Cowen Uncapper knife

[Ian]

I use a serrated knife on my uncapper,
Anyone who used a serrated knife on an uncapper knows that it will push comb from time to time,
very annoying

There is a knife sold that has no sharp edge,
I dont know the name of it,

anyone use this type of knife on there uncapper?
Is it preferred or not?
Whats its advantages and disadvantages?

Thanks

[jim lyon]

Cowen has been using a slotted blade for quite a few years now that dosent have an exposed serrated edge but instead the cutting is done by the vertical surface as it moves side to side.
http://www.cowenmfg.com/apps/store/d...e&itemid=19303
They are a much more trouble free blade for running any frames that may be irregular but it does tend to tear newer comb a bit more. I am not aware of any other types of blade designed for a Cowen.

[Roland]

There is a knife sold that has no sharp edge,

By definition, is it still a knife? What application is it used in?

I can support what Jim Lyon has written The "crenelated" knife is not a gentle on the drawn section of the comb.

Can you give more description of "push comb"?

Crazy Roland

[beeware10]

cowan sells the old style (serrated) and a new style. they recommend the old style for fdn. (less tearing) we have an older cowan and never felt there was a problem. maybe new sells better.

[jim lyon]

I don't think I was very clear, I was trying to say what beeware just stated. I prefer the newer style slotted blade not because it does a better job of cutting but because irregular frames don't catch on the exposed serrated edge. Another advantage of the serrated blade is it will slice off burr comb while the slotted blade just smashes it into the comb.

[odfrank]

We switched our older Cowan steam serrated to electric serated because we are small timers and our pressure cooker went bad. Kellys supplies these. I like them because of the almost instant startup time, no boiler to wait for. We have a bit of an adjustment problem because they are not precision made and leave a more uncut cappings on one side of the combs. But we always had to do some scratching anyways before. If I could just master "lifting" with my "scratcher" I would really have it made.

[wildbranch2007]

you will get more wax in the honey like a chain uncapper, so if you are not set up to remove the wax your filters will plug up faster.