Thank you for this well thought out and produced instructional video. It was clear and concise. In addition, I was very please to see that your PDF's included measurements for 5, 8, and 10 frame hives. Fantastic. This will be my winter woodworking project in anticipation of my bees arriving in the spring. THANKS AGAIN for an excellent video.
Thank you. This is one of the best instructional videos I have seen. You clearly explained the tools ,the measurements, the jigs. I am just learning woodworking and bee keeping. Thanks again
Awesome video. You scared the hell out of me when you placed your hand above the dado blade and pushed the board down onto the handle jig! If you ever miscalculate the depth of your blade it will be a very bad day. Thanks again for the video!
Glad you enjoyed it! I always run test pieces during my setup and constantly check to make sure my depth hasn’t changed throughout a run. It’s hard to tell in the video but I try to keep my hand just behind where the blade would come through. Having said that, there is always that chance! Use your best judgment, work within your comfort zone and be safe!
Thank you for the very good instructional video. Glue = money. Every Drop matters. If you are brushing it on, you can get complete coverage without wasting half of what you put on. -.-
Thank you! It is still a little strange to me, videoing a project whileI building it. I have really had fun making these first two videos and it really means a lot to know that you enjoyed watching the finished product.
Just came across your videos, great job putting them together. I am a wood worker and have a friend wanting more traps and hive boxes. I know how to make sawdust but not honey. Your downloads will be a great help and keeps me from reverse engineering what she already has. Thank you for sharing. I have subscribed and look forward to anything you post.
Very good presentation, step by step, very well explained , this methods I use in my beekeeping too. Looking forward for next videos. The best regards from Czech republic! Goerge.
Great video ..just starting to get into bee keeping ..I have most of the wood working equipment that belonged to my grandad ..gonna get it ready to go and try my hand at building those bee boxes!!
No worries! Your eyes did not deceive you. You did see me using Tightbond II early in the video. That was on the jigs I was building. Later on when I was assembling the hive boxes, I did switch over to Tightbond III. I apologize if I didn’t clarify making that switch in the video.
Great videos! Very well put together. This is just the information I needed thank you again. I am having trouble getting access to the plans. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Please help...LOL!!
Glad you enjoyed the videos! For some reason, the link in the description doesn’t always work. Do a google search for The Southern Craft Woodshop and look in the blog. You should find the plans you need there.
You have released a number of terrific videos that are going to be very helpful to me with my Bee Box build for a good friend of mine. You mentioned a way to add width to my medium box versus the deep version by screwing a ripped piece to the more narrow board. This will leave two screw holes in my boards, unless I add some putty. Could I avoid the screw holes by adding some double sided tape under my rip cut piece? Thanks for the initial video and your response.
I’m glad you’re finding my videos useful. Be sure to check out the plans as well. You can find a link in the video description or go straight to The Southern Craft Woodshop and look in the blog section. As for cutting the recessed handles into mediums, I do recommend using the method I describe in the video and YES I advise using screws. The reason I advise screws over double sided tape is the stability of the panel while you’re cutting the handle. Your dealing with a part that is being moved over and across a dado blade. In my opinion, your fingers are far to important to risk the double sided tape turning loose mid cut. Yes there will be a couple screw holes left behind but they will be on the inside of the box. Your bees or at least your friends bees won’t mind these small holes but if you do, simply fill them in. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching! Wes
Thank you! I do not currently have plans available in metric but maybe I need to consider that moving forward. If you are handy with a calculator, you can convert the current dimensions into decimals then multiply by 25.4 to get the metric equivalent. (9 5/8 would convert to 9.625 then multiply 9.625 X 25.4 to get 244.475. So 9 5/8” would be 244mm.) Hope this helps and thanks for watching! Wes
really helpful tutorial...I used yours and a couple others to build mine (mostly yours)...worked out pretty well. I'm not a skilled woodworker, I build in metal...usually steel, so I am hesitant to critique, but all three tutorials I watched all made the same "mistake": leaving the tracks for the sled thicker than the slot depth...leaving the sled floating above the table and on the bottom of your table slots.....why? All you're looking for out of the slots is to maintain perpendicularity, the surface of the sled should take its position from the saw table top, no? anyways, I made mine thinner so they dont touch the bottom of the slots. Sled moves real nice & the sled actually sits on the table. Anyone looking to build one of these would be wise to consider that small change. ps I also used wood glue & 18g 3/4" brads to secure them, also worked fine.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video! As for the tracks in the T-slots, for this jig I used some scrap solid surface material that comes 1/2” thick. This does leave a small gap between the table top and the underside of the jig. I’m personally not concerned with this on this particular jig because I get slightly less resistance as I slide through the cut. The workpiece itself does need to stay in contact with the top of the saw throughout the cut. For me, this has not an issue with this jig. On other jigs I typically do run a shorter track. It really all depends on the function of the jig I’m making. Thanks for watching Wes
I have never tried a miter of any kind on a hive box. Personally I like box joints because they equally distribute the lifting load across all four sides of the box. I would be interested in hearing feedback on boxes made with locking miters after a few years of use but I really don’t want to test that theory myself. I really believe that over the course of a year or two that they will fail.
I never did. My day job went crazy right about the time I wanted to start them. On the bright side, I just left that job last week and will now be working for myself. I hope to be posting those videos sometime in January.
Thank you for such a great video. I will be getting started on my boxes after Christmas. Concerning the recessed handle jig, what height did you set your dado blade? Sorry, but I did not catch it in the video if you mentioned it.
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Thank you for your response. This jig worked perfectly for me. I have shared with other beekeepers, and they were very impressed with your design. Good luck with your apiary this year.
I have two dado blades, a wobble and a stack, and both of then only go to 3/4". I really like the 7/8" box joints. is it possible to make the jig just as you show. and then make two cuts to equal 7/8 inch, and the move over and so on, or am I going to run into some trouble. Thanks really enjoyed the video.
