un-usable. Never mind, I used the spare parts from the previous pack I bought.
I guess it’s an (human?) error in the process of feeding the wood machine with the parts.

 

[Jb.robert]

I had the same problem the other day. I was driving across France, I took the eurotunnel and when I arrived the other side, everyone was driving the wrong way round!

;-)

 

[Moobee]

Hi I bought a hundred super frames and about half were the same the wrong way round I contacted the supplier but got no reply

Who were they? Might stop others having the same problem….

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Who were the supplier? I certainly be ordering anything from them if they supply crap goods and don't reply to complaints?

Perhaps they were sold as seconds for good reason?