basket extracter

[justin]

so this summer i had the cut open black plastic oil barrel with the drain plug in tact,2 old bicycle wheels,4' of all thread,a 1/2" drill, all sitting in a pile in the yard when an old friend stopped by.he asked what i was building and i told him it would soon be my extracter.he is not a beekeeper.what kind of extracter? he asked.a honey extracter i said."oh, i have one of those in a storage locker"he said. a week later he dropped of a dadant extracter.i dont know what model it is. it has a motor on top,mounted sideways and inside it has a basket.my problem is this.i cannot imagine how the frames go into the basket.there are a couple threaded hooks and some small turn-buckle thingys,but as i said i am at a loss.its a little past time to extract and life just got really hectic so i am hoping to avoid any big messes.thanks justin

[Putz]

Is it a 4 sided basket? If so, this is not a radial extractor like you were going to build. You put the combs in sidebar first, with the side of the comb facing the basket wall. Spin about half the honey from the one frameside, then stop and remove the combs and put them back in with the other side facing out and spin out all the honey on that side, then stop and flip the combs one last time to spin out the remaining honey from the first side. flipping twice like this does less damage to the combs than just extracting one side fully, flipping once and extracting the other side.

If it is not a 4 sided basket, then disreguard this reply!

[justin]

yes it is a 4 sided basket.does the motion keep them in place or do i need to attach them to the outside of the basket?thanks

[Putz]

put them inside the basket, the centrifical force of spinning keeps the frames in place against the basket walls.