Yes it is possible. It would be the same principle as the 1 3/8” box joint jig with a few different spacing adjustments. I haven’t done the math on it but you could do a 3/4” box joint and save the trouble of the extra pass at each finger. Also, I would recommend the stack dado over the wobble. The stack gives a flat cut all the way across the width of the cut where as the wobble will give a radius to the bottom of the cut. Hope this was helpful
Very good, very concise! One thing - when you checked for square... how do you remedy if they are not square at that point? Wouldn't it be better to place the whole box in some jig to keep it square before you screw/brad them?
Thank you! First and foremost, be sure your cutting your cross cuts square. If the cuts are made square, box joints typically come together relatively square. When a box is out of square you can rack it back to square by cross clamping or by bumping it against the floor before setting it to the side for the glue to dry. For a box built with rabbit joints, I would cross clamp or bump it by hand. Rabbit joints will typically have a little more play in them. As far as using a jig, yes, I would have to agree and disagree with you at the same time. I love jigs! If you were to planning to assemble several boxes then a jig for assembly makes a tremendous amount of sense. However, I personally would not spend the time and effort to set up a jig for only a few boxes. Now with all of that said, I will be starting to assemble several hundred boxes in the coming weeks. There are assembly jigs out there that you can buy but I’m either too cheap or stubborn for that. I am already planning to build a makeshift jig to help simplify and speed up the process. I hope this helps. Wes
Seems like it’s better to have the ends start with a missing “tooth”, so then your rabbit can just be done on the table saw without a stop. I also found it sort of a tolerance issue to rotate with the same side out instead of flipping with the same top edge with the fence. Overall, I watched your video several times and studied the plans over and over. The jigs perspective would be better if the drawing was as if you were looking at it standing at the table saw. Everything came together in the end. I can now make deeps and mediums with speed and accuracy.
Thank you! I did not, however I just changed my day job and have more time to put into UA-cam. I am planning to start that video or videos within the next week or so. You should see it and the plans in about two weeks. Thanks for watching! Wes
Most commercialy produced hives tend to use the larger box joints. The smaller 7/8” joints tend to be a little easier to set up and cut for most people who would like to build their own. I wanted to show several different options in this video so each individual could decide which construction method would suit them best. You are correct. In most woodworking projects, box joints are made to be the same as the material thickness. The reason for this is typically for the cosmetic appearance of the final product. Although common practice, this does not define what a box joint is. It can be either larger or smaller depending on the design aspects and or structural needs of the project. Thanks for the question. I hope this helps. Wes
Very nice work. I have been trying to think through the best way to do those handles and I love the job solution you used. I was wondering though... Do you think it would be possible to have the "slide rail" (I think that's what you called the angled piece?) be a lower angle - like 33 degrees (maybe) instead of 45 perhaps and then have the slope go all the way from the bottom of the handle to the top and not necessarily need to do the prior step of lowering it down the other direction onto the dado stack? Hopefully the question makes sense...
If I understand your question correctly, by lowering the angle the vertical height of the handle would increase due to the longer distance it would need to travel over the blade as it slides down the rail. Without testing it I’m not 100% sure that you would even have the clearance between the blade and the workpiece with the blade set for its final cut depth. That clearance allows you a margin of error to set your workpiece on the jig before starting into the cut as well as creating the rounded bottom to the handle. Another aspect of your question is being able to slide down the slide rail in one pass without first doing a clean out or plunge cut. As the workpiece begins to slide down into the Dado blade it is being cut by the top edge of the carbide tips. As you continue to slide across and cut deeper the edge of the carbide tips will cut in a limited capacity until the depth is deeper than the carbide tip. At this point your workpiece will bog down before your cut is complete. I hope this helps and answer the question you had. Wes
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Thanks! The second part of your answer was ultimately what I was trying to think through. I was trying to work out if the reason for having the handle cut as two separate steps was for aesthetic purposes or if there was a functional reason for doing it that way. Not that the two separate steps take a huge amount of time or anything once you have that jig set up. Just trying to understand the process better. Thanks!
Having the bottom portion of the handle slope down allows rain water to drain from the handle. This helps prolong the life of your box and it looks good too!
To be honest, not really. For me it’s a convenience rather than a savings. I typically build my lids and bottoms / pallets. I also run some 6 frame equipment and I build that as well. It’s really a time Vs savings thing.
Hey Wes, me again. I went through your various video links looking for Lanstroth frame mass production videos as well as recommended foundation sales sites. Can you suggest a good frame construction vid and where you'd suggest picking up plastic foundations?
For me the effort involved in making frames from scratch is not really worth the time it would take me to produce them. I view it as time I could be spending on other projects. I use Mann Lakes preassembled frame with plastic foundation. They come with a light wax coating but I like to add an additional coat to give my bees a head start on comb production. I am lucky enough to be able to pick these up from a distributor and bypass the freight. Now if you really want to build your own, search “How to build Langstroth frames” in UA-cam’s search. I would also recommend buying at least one frame and using it as a guide. Best of luck Wes
The bee milking apiary consists of 128 hives of 18 hives. Or 2 apiari😅es with 128 hives of milking bees and 4 buildings in each hive. That's ~4000 bee hive walls and ~8000 end sides that need to be machined to give them a jagged shape. Here you need a special machine, not fixtures and tools!
great tutorial. the handle jig is the best and easiest I have seen. question on the inch and 3/8 box joint. is there a reason to have the pin first on the short piece? can this be switched to pin first on long piece? thaT way u can run dado for frame rest and skip the router
Great question! You could certainly do it that way. That is how I did the 7/8” box joints. I wanted to show it this way as an option. It also allows for placing a screw closer to the top edge of the box. Thanks for watching! Wes
I figured you had a good reason. one other thing is I have pretty bad tearout when using the dado blade. wondering if I have a cheap blade or if u also have this issue. I have used a backer board and this helps but doesn't stop it completely. any other pro tips for making cleaner cuts?
