What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[pargyle]

I'll see if I can get my son to look at it first. Thanks for replying.

The bottom plastic bit comes off with just four screws (from memory) there's not a lot in there and if your son has a multimeter he will easiy be able to see where the fault is - if it's not a loose wire then there are only three things it can be:
1. Thermostat.
2. Heating element
3. The rotary switch.

They are all easily replaceable.

For the future - for less than £7 Evri will deliver a 10Kg parcel door to door - saves a 120 mile trip and if you pay by paypal and it does not work ... you have some comeback on the seller.

 

[Lottie]

The bottom plastic bit comes off with just four screws (from memory) there's not a lot in there and if your son has a multimeter he will easiy be able to see where the fault is - if it's not a loose wire then there are only three things it can be:
1. Thermostat.
2. Heating element
3. The rotary switch.

They are all easily replaceable.

For the future - for less than £7 Evri will deliver a 10Kg parcel door to door - saves a 120 mile trip and if you pay by paypal and it does not work ... you have some comeback on the seller.

Wow.... that's amazing! Thank you so much for being helpful

 

[pargyle]

Wow.... that's amazing! Thank you so much for being helpful

Good luck with it ... it's really only a large electic kettle - rocket science not neeeded.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

unless you have a kettle in your rocket

 

[North End Bees]

They are out of stock new...I went 120 miles to pick up a 2nd hand....which doesn't work!

Did you buy it on eBay? They have a buyer protection refund policy.

 

[Garry R]

Yes - it must have water in it. I tend to put the bucket in first and then add water until it surrounds the bucket (make sure the trivet is in the bottom of the jam maker). I set the thermostat to about 42 degrees to melt buckets - that gives a honey temperature inside the bucket of about 35 degrees so you are not overheating it. On the right hand dial you can set it to be on continuously (you will see the infinity sign on the digital display). Overnight with a stir will do the job usually depending on the honey, some take a little longer some a bit less.

I picked up a Lidl jam maker for buttons at a car boot sale some years ago which only works on full heat but with an ink bid thermostat (about £25) it is perfect, setting the upper and lower temperature limits,

I also have a manual honey jar filler and did wonder if a heater around the top reservoir would help get rid of the air bubbles and help the jar filling pressures.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I also have a manual honey jar filler and did wonder if a heater around the top reservoir would help get rid of the air bubbles and help the jar filling pressures.

Something like this?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/36529308...BHQR7Sefzewun7UB0o1gvJnX7zyABv2UaAmhfEALw_wcB
I did consider one on mine but I find that as it only takes about 10mins to empty the hopper when the honey is nice and warm it probably wasn’t worth it.

 

[JamezF]

I've mentioned before that I recently bought a laser engraver/cutter. This week I've finally got around to using it for the porpoise that I intended. On Thursday night I lost a few hours sleep to getting engrossed in the project, learning more about FreeCAD, Inkscape and the laser cutting software itself, and today I've got to the point of proving the concept.

The cutting is sufficiently accurate that there are no glued joints, though I think I will have to use some glue in the final version "just in case". Next step is to add "windows" to the front and to engrave some decoration and labelling. I quite like the idea of having a couple of worker bees peering down the finger hole in the lid

A major positive for me is that this is all made from offcuts from work that we generally can't use. Some we sell off cheap to locals, but that barely scratches the surface -- Wednesday before last I cut twenty-eight sheets of 5.5mm ply for door/lining panels for customer orders. That's an awful lot of offcuts.

James

 

[Penninetrader]

I've mentioned before that I recently bought a laser engraver/cutter. This week I've finally got around to using it for the porpoise that I intended. On Thursday night I lost a few hours sleep to getting engrossed in the project, learning more about FreeCAD, Inkscape and the laser cutting software itself, and today I've got to the point of proving the concept.

The cutting is sufficiently accurate that there are no glued joints, though I think I will have to use some glue in the final version "just in case". Next step is to add "windows" to the front and to engrave some decoration and labelling. I quite like the idea of having a couple of worker bees peering down the finger hole in the lid

A major positive for me is that this is all made from offcuts from work that we generally can't use. Some we sell off cheap to locals, but that barely scratches the surface -- Wednesday before last I cut twenty-eight sheets of 5.5mm ply for door/lining panels for customer orders. That's an awful lot of offcuts.

James

First off, you clearly have too much time or your hands, or insomnia now the questions, those separators, how are they held in place ? The lid, how is it hinged are there pins going through side's into lid ? As a manufacturer you will know setup time and jigs are a biggie so multiples reduce time and costs. How long do you estimate production and assembly per box will take when on a run ? The Achilles will be the personalisation. I would not like to cut those joints in ply by hand, in fact I would rather have my eyes poked out with a sharp stick.

 

[JamezF]

The separators are just held in with the tabs that pass through the sides of the box. It's a mortice and tenon, effectively.

