Would like a report from anyone who has used one of these for uncapping. Thanks.
Cat. No. 329-N
Kelley's Electric Vibrating Knife
Would like a report from anyone who has used one of these for uncapping. Thanks.
Cat. No. 329-N
I got a new one last week, but have yet to actually use it. Seems solid enough, but will need to be mounted to a tank of some sort. They included two bolts to mount it to a round tank, but if you wanted to put it on an uncapping tank that wasn't round, a frame of some sort would have to be made.
"I reject your reality, and substitute my own." Adam Savage
I stole their idea and built one that was mounted vertical. I used a serrated knife from Cowan. The motor was mounted above. The operator is looking at end of motor shaft. Up and down motion was 1/2 in. Operator slides the frame across the blade horizontally. Blade is heated by steam. It worked great.
I purchased one several years ago. Uncapping with a heated knife was just getting too slow and was very hard on the wrists when you are pulling 6000 pounds of honey. I ended up wearing a wrist brace for nearly two months after uncapping that much with the heated knife.
I considered the handyman uncapper, but at several times the price and considering you have to put the frame in, crank the handle, then take the frame out; it seemed like it would be more work than the vibrating knife. I can't say I have any big complains about the vibrating knife. It's faster than the manual heated knife and is much easier on the wrists. I doesn't really seem to strain my wrists at all.
The blade did get dinged up after a couple seasons, but a quick touch up with a file fixed that. It can be pretty sharp to be careful. Only issue I've had is that the clearance between the knife and triangular piece of metal underneath should be a bit more. When uncapping frames with thick comb it can get stuck and affects how smoothly it uncaps. Not a big issue but only the real problem I have had.
-Tim
Tim,
How much faster is it than a heated knife? For example, how long would it take to uncap 10 frames? What kind of uncapping tank do you use underneath it? Thanks.
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