Sharp blades definitely help. The wood species and the speed at which you make the cut has a lot to do with it as well. I make most of my boxes out of Southern Yellow Pine or Cypress. They tear out much more than I would like. I turn this to the inside of the box. If it creates a nook for a small hive beetle to crawl into, the bees will usually trap it in with propolis. I have used Eastern White Pine a couple of times and it does not tear out as bad. I would use it more often but the lumber companies around me do not stock it and the big box stores that do are VERY proud of it! A backer will all but eliminate tear out if it is kept tight to the workpiece and replaced when it begins to wear out which is often. One area to pay close attention to is to cut your frame rest after you have done the box joints. (This applies to the 7/8” box joint plans.) Otherwise the the ledge the frame sits on will blow out almost every time. If you do other woodworking projects, this same principle applies. Tear out is common when coming out of a crosscut or coming out of a router cut against the grain. Whenever possible, make these cuts first then make your rip cuts or router pass with the grain last. I hope this explanation makes scene and helps.
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 yes thank you. I will try keeping them all to the inside i guess. My blade is new so maybe not enough rpm. and I noticed that with the backer board also that it does fine for a few cuts then yeah it doesnt help much until you cut a new spot.
Try using a sheet of foam board insulation and glue a lip around the top. Use a couple screws to secure the foam. If you can find a large disposal Styrofoam ice chest that will work too.
For whatever reason the link to the plans from UA-cam has an occasional glitch. Try going directly to The Southern Craft Woodshop website from your browser and look in the blog section. Let me know if you have anymore trouble. Wes
I’m using cypress in the video but I typically build out of Southern Yellow Pine for myself. Also, Eastern White Pine is a popular choice for many beekeepers. It has a lot to do with where you live and what’s most commonly available.
Okay, so I've printed out all the plans for both hives and traps. Regarding the "miter gauge" at 1:50 in this video this mechanism appears to be a specific product. The closest I could find online was the 'Kreg Precision Miter Gauge System'. You mention alternatively using the 'slide cradle' or the 'compound sliding miter saw'. So I own a compound sliding miter saw so I could use that. Your 'slide cradle' on the other hand is a mystery to me, very curious about that. My second question is regarding the 'slide rail' 2:50 within the recessed handle jig build. I see it is comprised of 2 parts, a triangle piece of unknown angle then the slide piece also with an unknown angle which is fixed to the base board of the overall recessed handle jig. Could you please tell me the angle of these two segments and how you fix them to the base of the jig (I'm guessing glue & brad nailer). Lastly, I believe I saw you mention you would be adding an instruction video on building lids and bases for the hives, any idea how long until you'll be releasing this 3rd video? Thanks a ton.
That is the miter gauge that I am using in the video. The cross cut slide cradle is a piece of ply on runners that fit in the table saw T-slots. It has a 1 1/2” X 5 1/2” board at the front and back. The one on the back acts as your back fence. You can see it in use in the swarm trap video. I’ll try to do a video on how to make one at some point. The slide rail on the recessed handle jig is 2 pieces of 3/4” stock nested together. It could be done as a single piece of 1 1/2” also. The angle is 45 degrees. I’ll be trying to get the video on lids and bottoms out in a few weeks. Between my day job and my bees I haven’t had much time to devote to videos. That varies throughout the year so at times you may only see one new upload every month or so. When I can, I’ll post more often. I really appreciate you and everyone else thats watching. I’ll try to continue to bring you guys great content. Thanks again Wes
The "slide cradle" is more commonly (maybe it's a regional name?) called a crosscut sled. Hopefully you've already found what you need with the answer Wes gave. But if it wasn't clear enough, a UA-cam search related to "crosscut sled" should turn up what you're looking for. I might recommend "Steve Ramsey crosscut sled" he has a simple but still functional design. Having one of those makes a HUGE difference in the functionality of your table saw - especially if you don't already have a really nice miter gauge like Wes's. 😉 (And for someone like me, who also doesn't have one of those compound sliding miter saws, it's especially important!)
@@bojangles8582 Get a grip? I'm a perfectionist learning quality woodworking sir. You know, the universe sends back what your put forth. Condescending quips will grant you great dividends of such.
There should be a link to the plans in the description of each video. Your other option is to go to The Southern Craft Woodshop online and look in the Blog section.
I don’t know of anyone using a CNC for cutting and or shaping for their own use. The larger manufacturers use a variety of specialized machinery. Exactly what they use I’m sure will vary depending on their scale and or approach to their design.
Thank you for this video! About the width extension for the medium board, i'm wondering if anyone has tried screwing the 2 5/8 extension board down to the jig rather than the piece? This would save having to screw the extension to each medium board which would save time and also eliminate 2 screw holes in each piece. Has anyone tried this?
I played around with a few ideas like this. The issue I had was the angle starts out too low and is in contact with the blade before the workpiece touches the top face of the jig. You could solve this by increasing the angle of the slide. I think it would be best if you were to do this, to make a separate jig for mediums. Also, the slope on the underside of the handle will be different than what you would have on your deep boxes. Not that that would matter functionally. Hope this helps Wes
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Ahhh yes.. I see exactly what you mean. I just got back from playing around with this jig in my shop and immediately noticed the issue you've just described. Thanks for the information Wes, you've been super helpful!
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 ditto. I thought the exact same thing and dropped my spacer without affixing. It changed the angle of the angled cut. I guess I'll have to affix the width extension as suggested.
Hello! May I get your permission to translate this video and use on my channel about beekeeping. I provide translated videos with all the links to the original ones. Best regards
It looks as though you’ve solved the problem of the tilting miter gauge. Is that a board you’ve clamped to the edge of the saw to keep the gauge fence flat? Please explain.
Yes sir, that is exactly what it is. It originated as a table extension for my crosscut jig so I could pull it far enough behind the blade without it tipping.