The lid has two small "ears" that pass through circular holes in the sides of the box and are trapped when the box is assembled.

Cutting time I'm not sure about at the moment. I reckon I can get it down to about twenty minutes from sticking a piece of ply into the laser to removing the finished parts. Much of it is down to how the software plans the cuts and I'm not sure I have that working as efficiently as it could at the moment. After that it's a couple of minutes to assemble by hand, just pressing the parts together. I don't have to stand over the machine whilst it's cutting either. I can be doing other stuff after hitting "go". If I make the tenons larger the time will reduce for both cutting and assembly, but at the moment it's all about learning to use the software and getting a design I like. And if I get to the stage where I'm needing to be making these in thousands, it'll be a nice problem to have Nothing is cut by hand. The laser does everything.

Personalisation really shouldn't be a big deal either. Again it's all done with the laser. It just backs off the power and increases the speed of movement to do the engraving. So for instance, last weekend one of the people I work with asked me to do this for his partner's cousin's wedding:

Not sure what species the tree was; they supplied it. The bark looked similar to oak, but the slice of tree (about 400mm diameter by 30mm thick) was very light. By comparison when I did a test run on a piece of ply (engraving followed by a cut around the outside) the engraving wasn't as dark:

James

 

[Sutty]

A great toy to play with!!

 

[Spiney Norman]

I want to move some hives from one part of my land to another. So trying to build new hive stands.

But to do that I need to put up some stock fence as I want to attach the hive stands to the fence.

To do that I needed to dismantle some tree guards where the new fence is going to go.

To do that I needed to prune the apple trees that have grown through the tree guards.

I've got as far as pruning trees, removing tree guards and putting 3 fence posts in.

Currently in bed after a shower, but still stink of creosote.

Other tasks being worked on include finishing making 20 new roofs, making underfloor entrances and making supers from cedar components that Peter Little cut for me nearly 20 years ago. (Apparently, Peter was well known in the bee world. I didn't know at the time. Top bloke.)

Although cedar can be left untreated, I much prefer to paint it with wood protector. (NB make sure to use protector, not preserver as that contains insecticide.)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Apparently, Peter was well known in the bee world.

More than just well known, some would say a legend, especially when it came to queen rearing. Before he fell ill he had taken over Brother Adam's original Dartmoor queen mating station. He contributed a lot to this forum and was moderator for many years. His passing was a great blow to the forum and beekeeping in general.

 

[JamezF]

The latest iteration...

James

 

[Sutty]

The latest iteration...

James

That looks fantastic!
Will forum members be getting "mates rates"?

 

[pargyle]

The separators are just held in with the tabs that pass through the sides of the box. It's a mortice and tenon, effectively.

The lid has two small "ears" that pass through circular holes in the sides of the box and are trapped when the box is assembled.

Cutting time I'm not sure about at the moment. I reckon I can get it down to about twenty minutes from sticking a piece of ply into the laser to removing the finished parts. Much of it is down to how the software plans the cuts and I'm not sure I have that working as efficiently as it could at the moment. After that it's a couple of minutes to assemble by hand, just pressing the parts together. I don't have to stand over the machine whilst it's cutting either. I can be doing other stuff after hitting "go". If I make the tenons larger the time will reduce for both cutting and assembly, but at the moment it's all about learning to use the software and getting a design I like. And if I get to the stage where I'm needing to be making these in thousands, it'll be a nice problem to have Nothing is cut by hand. The laser does everything.

Personalisation really shouldn't be a big deal either. Again it's all done with the laser. It just backs off the power and increases the speed of movement to do the engraving. So for instance, last weekend one of the people I work with asked me to do this for his partner's cousin's wedding:

Not sure what species the tree was; they supplied it. The bark looked similar to oak, but the slice of tree (about 400mm diameter by 30mm thick) was very light. By comparison when I did a test run on a piece of ply (engraving followed by a cut around the outside) the engraving wasn't as dark:

James

It's a fast growing species ... look at the width of the annular rings ... Larch possibly ?

 

[JamezF]

That looks fantastic!
Will forum members be getting "mates rates"?

I'm not averse to the idea of making some for other people once I have the design finalised, sure.

James

 

[JamezF]

It's a fast growing species ... look at the width of the annular rings ... Larch possibly ?

Possibly. I thought I could see a bit of rot in the wood though and I thought larch was fairly rot-resistant. Sycamore had also occurred to me, but the bark seems a bit too gnarly for that. I'm no tree expert however.

James

 

[Penninetrader]

The latest iteration...

James

Very nice but that is going to blow your 20 mins. That laser has the advantage over routers in that you can produce square cuts, albeit in thinner materials.

 

[Penninetrader]

Looking at the table I am.sat at and from experience from the now distant past I am taking a punt at Elm