Maxant Electric Uncapping Plane

[woodedareas]

I purchased a Maxant Electric plane. It came with instructions and it seems relatively easy to use. However it also came with a small allen wrench that allows for adjustment of the cutting depth. Does anyone have any experience with the correct depth as i do not want to experiment with a hot device. It came set at the deepest depth and can be made shallower. Seems like a decent product but Maxant could provide better instructions. I contacted them but they did not call back yet., I assume they are very busy this time of the year.

[Dave Meldrum]

I have one and like it. I just used it the way it came. If it seems to be very fussy about the angle you hold it at to get it to un-cap, then increase the depth. Likewise, if it is taking a huge bite out of the comb, decrease it. You just have to try it out. I found you really need a voltage adjuster (Heavy duty light dimmer). If you leave it plugged in it will burn the honey because it gets too hot, so you are constantly turning it on and off.

[woodedareas]

My plane does not fit between the sides of the supers. I use shallow supers from Dadant. The plane rides slight above the wood on one side of the super. Does your plane fit evenly between both sides of the super or is one side of the plane above the wood. So far rather disappointed with this product. I would tend to think that the plane would be designed to fit directly in between the sides of a super, or at least that is what commonsense would dictate. I would be interested in how your plane fits.
Thanks

[MAXANT]

The blade is set at a generic setting. ITs up to the user to determine what depth works best for them. Some like to skim it while others like to go as deep as possible.

[KQ6AR]

Hi,
When you say supers I assume you mean frames. We use a knife to uncap, the blade rides down the wood or plastic frames. Any caps that don't stick out past the frame need to be opened with a cappings scratcher. Thats why many beekeepers myself included run 9 drawn frames in the honey supers.

My plane does not fit between the sides of the supers. I use shallow supers from Dadant. The plane rides slight above the wood on one side of the super. Does your plane fit evenly between both sides of the super or is one side of the plane above the wood. So far rather disappointed with this product. I would tend to think that the plane would be designed to fit directly in between the sides of a super, or at least that is what commonsense would dictate. I would be interested in how your plane fits.
Thanks

[woodedareas]

Yes I am sorry I did mean frames. The plane does not fit between the wooden sides of the frames. The plane is about an 1/8 " wider and consequently it is on an angle. The Video on Maxant show the plane fitting between both sides of the wood on the frames.

[KQ6AR]

It was probably a deeper frame, when we uncap we use the frame top, & bottom bar as a guide. Our knife rides down the frame on the wood. Yes it is on an angle but that doesn't matter.

[woodedareas]

Since the depth of the plane is adjustable, it does not work on the same principle as a knife which is not adjustable. The plane should fit between both the top and bottom bars given the fact that the depth may be adjusted. Great concept but didn't work with my frames. Also the electronics are very dated, as there should be a thermostatic control so the plane will not get too hot either during use or when it is set aside. I have a Maxant extractor and it works very well but I find the same problem with exposed wires. In my opinion they need an electrical update.

[KQ6AR]

Thanks for explaining that to me. Guess I didn't fully understand how it works.
I think some people use a speed control from Maxant as a rheostat to control the temp on the plane.

[woodedareas]

I will be going back to my knife or an electric knife or both along with my scratcher. I think idf the bee keepers got together we could design things a lot better and more practical than some of the retailers.

[woodedareas]

I checked with Maxant today and the electric plane does not fit in-between the top and bottom bars of shallow frames but does fit in medium frames.

That is what my experience has been. I suggested they amend their advertisement so customers do not have to pay to send items back, especially if the return is due to an incomplete description of the device. They should also notify their suppliers, as I purchased the plane from Brushy Mountain and they did not offer to pay for its return.

[Corvair68]

It thought most people would only use the shallow frames for comb honey, and therefore would not be uncapping the frames.

[woodedareas]

Generally not around here as far as I know. I do not take comb honey.