A few things could be causing your troubles. If you rabbet joint is not cut square to the board or if the straight cut going into the rabbet is not cut square, this will directly affect how square your box is. This will cause your box to be racked somewhat sideways. The cut across the width of the board being cut slightly off square as well as boards having twist in them will generally make your box rock when sitting on a flat surface. I would suggest starting by checking the quality of your board. Then from there, I’d double check that your cuts are perfectly square. Best of luck Wes
@@brianw.520 glad it was just the fence. My job site saw is horrid like that, but I already have zero clearance plates for my dado stack so I have to triple check EVERY TIME I MOVE THE FENCE. I am talking measuring from the blade to the fence, then fence to miter slot across the blade to get the measurement. Then I have to check both ends of the fence and usually move one I have found one trick that sawstop owners use that actually works fairly well for some other fences is to half lock the fence then release, then lock. The half lock starts to engage the locking pawls and pulls the fence square with its rail. It doesn’t stop me from measuring repeatedly, but it has cut down the amount of adjustment to get the fence square
@@liquidrockaquatics3900 good advice! That's insane to have to check all that every time but I'm finding it's much easier to slowly check and get it right the first time vs. speedily perform something and have to correct a mistake
Often times there will be some amount of blowout on the back side of the cut. The stack dado is really designed to do its best job when cutting with the grain of the wood or across end grain, not into the end grain. There are techniques to minimize this but I find them impractical when building a hive box. For this reason I prefer to cut into the face side and have any imperfections on the inside of the box. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching! Wes
Cypress or pine would be my first two picks. Even though cypress is relatively rot resistant, I would still recommend painting the exterior of hives built from either material. You do not want to paint the inside.
It’s not common practice but I do believe it would be fine if the boxes were left open outside to age for a few months. This is just a guess mind you. If you’re going to try it, I would only try one colony at first. Also, I would be concerned that if the bees tolerate the smell, any honey collected from a cedar hive might be infused by it. If anyone has more information on this, I hope they will chime in.
A lot of information here. I would say the screws are unnecessary. The glue bond is stronger than the wood itself. The staples hold while the glue bonds. Screws are overkill without benefit.
I would agree with you if the wood wouldn't be stressed out. But this a box that will be receiving a lot of pressure from the hive tool when trying to get a frame out. Even with screws and glue you can sometimes separate the top part of the box.
I use 1x12 that I get from a couple different lumber yards. The local shops typically have a better selection and a much better price than the big chain stores.
I’m not sure why it is asking for your phone number. That’s not a setting that I set up or would ever use. I have not checked the link from a PC but have downloaded from both my phone and an IPad without having to enter a phone number. Maybe try that and send it to your PC to print or try entering a random number from your PC. If that doesn’t work shoot me an email and I’ll send it to you. Just let me know the file you’re looking for. info@southerncraftwood.com I hope this helps. Wes
Or ring shank nails, or staples suitable for exterior use. These are beehives that will be subject to the elements, not to mention the stresses they will endure over many years of use in an apiary.
Thank you for this well thought out and produced instructional video. It was clear and concise. In addition, I was very please to see that your PDF's included measurements for 5, 8, and 10 frame hives. Fantastic. This will be my winter woodworking project in anticipation of my bees arriving in the spring. THANKS AGAIN for an excellent video.
Thank you. This is one of the best instructional videos I have seen. You clearly explained the tools ,the measurements, the jigs. I am just learning woodworking and bee keeping. Thanks again
Awesome video. You scared the hell out of me when you placed your hand above the dado blade and pushed the board down onto the handle jig! If you ever miscalculate the depth of your blade it will be a very bad day. Thanks again for the video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I always run test pieces during my setup and constantly check to make sure my depth hasn’t changed throughout a run. It’s hard to tell in the video but I try to keep my hand just behind where the blade would come through. Having said that, there is always that chance! Use your best judgment, work within your comfort zone and be safe!
I Second that.
A plunge router is a safer way to make that cut
@@gary_stavropoulosmake a video of how you would do it, I am curious.
@@austinblevins3084 sure since there are no videos of people using a plunge router.
Thank you! Hive kits have really gone up, this video has encouraged me to build my own as I grow my apiary.
It’s awesome to get messages like this! I’m so glad I could help. Best of luck as build and grow your apiary.
Great video
Thank you!
Thank you for the very good instructional video.
Glue = money. Every Drop matters. If you are brushing it on, you can get complete coverage without wasting half of what you put on. -.-
You’re welcome.
Thanks for watching.
Thanks for your time and effort you put into making your videos! You do a great job with them!
Thank you!
It is still a little strange to me, videoing a project whileI building it. I have really had fun making these first two videos and it really means a lot to know that you enjoyed watching the finished product.
Just came across your videos, great job putting them together. I am a wood worker and have a friend wanting more traps and hive boxes. I know how to make sawdust but not honey. Your downloads will be a great help and keeps me from reverse engineering what she already has. Thank you for sharing. I have subscribed and look forward to anything you post.
I’m glad the videos and plans were helpful for you.
Thanks for watching!
Wes
Thanks for your professional and effort
You’re welcome
Thanks for watching
Great video! Everything explained and shown. Easy to understand and follow. Can’t wait to make my jigs and start cutting my boxes.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Best of luck!
Wes
You have done a great job on the videos. Thank you for the education and the plans. Thank you.
You’re welcome!
I hope you’ll stick around for my other woodworking videos too.
Thanks for watching.
Wes
Very good presentation, step by step, very well explained , this methods I use in my beekeeping too. Looking forward for next videos. The best regards from Czech republic! Goerge.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
Thanks for watching
Wes
Thanks Sir for Sharing this Information with us
You’re welcome!
I hope some part of it was helpful.
Excelent video very calm explanation
Thank you
Awesome! Thank you so much sir!
You’re welcome!
Glad you enjoyed it.
man i need a dado,and router table,...love the handholds jig
They are nice to have for sure. I’m glad you like the jig.
Thanks for watching!
Wes
Great job and a great experience
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for watching
Wes
THANK YOU SO MUCH SIR ...
You’re very welcome
Thanks for watching!
Thank You Sir for sharing.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Great video ..just starting to get into bee keeping ..I have most of the wood working equipment that belonged to my grandad ..gonna get it ready to go and try my hand at building those bee boxes!!
