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Do you make your own frames? Please show me how!

46K views 114 replies 35 participants last post by  SeaCucumber 
#1 ·
Hello all,
I would like to learn how to make my own frames. I know that some of you all do make your own, and I am wondering if you would be willing to share the steps and process here. Please post pictures or videos! I am really interested in pics and videos, seeing I have already seen some plans, but have yet to come even close to perfecting the process. The few ones I have made work, but take awhile to make, and are altered slightly for easier "manufacturing" and construction. I'll post some photos as soon as I can. Thanks in advance.
 
#32 ·
Working on that tonight, I think, unless it gets too cold in the shop -- gotta get the new furnace installed some day.

Planed down a big hunk of 2x6 today to 1.25", will get the piece I got yesterday plus some other odds and ends planed down tonight, then cut to length for deeps, super deeps, and mediums. I've got a few deeps already made, plus some mediums and a handful of top bars.

Cut 120 top bars out of 2 by this afternoon, both cuts, so I'll be setting up the dado blade once I decide if I'm going to use a full 3/8" or 5/16". I'll be able to finish the top bars in an hour or so, probably have to discard some due to knots and splits, there is always a defect in that board one cannot see somewhere, that's why I made 120 instead of the 100 I really need.

Small solid knots I ignore unless I'll have to drive a nail into them --that won't work well. Large knots are a problem in top bars, less so in end bars, but yeah, I do have to watch. Pin knots in soft pine are OK and can be pretty much ignored. If you want perfect clear frames, you will have to do a lot of selecting and discard quite a bit, me, so long as they don't have weak spots, I don't care. I'm sure the bees don't either.

I've been taking photographs as I go this time, so I'll post them once I get them off the camera.

Construction site left-overs are true gold mines for beeks, lots of 18 inch and up 1 x 12 with a knot in the center gets tossed, makes perfect boxes, and what they consider useless short pieces of 2 by are prefect for top bars and end bars.

Waste not want not!

Peter
 
#33 ·
I've cut my own frames but when they can be bought for 60 or 65 cents a piece I don't have the time or the patience to cut them. I figured it up when I built them last (which I will never do again) I had 35 cents in wood to build them. So figure you are saving 30 cents to cut them. 100 frames would save you 30 bucks. PASS! In my opinion it's not worth the time. If you have some specialized equipment to build them and are going to cut 10 or 20 thousand I would say the cost savings would be justified. My 2 cents.
 
#34 ·
Some pictures. First is a top bar "blank" with the two slots cut in it. 10 degree angle on the table saw set so the wedge is 3/8" measured 3/8" from the end.

Second picture is the 7/8" slices taken off the blank on the table saw.

Third picture is the band saw set up to split the slices into two top bars.

Fourth is a box of 120 narrow top bars ready to cut the dados in.

These operations can be done with a table saw, but you lose two top bars off each 2 x 6 blank if you do.

Peter
 

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#45 ·
I did some price checking at Lowe's on lumber and figured out how many top bars, end bars, and bottom bars I can get out of a board. Looks like I can make a frame for $0.24 in materials vs. $0.75 for buying commercial frames from Dadant. I need to make 350 medium frames, Trying to determine if it's worth my time.
 
#46 ·
I make all my frames out of used lumber so they're basically free. Having made many hundreds I can say I'm honestly tired of making them and can't even motivate myself to make any more. If I was in a pinch, sure I'd make them. Short of that I wouldn't even consider it. If you need to make 350, go that extra mile and cut out the parts for 700 or 1000. I can say for myself that it's not worth my time.
 
#50 ·
DLMKA.........So if you can cut out 35 frames in an hour you are paying yourself $17.85 per hour. The uniformity of your frame parts will probably not be as consistent as the one's you'll buy from Dadant or a similar supplier (at least mine aren't). But I like making them.........sometimes. I also like making my bottom boards, boxes, and lids.
 
#52 ·
I cut almost 100 end bars from machined blocks tonight in about an hour. Would have taken less time if I'd not also been continuing the rehabilitation of the wonky bandsaw I bought cheap (new guide holder and thrust bearings tonight, made a big difference).

I work slow, since my shop is currently unheated (old furnace quit, haven't got the new one converted to propane and installed), but it took me a couple hours to cut, surface, and slot some 2x6 stock to cut top bars out of and another hour or so to cut them apart. Spent two hours the other night making the blocks for end bars and cutting bottom bars (I used divided bars, so I was sawing 5/16" squares).

So if figure about six hours total on 120 frames. Longest job is the dados on the top bars and cutting the frame wedge, since that's 8 operations per bar.

Plan on 18 hours or so for making 350 frames, not including assembly time (although that's much faster, especially with a jig). Best way to buy the lumber is 2x10 yellow pine, I think, it's the cheapest and straightest while still being easy to work and nail. Scrap is better, but not if you have to work very hard or drive somewhere to get it. I've been scrounging in the scrap bin at Menard's, nice 24" 2x6 pieces for 29 cents is hard to pass up. Lots of 1x12 cutoffs, too, that work well for medium or shallow boxes at 69 cents each.

Please note that if you don't already have the necessary equipment (table saw, planer, and band saw) making frames or boxes is silly -- I've got nearly two grand in the equipment and tools and you can buy all the hobby beekeeping equipment you will ever need for that! However, since I have them, the use is pretty much free to make frames, and my time would be spent on some other hobby or cleaning house, I'm not turning down real paid work.

