I'm waiting on the pictures to upload and will post when they do. My father who is not a beek has requested a hive for pollination and since he is three hours away I figure Pere Warre's hive that is only opened twice a year would be a good fit for him. So I'm building two of them, one for him and one for me.
I used 5/4" syp (actual 1") for the boxes and floor and 3/4" syp for the quilt and top. I converted the metric to imperial with a interior dimension of 12"x12"x8" and adjusted the rest of the pieces to fit the boxes' exterior dimensions (14"x14"). The top bars ended up 15/16" with 1/2" spacing between and I am making them into half frames with a 4" side bar on each side. If they do as my lang foundationless bees have done I should only have attachment at the top bar and for an inch or two of the side bars. If they cooperate I should have "frames/combs" that are fully removeable (maybe with some slight trimming). Oh, and the top bars will get run through the router to get a triangular comb guide.
I'm still wondering just how to pin the bars without resorting to nailing them down solid. I'm open to suggestions.
warre (dot) §¤«£¿æ (dot) com (http://warre.§¤«£¿æ.com/index.html (http://warre.xn--9abir5hok.com/index.html))
look under "Warre' methods"-Fixing top-bars in boxes.
I don't know why I can't type in b-i-o-b-e-e-s (§¤«£¿æ) :?
Drill a small hole in the frame just a bit larger than 4 penny box nail, cut the head off of the nail and when you have the frame in the correct position drive the nail through the hole.
(http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/seaheli/topbardetail_garrett.jpg)