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Best of luck.
Be safe and have fun!!!
You've made some wonderful videos. I hope to see more in the future!
Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed them. I will indeed be adding more videos as time permits.
Thanks for watching
Wes
Hey! You're the best thing since Norm! Subbed and liked.
Thank you!! I take that as a huge compliment. Though I must say, Mr. Norm Abram is a talent in a league all his own!
Not trolling, but if you'd switch to Titebond III, it's waterproof. Thanks for the detailed video. Easy to understand and no fluff.
No worries!
Your eyes did not deceive you. You did see me using Tightbond II early in the video. That was on the jigs I was building. Later on when I was assembling the hive boxes, I did switch over to Tightbond III. I apologize if I didn’t clarify making that switch in the video.
Do you have a video and/or plans on building frames for deep and medium boxes?
Great job
Thank you!
Tres beaux travaille
Thank you!
Awesome video👍🍯🍯🍯🍯🍯
Thank you!
Nice work, thank you.
Your welcome.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Great videos! Very well put together. This is just the information I needed thank you again. I am having trouble getting access to the plans. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Please help...LOL!!
Glad you enjoyed the videos!
For some reason, the link in the description doesn’t always work. Do a google search for The Southern Craft Woodshop and look in the blog. You should find the plans you need there.
You have released a number of terrific videos that are going to be very helpful to me with my Bee Box build for a good friend of mine. You mentioned a way to add width to my medium box versus the deep version by screwing a ripped piece to the more narrow board. This will leave two screw holes in my boards, unless I add some putty.
Could I avoid the screw holes by adding some double sided tape under my rip cut piece?
Thanks for the initial video and your response.
I’m glad you’re finding my videos useful. Be sure to check out the plans as well. You can find a link in the video description or go straight to The Southern Craft Woodshop and look in the blog section.
As for cutting the recessed handles into mediums, I do recommend using the method I describe in the video and YES I advise using screws. The reason I advise screws over double sided tape is the stability of the panel while you’re cutting the handle. Your dealing with a part that is being moved over and across a dado blade. In my opinion, your fingers are far to important to risk the double sided tape turning loose mid cut.
Yes there will be a couple screw holes left behind but they will be on the inside of the box. Your bees or at least your friends bees won’t mind these small holes but if you do, simply fill them in.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for watching!
Wes
Super cool video
Thank you!
Excellent video truly admire your craftsmanship and your free plans, any metric available as well
Thank you!
I do not currently have plans available in metric but maybe I need to consider that moving forward. If you are handy with a calculator, you can convert the current dimensions into decimals then multiply by 25.4 to get the metric equivalent. (9 5/8 would convert to 9.625 then multiply 9.625 X 25.4 to get 244.475. So 9 5/8” would be 244mm.)
Hope this helps and thanks for watching!
Wes
I really enjoyed your video. Good job Sir!
I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for watching and Thank You for the great comment!
really helpful tutorial...I used yours and a couple others to build mine (mostly yours)...worked out pretty well.
I'm not a skilled woodworker, I build in metal...usually steel, so I am hesitant to critique, but all three tutorials I watched all made the same "mistake": leaving the tracks for the sled thicker than the slot depth...leaving the sled floating above the table and on the bottom of your table slots.....why? All you're looking for out of the slots is to maintain perpendicularity, the surface of the sled should take its position from the saw table top, no?
anyways, I made mine thinner so they dont touch the bottom of the slots. Sled moves real nice & the sled actually sits on the table. Anyone looking to build one of these would be wise to consider that small change.
ps I also used wood glue & 18g 3/4" brads to secure them, also worked fine.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
As for the tracks in the T-slots, for this jig I used some scrap solid surface material that comes 1/2” thick. This does leave a small gap between the table top and the underside of the jig. I’m personally not concerned with this on this particular jig because I get slightly less resistance as I slide through the cut. The workpiece itself does need to stay in contact with the top of the saw throughout the cut. For me, this has not an issue with this jig.
On other jigs I typically do run a shorter track. It really all depends on the function of the jig I’m making.
Thanks for watching
Wes
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 thanks for responding, much appreciated!
Thank you for this video! Have you ever tried locking miter or lapped miter for hive construction?
I have never tried a miter of any kind on a hive box. Personally I like box joints because they equally distribute the lifting load across all four sides of the box.
I would be interested in hearing feedback on boxes made with locking miters after a few years of use but I really don’t want to test that theory myself. I really believe that over the course of a year or two that they will fail.
What angle is the slide rail?
45 degrees
Hey Wes,
Did you ever post a video of the beehive tops, bottoms and inter covers that you mentioned in the box build video?
I never did. My day job went crazy right about the time I wanted to start them. On the bright side, I just left that job last week and will now be working for myself. I hope to be posting those videos sometime in January.
You are a master, I can see it Can I give you some technical advice?So that you can do some testing.
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Nicely done. Very easy to follow and understand. Liked and subed.
Thank you!
Thank you for such a great video. I will be getting started on my boxes after Christmas. Concerning the recessed handle jig, what height did you set your dado blade? Sorry, but I did not catch it in the video if you mentioned it.
The dado was set approximately 1/2” above the top of the jig.
Best of luck and thanks for watching!
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Thank you for your response. This jig worked perfectly for me. I have shared with other beekeepers, and they were very impressed with your design. Good luck with your apiary this year.
I have two dado blades, a wobble and a stack, and both of then only go to 3/4". I really like the 7/8" box joints. is it possible to make the jig just as you show. and then make two cuts to equal 7/8 inch, and the move over and so on, or am I going to run into some trouble. Thanks really enjoyed the video.
Yes it is possible. It would be the same principle as the 1 3/8” box joint jig with a few different spacing adjustments.
I haven’t done the math on it but you could do a 3/4” box joint and save the trouble of the extra pass at each finger.
Also, I would recommend the stack dado over the wobble. The stack gives a flat cut all the way across the width of the cut where as the wobble will give a radius to the bottom of the cut.
