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DIY Honey Extractor

9K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  Rader Sidetrack 
#1 ·
#9 ·
If you guys want to see a good set of plans Google 'Bush mechanic' for an excellent extractor. It uses a 55 gal plastic food grade barrel, a threaded rod set in 2 bearings set into wooden cross bars and 2 bicycle rims to hold the frames. I made one for a demo on a development project I worked on in Malawi 3 years ago and it works like a charm. I ran it with a 1/2 inch drill and used a Mann lake honey gate. Great, simple design. The only trick is to find a set of bicycle rims that fit inside the barrel. I spray painted everything with oil based spray paint and ran 10 medium supers through it for a trial.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I have built at least 3 different extractors in my mind and all of the failed "in my mind" before I read your post. I utilized some of your ideas and I did not think they'd work. Do you mind if I ask some questions to compare my theoretical to your actual experience?

1. The bottom wheel. You have plywood disk, an outer metal ring and bolts sticking out of the ring. What is the inside diameter of the barrel and what is the diameter of the wheel. It seems you have very tight clearances, do the bolts scrape the sides of the barrel?

2. You are using a clean frame to design the extractor, but honey frames can be as wise as 2 inches on the sides. Do you find that bottoms of the frames maybe are too crowded on your extractor making extraction difficult?

3. When you spin the frames, does the cage travel up and down allthread, even when tightly bolted? (I've concluded that I need to weld the cage to the vertical althread to prevent that) In addition, it seems that radial althreads (top ring) bend when rotated. Is that a significant issue, or do you figure that clock and counterclock wise spinning counterbend them.

4. You don't show any braces or dowels on the top ring to nest the topbars. Was that added later or do you operate without those? I would think that frames would be falling all over the place without them.

I realize there are a lot of questions, but I really like your design, so you got me thinking if many different directions. Thanks in advance.
 
#19 ·
I have built at least 3 different extractors in my mind and all of the failed "in my mind" before I read your post. I utilized some of your ideas and I did not think they'd work. Do you mind if I ask some questions to compare my theoretical to your actual experience?

1. The bottom wheel. You have plywood disk, an outer metal ring and bolts sticking out of the ring. What is the inside diameter of the barrel and what is the diameter of the wheel. It seems you have very tight clearances, do the bolts scrape the sides of the barrel?

Quite tight clearances. The plywood disk has about 1/2 clearance the Aluminium is 1/8" and the screws used to attach it to the plywood are counter sunk into the aluminium. It did hit the barrel when I was getting it balanced but it spins clear now. I have exact numbers here somewhere but I cannot find them and the extractor is out in the barn till next year.

2. You are using a clean frame to design the extractor, but honey frames can be as wise as 2 inches on the sides. Do you find that bottoms of the frames maybe are too crowded on your extractor making extraction difficult?

Its a bit of a squeeze to get the last frame in but even on the fat ones I was able to get all 10 frames in place.

3. When you spin the frames, does the cage travel up and down allthread, even when tightly bolted? (I've concluded that I need to weld the cage to the vertical althread to prevent that) In addition, it seems that radial althreads (top ring) bend when rotated. Is that a significant issue, or do you figure that clock and counterclock wise spinning counterbend them.

Where the all thread goes through the plywood disk there is a washer on each side of the wood. Then there is a nut on each side of the washer and then a nylock nut below the bottom nut and above the top nut. I used a similar setup to lock the bottom baring in place. I ran 40 frames of honey with 0 travel. I used allthread because I couldn't find a bearing with a set screw locally and I do not have a welder. As far as bending goes the top of the shaft did bend on me but only when the drill got lose during testing. It was too long (I didn't cut it off yet) and when the drill jumped out of my had it bent the shaft. I plan to add a treadmill motor to the mix next year and the portion of the shaft with the portion of the shaft extending beyond the top bearing being much shorter I do not anticipate any issues with bending.


4. You don't show any braces or dowels on the top ring to nest the topbars. Was that added later or do you operate without those? I would think that frames would be falling all over the place without them.

I thought I would need something to hold the tops of the frames in place but I did not. The notch where the frames sit in the bottom disk seemed to be enough to keep them vertical. That and centrifugal force.

I realize there are a lot of questions, but I really like your design, so you got me thinking if many different directions. Thanks in advance.
I plan to replace the Plastic Barrel with a 200qt (50 gallon) aluminium stock pot. This will give me a good bit more clearance in the diameter department. I'll dig up my exact measurements. The Plastic Barrel is a bit of a pain. I had to make a ring with tabs to hold the top round and out after I cut it.
 
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