ugcheleuce
Field Bee
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Messages
- 669
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Apeldoorn, Netherlands
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 7-10
Hello everyone
I have some questions for those of you who know anything about woodworking. I'm trying to design a simple bee hive using 30 mm thick wood (because that's cheap wood hereabouts).
I know very little about woodworking and I have very limited tools in my shed. The local hardware store can cut planks to size for me, but any fine-tuning will have to be done by me (or not at all). I have an electric drill, but it's a handheld drill, so trying to use it for dowels is dodgy. I might be able to borrow a sander somewhere. I don't have an electric saw.
The question is which of the two following ways of joining the outer planks of the hive box is better, from a woodworking points of view.
The picture above (MS Paint, sorry) shows the hive box from above. The planks (shown here in green and blue, with thick black borders for clarity) are 30 mm thick. The green outer planks are 150 mm high and the blue inner planks are 125 mm high. The outer dimensions are 405 mm x 405 mm (for the square ones) and 405 mm x 205 mm (for the rectangular ones). It will take Dutch simplex honey frames (very similar to nationals).
I will probably simply glue and nail the planks together, or possibly glue and screw. I don't really mind what it looks like from the outside, as long it is is flush and tidy. Like I said, I don't think dowels are an option for me because I don't have a drill rig (like my dad has). I would be willing to strengthen the outer corners with metal brackets, though I'm dearly hoping to avoid that because it would drive up the cost.
Option A would result in 2 different sizes of planks for the square box. Option B would need 3 different sizes of planks for the square box. I favour option A because it would require fewer saw cuts at the hardware store.
But my main question to you is: does it make a difference with regard to the strength of the construction at all?
And the secondary question: do you think that this construction would be strong enough without any chiselled joints, i.e. using only glue and nails/screws?
Thanks
Samuel
PS. Yes, I've calculated the weight. The square boxes would weigh 4 kg empty (and no more than 35 kg full) and the rectangular boxes would weigh 3 kg empty (and no more than 16 kg full). I intend to use the square boxes as brood boxes and then two rectangular boxes side-by-side on top of it as honey supers.
I have some questions for those of you who know anything about woodworking. I'm trying to design a simple bee hive using 30 mm thick wood (because that's cheap wood hereabouts).
I know very little about woodworking and I have very limited tools in my shed. The local hardware store can cut planks to size for me, but any fine-tuning will have to be done by me (or not at all). I have an electric drill, but it's a handheld drill, so trying to use it for dowels is dodgy. I might be able to borrow a sander somewhere. I don't have an electric saw.
The question is which of the two following ways of joining the outer planks of the hive box is better, from a woodworking points of view.
The picture above (MS Paint, sorry) shows the hive box from above. The planks (shown here in green and blue, with thick black borders for clarity) are 30 mm thick. The green outer planks are 150 mm high and the blue inner planks are 125 mm high. The outer dimensions are 405 mm x 405 mm (for the square ones) and 405 mm x 205 mm (for the rectangular ones). It will take Dutch simplex honey frames (very similar to nationals).
I will probably simply glue and nail the planks together, or possibly glue and screw. I don't really mind what it looks like from the outside, as long it is is flush and tidy. Like I said, I don't think dowels are an option for me because I don't have a drill rig (like my dad has). I would be willing to strengthen the outer corners with metal brackets, though I'm dearly hoping to avoid that because it would drive up the cost.
Option A would result in 2 different sizes of planks for the square box. Option B would need 3 different sizes of planks for the square box. I favour option A because it would require fewer saw cuts at the hardware store.
But my main question to you is: does it make a difference with regard to the strength of the construction at all?
And the secondary question: do you think that this construction would be strong enough without any chiselled joints, i.e. using only glue and nails/screws?
Thanks
Samuel
PS. Yes, I've calculated the weight. The square boxes would weigh 4 kg empty (and no more than 35 kg full) and the rectangular boxes would weigh 3 kg empty (and no more than 16 kg full). I intend to use the square boxes as brood boxes and then two rectangular boxes side-by-side on top of it as honey supers.
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