Hope this was helpful
Very good, very concise! One thing - when you checked for square... how do you remedy if they are not square at that point? Wouldn't it be better to place the whole box in some jig to keep it square before you screw/brad them?
Thank you!
First and foremost, be sure your cutting your cross cuts square. If the cuts are made square, box joints typically come together relatively square. When a box is out of square you can rack it back to square by cross clamping or by bumping it against the floor before setting it to the side for the glue to dry. For a box built with rabbit joints, I would cross clamp or bump it by hand. Rabbit joints will typically have a little more play in them.
As far as using a jig, yes, I would have to agree and disagree with you at the same time. I love jigs! If you were to planning to assemble several boxes then a jig for assembly makes a tremendous amount of sense. However, I personally would not spend the time and effort to set up a jig for only a few boxes. Now with all of that said, I will be starting to assemble several hundred boxes in the coming weeks. There are assembly jigs out there that you can buy but I’m either too cheap or stubborn for that. I am already planning to build a makeshift jig to help simplify and speed up the process.
I hope this helps.
Wes
Seems like it’s better to have the ends start with a missing “tooth”, so then your rabbit can just be done on the table saw without a stop. I also found it sort of a tolerance issue to rotate with the same side out instead of flipping with the same top edge with the fence. Overall, I watched your video several times and studied the plans over and over. The jigs perspective would be better if the drawing was as if you were looking at it standing at the table saw. Everything came together in the end. I can now make deeps and mediums with speed and accuracy.
I’m glad you were able to take the plans and video and work out a method that works for you. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comments.
Great video. One question though, what as the angle of the board that you slide down?
45 degrees
Useful video. Appreciate the compare of the three types of joints. Did you ever film the bottom board and cover video?
Thank you!
I did not, however I just changed my day job and have more time to put into UA-cam. I am planning to start that video or videos within the next week or so. You should see it and the plans in about two weeks.
Thanks for watching!
Wes
Will you also make the frames?
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Glad to hear it. Looking forward to the new videos.
I have built a few but for the amount of time and effort they involve, I buy them.
I might possibly do a video at some point though.
What is the reason for the large 1-3/8" box joint? I thought a box joint was typically the same as the stock thickness.
Most commercialy produced hives tend to use the larger box joints. The smaller 7/8” joints tend to be a little easier to set up and cut for most people who would like to build their own. I wanted to show several different options in this video so each individual could decide which construction method would suit them best.
You are correct. In most woodworking projects, box joints are made to be the same as the material thickness. The reason for this is typically for the cosmetic appearance of the final product. Although common practice, this does not define what a box joint is. It can be either larger or smaller depending on the design aspects and or structural needs of the project.
Thanks for the question. I hope this helps.
Wes
Hi sir my country is Bangladesh
Apis serena bee box or Apis mellifera bee box please sir
❤
In the United States we have Apis mellifera.
Very nice work. I have been trying to think through the best way to do those handles and I love the job solution you used. I was wondering though...
Do you think it would be possible to have the "slide rail" (I think that's what you called the angled piece?) be a lower angle - like 33 degrees (maybe) instead of 45 perhaps and then have the slope go all the way from the bottom of the handle to the top and not necessarily need to do the prior step of lowering it down the other direction onto the dado stack?
Hopefully the question makes sense...
If I understand your question correctly, by lowering the angle the vertical height of the handle would increase due to the longer distance it would need to travel over the blade as it slides down the rail. Without testing it I’m not 100% sure that you would even have the clearance between the blade and the workpiece with the blade set for its final cut depth. That clearance allows you a margin of error to set your workpiece on the jig before starting into the cut as well as creating the rounded bottom to the handle.
Another aspect of your question is being able to slide down the slide rail in one pass without first doing a clean out or plunge cut. As the workpiece begins to slide down into the Dado blade it is being cut by the top edge of the carbide tips. As you continue to slide across and cut deeper the edge of the carbide tips will cut in a limited capacity until the depth is deeper than the carbide tip. At this point your workpiece will bog down before your cut is complete.
I hope this helps and answer the question you had.
Wes
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Thanks! The second part of your answer was ultimately what I was trying to think through.
I was trying to work out if the reason for having the handle cut as two separate steps was for aesthetic purposes or if there was a functional reason for doing it that way.
Not that the two separate steps take a huge amount of time or anything once you have that jig set up. Just trying to understand the process better.
Thanks!
Having the bottom portion of the handle slope down allows rain water to drain from the handle. This helps prolong the life of your box and it looks good too!
Thank you , all down loaded, shame we cant use a dado blades in the uK with our saws.
You’re welcome
Really, why?
Do you find beehives to be a profitable venture from the woodworking side?
To be honest, not really. For me it’s a convenience rather than a savings. I typically build my lids and bottoms / pallets. I also run some 6 frame equipment and I build that as well. It’s really a time Vs savings thing.
Hey Wes, me again. I went through your various video links looking for Lanstroth frame mass production videos as well as recommended foundation sales sites. Can you suggest a good frame construction vid and where you'd suggest picking up plastic foundations?
For me the effort involved in making frames from scratch is not really worth the time it would take me to produce them. I view it as time I could be spending on other projects. I use Mann Lakes preassembled frame with plastic foundation. They come with a light wax coating but I like to add an additional coat to give my bees a head start on comb production.
I am lucky enough to be able to pick these up from a distributor and bypass the freight.
Now if you really want to build your own, search “How to build Langstroth frames” in UA-cam’s search. I would also recommend buying at least one frame and using it as a guide.
Best of luck
Wes
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Good deal Wes, thank you.
Great video! I'm assuming you meant to say you had your dado at 7/8 instead of 3/4?
Thank you!
It is possible that I misspoke and missed it in editing.
Thanks for watching!
Wes
The bee milking apiary consists of 128 hives of 18 hives. Or 2 apiari😅es with 128 hives of milking bees and 4 buildings in each hive. That's ~4000 bee hive walls and ~8000 end sides that need to be machined to give them a jagged shape. Here you need a special machine, not fixtures and tools!