I'll post some pictures shortly, got things to do for the next couple days.

Peter
 
#53 ·
pom51, I go to the garage to work on stuff to get AWAY from my kids. Love them dearly but I need some shop time too.

If I hated making or building things I would just pay for fully assembled frames, I have the money to just buy the dang things but I get immense satisfaction in doing things for myself, even if it's just once to say I know how.

Went by Lowe's tonight to get some lumber and on my way in I see a pack of culled 1" pine boards, everything from 1X12X10 to 1X4X8. List price on the whole package was over $300, had it marked at $150. Talked to they guy at the counter and it's been there almost a week, in two days it'll drop to $75 unless someone buys it before then. Now we're talking. Probably enough wood there for 1000 or more frames (minus endbars cut from 2X10 planed down to 1.375".

I bought a tablesaw a little over a month ago off Craigslist for $100. Bought a dado stack and freud all purpose blade. Already made 35 supers and 6 screened bottom boards.
 
#54 ·
>Longest job is the dados on the top bars and cutting the frame wedge, since that's 8 operations per bar.

who needs a frame wedge? I have been using GTB's and GBB's for decades. Dislike frame wedges.
 
#55 ·
don't get me wrong I make all of the boxes and top and bottoms for I have access to cypress lumber at a very good price. just like to keep all my fingers away from fast moving saw blades. I have all the equipment to make the frames but would better spend my time,making splits or other hive components
 
#59 ·
I went to a 4-H style frame for my medium boxes where the only machining done is on the top bar. Your end bars are basically a rectangle and the bottom bar (which is at least 1/2" thick) can be fastened to the bottom of the end bars or between them. It drastically cuts down on machine time and I still just can't find it in my heart to make frames anymore, just too many hives/frames to deal with for me even during the winter. I made the bottom bars thicker so I could run a kerf down the center of them and they would still have enough material below the kerf not to split when i thump honey supers. Boxes I'll make all day long no big deal.
 
#61 ·
I like having the wires trapped under a wedge and nailed down -- we can get quite hot weather here in the late spring and some of my friends have had trouble with foundation warping badly. Of course, if you cross-wire as I have started doing, this is much less of an issue.

Grooved top and bottom bars are faster, for sure. Only seven steps for the top bar that way (not counting cutting them from 2x6s and splitting them).

Lots of fun, an excuse to work out in the shop, which I like. Did 120 end bars the other night, the new bandsaw is working pretty well now that I've got new thrust bearings, filed out the throat plate so the blade doesn't drag on it, and "modified" the back top cover to allow the axle to move up enough to tension the blade.

Now I need to make a drill jig to drill the end bars, buy the eyelets to put in, and finish the top bars, then make an assembly jig and get frames put together -- I'll be needing nuc boxes by late March.

Peter

Peter
 
#63 ·
I'm going to slowly transition over to narrow 1 1/4" frames in all my hives, and I'm going to make them myself until I can't stand it anymore. So I went out to the shop and started making a jig for cutting the end bar notches in the top bar. It's going to be time consuming at first, but I want to make jigs for doing all the cuts needed for the frame parts, in the end it should be a time saver not having to readjust the fence continuously. John
 
#64 ·
Ben - My first comment is make a frame jig, as it keeps your hands away from the staples. Other comments ... Don't waste your time with plywood - it won't last. Mass-produce the profile of a part with the most detail to it, then slice them apart. This will save you more time than most other concepts. Make blocks in easily-managed sizes, mark the same side on each (same side as went against the gate or down on the tablesaw, etc.) Bounce flawed or non-conforming parts out of the production cycle as early as possible - further work on bad parts is an avoidable waste of time and wear on the machines. Glue and staple the joints - it really help[s if these frames are strong. I make mine non-standard, extra thick (5/8" side and bottom bars) as I get fewer staples blowing out the sides and VERY strong joints and frames. Laminate your blueprints and mark your master parts in bright pink or orange.

My other concern is - Are you building commercial frames or hobbyist frames? Most commercial guys are using wood frames with plastic foundation - no wedge strips.
 
#65 ·
I do the top bar side cuts at one depth setting of the dado blade, then set it for the bottom cut and run them through again, one at a time. I don't think a sliding box for more than one frame saves much time on a 1/16" deep cut. No need to move the fence between cuts, and the last batch I ran through was 120 top bars. Doesn't take long.

I make top bars from 2x6 material -- run through the planer to get flat, parallel sides (just enough so they run on the fence well, no more), then cut to length and cut the 10 degree slanted cut on both sides of each end. Best to run a large pile of blanks. I then cut them lengthwise to width, then split them on the bandsaw. Next time, I'm going to cut out the part between the angled cuts with a dado blade, saves having bits fly out of the saw when cutting the dado.

The best way to get decent frames is to select yellow pine 2x6 or 2x8 or 2x10 boards, looking for minimal knots, as flat as possible, and whatever length gets you the best ones. You will always find some defects hidden in the interior -- make extras and do not hesitate to toss less than perfect parts as they arise. Much better to make a few extra top bars than have one that breaks when you try to remove it from the hive next year.

Design is up to you. I prefer, at the moment, wedge type top bars, but you can make whatever you want.

Peter
 
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