Uncapping tray

[Roola]

I've decided to keep myself occupied by creating my own uncapping tray for this year. I was wondering how to create an inner sieve to strain the cappings and allow honey to drip down to the bottom. I have decided to use 2 plastic storage boxes one nested inside the other, this provides an 11cm gap between the two. I have bought a honey gate and will install this by drilling a hole with a drill saw at the bottom end of the outer box. For the inner box I intent to drill saw some larger holes in the base then place stainless steel wire gauze 0.5mm over the top, this will be removable and thus easily washed. I was then thinking about building a frame and mounting some kind of blade to it above the box so I can then run each super over it and the cappings will drop into the box. One option I had considered was a carbon steel hacksaw blade (carbon steel is used in cooking do is food safe) I also thought that being serrated it would carve well through the wax... Wonder if it is possible to run a current through it and make it warm? Anyone got any ideas on any of this? Open to suggestion and more likely criticism but I'm loathed to pay the exorbitant prices for similar ideas by Th..nes and Abelo.

 

[itma]

A few comments.

Carbon steel serrated blade. Not recommended for food use - I don't think you'd get away with it in a commercial kitchen.

Uncapping for "2 hives". You don't need a high-throughput or high capacity system. A hot air gun, used *hot* (and quick) on white (airgap behind) cappings is quick, easy, and apart from a little wax 'spatter' (spread out some newspaper) it is really not messy.
And you don't have to strain cappings to salvage non-extractor honey.
Only two downsides. You don't get any lovely cappings wax. And you can't do it on 'wet' cappings.

"Uncapping trays" - the expensive ones are heated, with the idea of melting the cut cappings wax and releasing the honey. Errrr, you'll be lucky to get decent (uncooked) honey out of such things.
Sure some honey drains out, but most is effectively stuck to the cappings wax...

For a couple of hives, you might think of using a couple of stainless catering "Gastronorm 1/1" trays, a shallow perforated one inside a deeper unperforated one. A wooden bridge with a frame-lug locating hole is easily made. My pair of trays (bought while on promo and during a free delivery offer) cost me less than £20.
But I mainly use them as a work surface for cutting 'cut comb' honey ...
I actually bought them for use in a solar wax extractor, but went a different way with that project.

For cutting off cappings from a few frames unsuitable for the hot air gun, I've used a serrated (bread-type) knife. The knife can be heated by washing, dunking in a hot thermos flask, then quickly drying before use on the comb. (Just don't get wax in your thermos, unless you are dedicating it to this job!)

And if you really do want to cut off cappings, and you have a tangential extractor, you might look into getting some bags to go into it, to allow you to spin (rather than strain) your cappings.

But I'm a convert to the hot air gun ...

 

[Arfermo]

I put the cappings in the finer part of a double S/S strainer and let any honey dribble through. When there is no more honey dripping out I put all the cappings in a Miller feeder and let the bees recover any honey that is left whilst at the same time leaving the cappings clean for reclaiming for whatever purpose that I have in mind. Imho this method makes the whole business simple, efficient and cheap - which is supposed to be what beekeeping is all about.
Uncapping knives - masses of stuff in the kitchen to do just that along with hot water in abundance to help with slicing the cappings from the comb.

 

[itma]

... I was wondering how to create an inner sieve to strain the cappings and allow honey to drip down to the bottom. ...

Roola - noted that your location is London.

Nisbets (catering suppliers) have a showroom in Shaftesbury Avenue. (Closed Sunday)
There, you should be able to see (and collect, no delivery charge!) their own-brand ("Vogue") 20mm deep (shallowest) perforated Stainless 1/1 Gastronorm pan for very close to a tenner.
Worth a look if you happen to be passing through the middle of town.