To be honest, I’m having trouble following you on this. Maybe I’m getting lost in translation.
great tutorial. the handle jig is the best and easiest I have seen. question on the inch and 3/8 box joint. is there a reason to have the pin first on the short piece? can this be switched to pin first on long piece? thaT way u can run dado for frame rest and skip the router
Great question!
You could certainly do it that way. That is how I did the 7/8” box joints. I wanted to show it this way as an option. It also allows for placing a screw closer to the top edge of the box.
Thanks for watching!
Wes
I figured you had a good reason. one other thing is I have pretty bad tearout when using the dado blade. wondering if I have a cheap blade or if u also have this issue. I have used a backer board and this helps but doesn't stop it completely. any other pro tips for making cleaner cuts?
Sharp blades definitely help. The wood species and the speed at which you make the cut has a lot to do with it as well. I make most of my boxes out of Southern Yellow Pine or Cypress. They tear out much more than I would like. I turn this to the inside of the box. If it creates a nook for a small hive beetle to crawl into, the bees will usually trap it in with propolis. I have used Eastern White Pine a couple of times and it does not tear out as bad. I would use it more often but the lumber companies around me do not stock it and the big box stores that do are VERY proud of it! A backer will all but eliminate tear out if it is kept tight to the workpiece and replaced when it begins to wear out which is often.
One area to pay close attention to is to cut your frame rest after you have done the box joints. (This applies to the 7/8” box joint plans.) Otherwise the the ledge the frame sits on will blow out almost every time. If you do other woodworking projects, this same principle applies. Tear out is common when coming out of a crosscut or coming out of a router cut against the grain. Whenever possible, make these cuts first then make your rip cuts or router pass with the grain last.
I hope this explanation makes scene and helps.
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 yes thank you. I will try keeping them all to the inside i guess. My blade is new so maybe not enough rpm. and I noticed that with the backer board also that it does fine for a few cuts then yeah it doesnt help much until you cut a new spot.
Glue, screw and staples? Isn't that overkill? 😊
Thanks again for the plans!
Do you know where I could find a resource to build an insulated top cover? Thanks
Try using a sheet of foam board insulation and glue a lip around the top. Use a couple screws to secure the foam. If you can find a large disposal Styrofoam ice chest that will work too.
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15:50 This is where you make a mistake in my opinion! But it's up to you!
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What type wood are you using?
I’m using Cypress in the video. I actually use Southern Yellow Pine for most of my hives though.
Great video, but how do I get the plans. signed up for the wix app but for the life of me I can't find them .
For whatever reason the link to the plans from UA-cam has an occasional glitch. Try going directly to The Southern Craft Woodshop website from your browser and look in the blog section.
Let me know if you have anymore trouble.
Wes
I need the plan for handle of the box thank
You can find the plan for the jig here www.southerncraftwood.com/post/building-beehive-boxes
What kind of wood you used?
I’m using cypress in the video but I typically build out of Southern Yellow Pine for myself. Also, Eastern White Pine is a popular choice for many beekeepers. It has a lot to do with where you live and what’s most commonly available.
Okay, so I've printed out all the plans for both hives and traps. Regarding the "miter gauge" at 1:50 in this video this mechanism appears to be a specific product. The closest I could find online was the 'Kreg Precision Miter Gauge System'. You mention alternatively using the 'slide cradle' or the 'compound sliding miter saw'. So I own a compound sliding miter saw so I could use that. Your 'slide cradle' on the other hand is a mystery to me, very curious about that. My second question is regarding the 'slide rail' 2:50 within the recessed handle jig build. I see it is comprised of 2 parts, a triangle piece of unknown angle then the slide piece also with an unknown angle which is fixed to the base board of the overall recessed handle jig. Could you please tell me the angle of these two segments and how you fix them to the base of the jig (I'm guessing glue & brad nailer). Lastly, I believe I saw you mention you would be adding an instruction video on building lids and bases for the hives, any idea how long until you'll be releasing this 3rd video? Thanks a ton.
That is the miter gauge that I am using in the video. The cross cut slide cradle is a piece of ply on runners that fit in the table saw T-slots. It has a 1 1/2” X 5 1/2” board at the front and back. The one on the back acts as your back fence. You can see it in use in the swarm trap video. I’ll try to do a video on how to make one at some point.
The slide rail on the recessed handle jig is 2 pieces of 3/4” stock nested together. It could be done as a single piece of 1 1/2” also. The angle is 45 degrees.
I’ll be trying to get the video on lids and bottoms out in a few weeks. Between my day job and my bees I haven’t had much time to devote to videos. That varies throughout the year so at times you may only see one new upload every month or so. When I can, I’ll post more often.
I really appreciate you and everyone else thats watching. I’ll try to continue to bring you guys great content.
Thanks again
Wes
The "slide cradle" is more commonly (maybe it's a regional name?) called a crosscut sled.
Hopefully you've already found what you need with the answer Wes gave. But if it wasn't clear enough, a UA-cam search related to "crosscut sled" should turn up what you're looking for.
I might recommend "Steve Ramsey crosscut sled" he has a simple but still functional design. Having one of those makes a HUGE difference in the functionality of your table saw - especially if you don't already have a really nice miter gauge like Wes's. 😉 (And for someone like me, who also doesn't have one of those compound sliding miter saws, it's especially important!)
@@bojangles8582 Get a grip? I'm a perfectionist learning quality woodworking sir. You know, the universe sends back what your put forth. Condescending quips will grant you great dividends of such.
How can I get the plans for all that you have done? What a good job.
Wow
There should be a link to the plans in the description of each video. Your other option is to go to The Southern Craft Woodshop online and look in the Blog section.
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Thank you you do an awesome job in your woodworking.
Thank you sir!
Anyone here using a cnc to cut them out? Could do handles at the same time?
I don’t know of anyone using a CNC for cutting and or shaping for their own use. The larger manufacturers use a variety of specialized machinery. Exactly what they use I’m sure will vary depending on their scale and or approach to their design.
