Frame-wire spool-holder designs

[tyb]

I'm looking for the simplest, most effective spool-holder for frame-wire. I've experimented with some different designs but still haven't found what I want. I'm wondering if someone here has invented something that's an improvement on the usual 2 upright pieces of wood attached to the wiring board with the spool rotating on a bolt through the tops. Different methods of preventing the wire 'birdsnesting' would also be of interest. With photos if possible.

[BonnieBee]

Don't have any pictures but what I did was to use the 'two uprights with a bolt through the spool' concept with an added spring to apply pressure to the spool so it doesn't spin as freely and also mounted a third upright at one end (perpendicular to the bolt) where a piece of wood sandwiched the wire to the upright.

[odfrank]

I wire on top of a wooden box slightly larger than a deep frame. The spool of wire is bolted to the box tight enough that it will turn when the wire is pulled but not unwind itself. The wire is fed through a narrow hole on the side of the box to the inside of the box and then out a small hole to the outside top of the box.

[Alex Cantacuzene]

Our wire spool dispenser works great. The key is the shaft of the spool has to be the size of the hole in the spool and we use a piece of plastic water pipe.
Tyb, please see e-mail. Take care and have fun.

[Grant]

My design is like a lot of others. I have the two uprights with the dowel rod. Behind the spool, I have another upright and I nailed a section of corrugated plastic (like from the mite counting boards). The plastic is the same width of the spool.

It is bent from the pressure, and to secure it to the upright, I needed a small scrap of wood. So I used a scrap leftover from a broken comb honey section box.

You cannot see it from the picture, but I simply pull the wire from the spool. No other holes or clamps to pull it through. I pull out the wire, cut it off. The plastic keeps the wire on the spool tight enough so it doesn't get tangled.

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...ant1/wire3.jpg
http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...ant1/wire2.jpg
http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...ant1/wire1.jpg

Grant
Jackson, MO

[Haakon]

Gday Grant,

Thanks for the photo, I am going down to the garage to knock one up just like it.

regards
Haakon

[Roland]

Our setup is very similar. The uprights are taller, with a rectangular loop of heavy wire around the uprights to form a drag on the top of the spool. There is a rectangular cage in front of the uprights that receives a length of 3/4 round steel. The steel is free to fall down onto the wire, and when the wire is pulled, will roll but not allow the wire to pull back onto the spool.

Crazy ROland

[StevenG]

Nice jig Grant... wish I had seen that a couple years ago.
For those who have purchased jigs with the piece of metal flashing under the spool to tension the wire to keep it from birdnesting....
The solution that worked for me was to take a scrap piece of rather stiff wire, twist it making an eye in the middle of its length, then inserting each end of that piece of wire into the mounting board of the jig, in front of the spool. Think { with the two ends facing down, plugged into the wood. Then I thread my frame wire thru the eye formed in this jig wire, and it keeps the frame wire centered, and away from the sides and that metal flashing the jig manufacturer used.
Regards,
Steven

[Barry]

Mine, very similar to Grant's.

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

Y'all are working to hard!!! I have a frame that I wire frames on...with a vertical dowel to hold the spool on the frame. Then I drilled like a 1/8ths hole that the wire loops through...keeps it all in place!!!
Mike

[BeeCurious]

I couldn't offer anything better than the others for wiring frames, but I do have a simple idea that would improve vertically wired, manufactured foundation...

Mounting the wire spools 90° would eliminate the curvature that seems to be inherent to wired foundation.