Chain Flail -vs.- rotary knife

[beeman 202]

Anyone have experience with the two popular types of mechanical uncappers? What are the pro's and con's of these two types of uncappers? What do you like/dislike? Rather than rotary knife, I think I mean vibrating knife(Bogenshute).

[This message has been edited by beeman 202 (edited September 05, 2003).]

[The Honey House]

I have the Maxant chain uncapper and I am satisfied. I had an adjustment problem which required a modification to the pillow blocks
but other than that it ok. It's fast an a bit expensive but well worth the time and aggravation of hand uncapping (IMHO)
The cappings tank that goes with the unit is way under sized.

[ikeepbees]

HH, were you able to make the adjustment yourself? Is it something the average semi-mechanically oriented beekeeper could do?

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Rob Koss

[The Honey House]

Rob
You're going to need the help of a machinist if you want it made of stainless steel.
You could try making it out of something else (maybe a hard nylon) with some wood working tools. (router, drill, saw)
I had a piece of some black very hard nylon
once that I think would have work.
http://www.beesource.com/plans/pillowblock.htm

PS:The links on the PDF file are broken.

[This message has been edited by The Honey House (edited September 08, 2003).]

[loggermike]

The one I just got from Maxant has some adjustment.I fiddled with it to try to get a compromise for thick and thin combs but still had to use the scratcher quite a bit.
I did have to make another set of end bar guides for my wide end bar frames.Dont know if Maxant ever got caught up but it took 4 months for them to deliver me one.

[ikeepbees]

Thanks HH.

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Rob Koss