Thank you for this video!
About the width extension for the medium board, i'm wondering if anyone has tried screwing the 2 5/8 extension board down to the jig rather than the piece? This would save having to screw the extension to each medium board which would save time and also eliminate 2 screw holes in each piece. Has anyone tried this?
I played around with a few ideas like this. The issue I had was the angle starts out too low and is in contact with the blade before the workpiece touches the top face of the jig. You could solve this by increasing the angle of the slide. I think it would be best if you were to do this, to make a separate jig for mediums. Also, the slope on the underside of the handle will be different than what you would have on your deep boxes. Not that that would matter functionally.
Hope this helps
Wes
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 Ahhh yes.. I see exactly what you mean. I just got back from playing around with this jig in my shop and immediately noticed the issue you've just described.
Thanks for the information Wes, you've been super helpful!
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 ditto. I thought the exact same thing and dropped my spacer without affixing. It changed the angle of the angled cut. I guess I'll have to affix the width extension as suggested.
Hello! May I get your permission to translate this video and use on my channel about beekeeping. I provide translated videos with all the links to the original ones. Best regards
Thank you for your interest, but at this time I would like to keep my content on my channel only.
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 thank you for answering
Sry, but your link seems to no longer be in the Spaced directory. Can’t find you. Any other way to find the plans? Thanks!
I just updated the link. Thanks for letting me know.
It looks as though you’ve solved the problem of the tilting miter gauge. Is that a board you’ve clamped to the edge of the saw to keep the gauge fence flat? Please explain.
Yes sir, that is exactly what it is. It originated as a table extension for my crosscut jig so I could pull it far enough behind the blade without it tipping.
I have done mine with rabbet joints but I am having the darndest time getting my boxes completely square and not have gaps on the horizontal edges.
A few things could be causing your troubles. If you rabbet joint is not cut square to the board or if the straight cut going into the rabbet is not cut square, this will directly affect how square your box is. This will cause your box to be racked somewhat sideways.
The cut across the width of the board being cut slightly off square as well as boards having twist in them will generally make your box rock when sitting on a flat surface.
I would suggest starting by checking the quality of your board. Then from there, I’d double check that your cuts are perfectly square.
Best of luck
Wes
Are you making the rabbets with a crosscut sled, or using the fence? If everything is off, maybe your blade isn’t parallel to the miter slots
@@liquidrockaquatics3900 yep the fence was off
@@brianw.520 glad it was just the fence. My job site saw is horrid like that, but I already have zero clearance plates for my dado stack so I have to triple check EVERY TIME I MOVE THE FENCE. I am talking measuring from the blade to the fence, then fence to miter slot across the blade to get the measurement. Then I have to check both ends of the fence and usually move one I have found one trick that sawstop owners use that actually works fairly well for some other fences is to half lock the fence then release, then lock. The half lock starts to engage the locking pawls and pulls the fence square with its rail. It doesn’t stop me from measuring repeatedly, but it has cut down the amount of adjustment to get the fence square
@@liquidrockaquatics3900 good advice! That's insane to have to check all that every time but I'm finding it's much easier to slowly check and get it right the first time vs. speedily perform something and have to correct a mistake
At 10:29 in the video why didn't you just flip the side end over end rather than reversing it requiring the first cut to use a spacer?
Often times there will be some amount of blowout on the back side of the cut. The stack dado is really designed to do its best job when cutting with the grain of the wood or across end grain, not into the end grain. There are techniques to minimize this but I find them impractical when building a hive box. For this reason I prefer to cut into the face side and have any imperfections on the inside of the box.
Thanks for the question and thanks for watching!
Wes
Can I get the plans please ?
www.southerncraftwood.com/post/bottom-boards
Sorry the last one was bottom boards. Try this
www.southerncraftwood.com/post/building-beehive-boxes
what type of wood do you recommend for boxes??
Cypress or pine would be my first two picks. Even though cypress is relatively rot resistant, I would still recommend painting the exterior of hives built from either material. You do not want to paint the inside.
@@thesoutherncraftwoodshop4134 why would cedar be a bad choice?
It’s not common practice but I do believe it would be fine if the boxes were left open outside to age for a few months. This is just a guess mind you. If you’re going to try it, I would only try one colony at first. Also, I would be concerned that if the bees tolerate the smell, any honey collected from a cedar hive might be infused by it.
If anyone has more information on this, I hope they will chime in.
A lot of information here. I would say the screws are unnecessary. The glue bond is stronger than the wood itself. The staples hold while the glue bonds. Screws are overkill without benefit.
I would agree with you if the wood wouldn't be stressed out. But this a box that will be receiving a lot of pressure from the hive tool when trying to get a frame out. Even with screws and glue you can sometimes separate the top part of the box.
Anyone have trouble finding 10” boards? Biscuit joint 6” lumber to make it 10”?
I use 1x12 that I get from a couple different lumber yards. The local shops typically have a better selection and a much better price than the big chain stores.
Is there any way to download the plans without having to add your phone number?
I’m not sure why it is asking for your phone number. That’s not a setting that I set up or would ever use.
I have not checked the link from a PC but have downloaded from both my phone and an IPad without having to enter a phone number. Maybe try that and send it to your PC to print or try entering a random number from your PC.
If that doesn’t work shoot me an email and I’ll send it to you. Just let me know the file you’re looking for.
info@southerncraftwood.com
I hope this helps.
Wes
Great informative vid but I’m surprised you’ve still got all your fingers 🤣
Glad you enjoyed it!
The video makes it look a lot closer than it actually is.
Yes and so many people abuse them ;(...
?
Screws in joints 🤦🏻♂️
Or ring shank nails, or staples suitable for exterior use. These are beehives that will be subject to the elements, not to mention the stresses they will endure over many years of use in an apiary.
interesting. not a carpenter, so too confusing
I’m glad you found it to be interesting! Thanks for watching
Use metric for normal people..
This is a great video. Well done and easy to follow instructions. Liked and subscribed.