Sideliner Uncapper

[Brandy]

Just saw this Sideliner Uncapper in the Brushy Mtn. sales flyer. Anyone using one of these?? Are the cell cappings pierced vs. removed?? Handy, not, any thoughts??

[Michael Bush]

I look forward to a review by someone who has used it. It looks interesting.

[Ron Young]

Here is what they say in the description, and a link to the web page where you can see a photo. I appears to be, by the way the description reads, cutting blades.

"We're proud to announce our NEW uncapper, The Sideliner from Italian equipment manufacturer Guiseppe Lega. Lega is known for it's quality and innovation. This is a metal structure that has a pair of cutting cylingers that uncaps as you slide the frame through them. Lay your frames on the table and crank them EASILY through the blades to reduce your uncapping time in half. Uncap like the big boys at a price you can afford."


www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=795

[Brandy]

Surely, someone has used one of these uncappers. Inquiring minds want to know!!

[John Gesner]

I had the opportunity to see this uncapper at Brushy Mountain when I was there in May. The rollers are stacks of closely spaced round blades that roll along the surface of the comb and slice thru the cappings. I was told that not much wax is thrown in the extractor, but I'm skeptical.

I DID NOT see the uncapper used on actual frames of honey, but was able to operate it with the hand crank and liked the way it worked. Price is prohibitive for me at this time.

[Bizzybee]

Shazzam.......

I guess if a fly reel with a 4 inch spool mounted on a 3/16" spindle, solid bearing and a 5 inch housing, all aluminum (except spindle), 1 1/2" wide. Couple of ounces or so I guess, oh oh oh, at least a 64th ounce spiffy paint. Can cost $1500 bucks...... This here is a steal!!!

Sorry, guess I'm from the way,way,way,way old school of thinking. Nifty though..........

[Ross]

From the description it sounds like the cappings are sliced like you took a razor blade and slashed across the frame multiple times. Similar to a cappings scratcher without the tearing action. Makes me think you could produce a manual equivalent of some type.

[Dan Williamson]

Find a used power uncapper and get a better setup in my opinion.

I found the cowen uncapper (you can see in my pics) for $500. You have to look long and hard to find a good deal and sometimes you get lucky. Mine works fantastic.

For the money you would invest in the Brushy uncapper I think you could find a used cowen power uncapper for not much more.

[MapMan]

From the description it sounds like the cappings are sliced like you took a razor blade and slashed across the frame multiple times. Similar to a cappings scratcher without the tearing action. Makes me think you could produce a manual equivalent of some type.

Perhaps take several dozen circular blades like you find on copper tubing cutters, place them on a rod... Use drawer guides to guide a platform for the frame to ride on... etc., etc. Sounds doable!

MM

[Bizzybee]

Hey.......Nice Dan!! You've cleaned er up nice! That's worth being proud of :)

[Michael Bush]

Maybe something like this:

http://www.plastools.com/honey_punch.htm

[Madison68]

Thanks for that link Mike, I ordered one of the shallow #2 size to give it a try. Madison...

[Michael Bush]

I have the 5 1/8" one and find it's tiring pushing it hard enough to work. If I were doing it again, I think I'd buy the 2" one and make several easy passes instead of several diffcult ones. Also the 2" one will help with uneven comb getting into the low spots better.

It is tempting to take two of the wide ones (6" probably but more if you want to handle deeps) and make something that resembles the "sideliner uncapper" except with the comb the other way around.

For a thousand dollars it might be worth the effort to rig something. :)

[Ross]

If the rollers had knives instead of plastic knobs, it would be a sideliner uncapper....

[John Gesner]

Maybe something like this:

http://www.plastools.com/honey_punch.htm

Michael,

Do these cause more wax to be thrown in the extractor? If so, how much of a problem is it?

[Michael Bush]

>Do these cause more wax to be thrown in the extractor? If so, how much of a problem is it?

I would say a lot less. My problem with the Hackler is that the Hacker gets clogged with wax.

[John Gesner]

My problem with the Hackler is that the Hacker gets clogged with wax.

Hm, yeah I could see that happening. So you wouldn't recommend this as an alternative to an uncapper for someone who does batches of ten to twenty mediums at a time? That's about where my extracting business is heading. I'm waiting for calls from customers who have about that many supers...

[Michael Bush]

>Hm, yeah I could see that happening. So you wouldn't recommend this as an alternative to an uncapper for someone who does batches of ten to twenty mediums at a time?

I bought it and use it for PermaComb when it's capped either at or under the outside. If it's got a thick layer of honey on it, I have an unheated uncapping knife or a bread knife I use on the PermaComb. I tried it for low spots on wax comb and it worked, but I wished I'd bought the smaller one. You have to push kind of hard sometimes on the wider one. As to the issue of it getting clogged, it seems people recommend putting it in warm water to keep it unclogged, but I don't want to add water to my honey, so I just clean it now and then. If I was doing all my uncapping with it (which I'm not) it would be more of a problem to keep it clean. Perhaps someone else uses it more than me and can offer better advice.

[JBG]

I agree about the Cowen uncappers for the price if you are handy enough.
Your flckr photo site is great. Packed full of informative and clever solutions.


Find a used power uncapper and get a better setup in my opinion.

I found the cowen uncapper (you can see in my pics) for $500. You have to look long and hard to find a good deal and sometimes you get lucky. Mine works fantastic.

For the money you would invest in the Brushy uncapper I think you could find a used cowen power uncapper for not much more.

[JBG]

Judging from the video on the B-mtn site it gets jammed often. Also the guy doing the demo sometimes flips and redoes the frames and sometimes he does not. Looking at the demo video I am not really impressed by a machine that has a $1200 price tag getting stuck so often.


Just saw this Sideliner Uncapper in the Brushy Mtn. sales flyer. Anyone using one of these?? Are the cell cappings pierced vs. removed?? Handy, not, any thoughts??

[Brandy]

An update. I started this thread in '07, and got it last year. It really is slick since it doesn't take up a lot of room, doesn't need electrical power etc... It does take a little time to get it adjusted to the right thickness of the frames. There is a learning curve and I've added a honey gate to the pan it sits on. Some of the positives include none of the honey is heated as with the uncapping knife. Now price wise I got it when it was on sale last year, so that helped. Shipping was high though. Bottom line is I really like it!!!!

[JBG]

Nothing like a satisfied customer. How many frames can you uncap in an hour with it? Is there a source other than B-mtn closer to WI that you know about?

[Brandy]

Never timed myself so I have no clue. I do spend a little time with a cappings scratcher for the low spots but setting the rollers closer helps with that. The bee's repair the comb overnight, pretty amazing!! Brushy Mtn. commented on the comparisons between all the uncappers they had tried. Don't remember exactly but this was about in the middle if I remember right.

[JBG]

So you see that you get some productivity boost for the bees by using this
device as opposed to a basic scratcher or knife? That would be a big + in my eval.

[max2]

Thanks for that link Mike, I ordered one of the shallow #2 size to give it a try. Madison...

......did it work?? ( the post is a few years old!)