Workbench Square

[Michael Palmer]

Too cold to work bees, so I took some photos in my shop. This is the squaring jig that's part of my workbench. There's a 2x2 straight-edge screwed to the back of the bench and wall, and a stop at 90 degrees on the right side. Two toggle clamps hold the piece in the square during assembly.

Pictured is an inner cover being assempled.

[djastram]

I think that's a great idea Michael!

What are the items to the right of your jig in pictures 1 & 4?

[Andrew Dewey]

Very nice! Is the center hole just a hole or have you got it sized for a particular purpose? As memory serves me you go notch up in the summer and down in the winter. Do you do anything to keep the outer cover from blocking the notch in summer?

[Scrapfe]

I did something similar with my table saw by cutting 3 sets of parallel dado groves 3/4 inches (plus a smigen) wide by 3/8 inches (plus a smigen) deep on a piece of scrap plywood. The groves corospond to the witdth and length of an 8 frame super and a 5 frame nuc. I use bar clamps to secure the hive pieces in place while drilling pilot holes, gluing, nailing, or screwing them togather. One length wise grove works for both one side of a nuc box as well as an 8 frame super. One more length wise groove and I could also use the same jig for 10 frame hives. From above this jig looks a little like a tic-tac-toe game sheet. Don't forget to wax the devil out of the dado groves to keep excess glue from sticking to the wood. One word of caution, always check for square in the vertical.

[Michael Palmer]

Very nice! Is the center hole just a hole or have you got it sized for a particular purpose? As memory serves me you go notch up in the summer and down in the winter. Do you do anything to keep the outer cover from blocking the notch in summer?

Yep, rim down in winter, flat side down in summer. I turn the inner cover around in summer so notch is in back. Outer cover goes on...front rim up on inner cover in front. Doesn't stick down so hard. Back of outer covers inner covers notch in back, but it's still open.

[Michael Palmer]

One word of caution, always check for square in the vertical.

If the work piece is flat on the table, and into the squaring jig, it's square in the vertical.

[Michael Palmer]

I think that's a great idea Michael!

What are the items to the right of your jig in pictures 1 & 4?

I raise queens all summer, setting up four cell builders every four days. These are powerfully strong colonies that on grafting day morning are reduced in size and made hopelessly queenless. They often have a beard of young bees that overflows onto the ground. Anyway, they're so queenless that they cry...well...send out "help us we're so queenless ands pitiful" that any rogue virgins that might be thrown by another colony in the apiary, will find a nice, welcoming home in my cell builder...meaning the death of my queen cells. It happens at least once a summer in my operation, and from others in our Vermont queen rearing project, it's not uncommon.

This entrance guard fastens to the bottom entrance, and prevents virgins from entering...also keeps out/in drones...which might be a problem if they clog the excluder wires...we'll see. I patterned the guard after an old one from Root I think...a "Queen and drone trap". The original had a trap chamber and cones to allow queens and drones to enter one way only...no escape...and a lottle slide door. I modified it because I don't need a trapping chamber...just an entrance guard. The excluder comes from a full sized excluders that I cut up on my table saw with a metal cutting blade.

Anyway, this is the kind of stuff I like to do...with my "spare" time. I could have bought one from Kelley or such, but I'd rather make my own.

Front/right side view



Rear view