Thinking of making boxes from pallet wood.

[BigAshW]

A bit of elbow grease, some WD40, new blades and a motor and belt .. would do the job- I've seen worse than that brought back to life. Many a good tune played on an old fiddle !

You don't need a lot of table width to put a decent edge on things like pallet timber or scaffold planks. Just watch for any nails or other embedded contaminants.

Any thoughts on a suitable motor for this. Have seen half horsepower single phase motors that run at 3000rpm for not too much money.

 

[pargyle]

Any thoughts on a suitable motor for this. Have seen half horsepower single phase motors that run at 3000rpm for not too much money.

You only need half horsepower .. and a lot of them run at 1425 RPM which with a pulley ration of 1.5 to 1 will give you more than enough speed of rotation to do a decent job. My Inca has a 1 hp motor but it's also a 12" planer so it needs a bit of umph to cope with that.

 

[pargyle]

Maybe I should get myself a planer.......

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As long as all the parts move and it's less than £50 then it's a bargain .... small jointers are really not made any more and certainly those that are - not made out of decent cast iron. I've seen small jointers from the 1950's and 60's tidied up with a lick of paint and a motor go for £100 and more.

 

[BigAshW]

As long as all the parts move and it's less than £50 then it's a bargain .... small jointers are really not made any more and certainly those that are - not made out of decent cast iron. I've seen small jointers from the 1950's and 60's tidied up with a lick of paint and a motor go for £100 and more.

I'm watching it at the moment. Just trying to work out how I sneak it past Kim.......

 

[Patrick1]

I know you are going to think I am commenting for all the wrong reasons but I would just caution against pallets, a quick search on the web produced this.

“Newer British, Canadian and American pallets, for example, are largely safe as most are heat- or pressure-treated rather than being fumigated with chemicals. Pallets must now have the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) logo and are typically marked with a country code, unique number and either HT or MB”

Most UK pallets are safe.

Most of ours are fumigated.

The untreated ones generally have no markings.

The advantage would, apart from cost. I remember reading a piece on a study that showed the benefits of leaving the inside of the hive as rough sawn, apparently bees preferred it. Anyone remember seeing this ?

 

[Swarm]

I think I recall reading something like that.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I remember reading a piece on a study that showed the benefits of leaving the inside of the hive as rough sawn, apparently bees preferred it. Anyone remember seeing this

Possibly part of Tom Seeley's paper (Darwininan bees?) when he spoke at the UBKA convention during the dawn of covid he stressed the health benefits of bees having plenty of propolis lining the cavity - in a nutcase, using roughsawn or just 'rough' surfaces on the inside of hives encourages the bees to use more propolis to smooth it out and seal it

 

[madasafish]

I have never smoothed the inside of any hive - not because I knew better but because I considered it extra work and unnecessary (or lazy)

 

[W0otz]

I remember reading a piece on a study that showed the benefits of leaving the inside of the hive as rough sawn, apparently bees preferred it. Anyone remember seeing this ?

Maybe something to do with Marla Spivak's research on the benefits of the propolis envelope?

 

[PeaBee]

Don't know if you follow ITLD on twitter but he recently posted about boxes his father made in 1940s/50s from post war tractor packaging that are still in use. Just shows what can be done with decent workmanship, tight joints and suitable weather treatment.

 

[PeaBee]

 

[Garry R]

After two winters and a year of keeping bees in a 14 x 12 long hive made from pallet boards externally for a bit of fun (25 frames). Internally I used 6mm cheap ply which the bees have smeared with propolis so no delamination issues so far. The rather thin insulation was a floor insulation poly sheet sandwiched between the outer and inner layers I can report that the bees filled it well but seem to enjoy the celotex crown board. I had a celotex dummy board at one end and moved it ahead of the bees as the colony expanded. As regards preservative/external finish I used Barretine. Very runny so soaks in well. It says it is insect safe but from what I experience it has a waxy finish which is really water repellent although takes a few coats. I used a green colour and have to say it has not faded. I'll give it a coat again before spring. I had some really lovely frames of comb from the hive. Looking forward to the next season.