Wanting to make My own hive boxes and was wondering if anyone can give me some insight on what they've used before. Anyone ever used high grade ply-wood? and if so how did you attach the sides? Glue? Thanks for your time.
I use ply-wood for lids and bottoms but not for boxes it is too heavy then when you add frames bees wax and honey it is realy heavy.
Heavier than pine? Didn't think about that. I was just thinking about the most economical way route. Looks Like from one sheet of high quality 3/4 plywood you could get a couple deeps and several mediums. I mean i haven't laid it out yet but ill have to see about the weight though.
I have always used 3/4" pine boards as material, 1/2 blind dovetail joints, bonded with Gorilla Glue. No problems!
Also, the edges of plywood must not be exposed in any way (even if painted or sealed). Too many cracks, holes, & pits allow rain to penetrate the board and break down the bond between layers. It may take one season or several.
(http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/9062/damageply.jpg)
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Plywood is OK for covers if one masks the edge with a solid board. Wadehump is right, plywood is also very heavy.
(http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/4072/plywood.jpg)
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A twelve foot 1x8x8 will make two medium ten frame boxes if one uses butt joints (with decking screws & glue) for cheaper than can be purchased.
(http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9478/butts.jpg)
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Finger joints eat up 74 inches of board for a ten frame box. Stronger than butt joints but one can't neatly use a six foot board per box.
(http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7130/fingeron.jpg)
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Added tip; wax the knots inside the box (wax the entire interior if you can, or box too). This can keep the knots from weeping too much and blistering any paint one uses.
(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5395/waxknots.jpg)
Good luck
I used old deck lumber, 2 x 4, 6, 8 - all untreated and unpainted, to make 2 modified Warres & traps, 2 5-ft long compatible with the modified Warres, and 2 5-ft deep Langstroth-compatible hives. Purchased 1 x 12 and 1 x 2, and craft sticks to make foundationless bars, along with glue and nails. Had some old, thin paneling and plywood to make top covers, followers, and bottoms. Economizing this way means I get to spend instead on a nice suit.
The bonus is that the deck lumber came from a job my son did for me a couple of months before he passed away four years ago.
Rader Sidetrack explained how to use a hand-held circular saw to cut bars and kerfs while keeping fingers intact. Michael Bush's web site and book, and several web forums have about a bajillion pieces of advice and plans. Have fun!
We live on the edge of orchard country, near mountains, and aren't plagued by neighbors who worry about appearances. The packages were installed 3-25 and have not absconded.
I made my brood boxes, bottom boards, and tops out of plywood, supers are out of pine. My bee yard (6 hives) at the present under a roof, and on a concrete slab, no walls. This past winter I did put plastic up on the north and west sides. You can get almost 6 deep boxes from 1 sheet of plywood. I am running 2 deep brood box hives and hope to only be moving supers very often. They are within a few feet of edges and morning sun hits them until midday or latter mostly shaded in afternoon.
OK got to rambling.
Joe
I have a band saw mill and saw my own, 3/4 pine or poplar, paint and they're ready to go.
I went to Lowes today, looks like i can build 6 deeps and 12 mediums for $146 out of pine. They don't sell the 1"x12" in 12' (only 6') though so i might look somewhere else for a better deal. minus the bottom board and covers not too bad. I think i might reserve the plywood for some swarm traps due to the area where I'm gonna put them will be in the elements. Thanks for the input guys.
What will happen with a butt joint suppers a year or two down the road?
Seems like if you pre drill your holes for screws and glued them they should last a long time. I'm new at beekeeping and pertty handy with wood tools. I build two just for the fun of it and they seem strong enough.
I plan on using butt joints so i can use 6 and 12 foot pine boards.
I have been building all my own telescopes, bottom boards, nuc boxes, and some mediums out of 1x pine. I use a router and make my bottoms mostly the pro way but all boxes and telescopes are totally butt joint with screws and glue. They have held up for the most part. As un-assembled boxes are getting more expensive each year, I have to figure out a way to build them with stronger joints so I can switch completely because they are just getting to expensive. I seen a joint on this forum or another where you basically do a tongue and grove thing making a tongue on the ends of the short sides and a receiving grove on the side of the long ends. I think it would be easier and simpler to make a receiving grove on both pieces that are 1/4 inch and use 1/4 in ply to join both of them using glue then screws to hole them together nice and tight till the glue dries. This should give a very strong joint.
Im sure this is hard to picture so hopefully I run across the thread so I can five a link to what I refer to above.
I'll use almost anything if it's free. I'd use pine if I'm buying it...
Bee-Nuts I came across this video last night and like the joint hes using.
http://youtu.be/jJfpDhNi2Gs (http://youtu.be/jJfpDhNi2Gs)
I use pine for deeps if I can get it cheap. I use inexpensive Cedar 1x8 fence boards for Mediums. I use 2 #20 biscuits with butt joints glued with Tightbond II or III. Biscuits are compressed chipboard that go into slots cut by a special purpose "biscuit cutter". They yield a butt joint with higher strength than virtually any other machined joint. I make up the boxes with 2 or 3 drywall screws to tighten the joints while the biscuits are gluing up. Biscuits are amazing fast and efficient way to make up strong joints. They are loose during glue up (and swell to tighten), This allows the boxes to be adjusted to a perfect fit.
I have a carefully cut diagonal guide stick to square the boxes during glue-up. I pay special attention to getting the bottoms dead flush at all joints.
The biscuits are not rated for exterior use, but I am now at year 5 with no failure. Exterior trim carpenters use them on window trim with no failure either, so a good paint job over the joint prevents failure.
The standard hive dimensions are over depth for modern 1x10, so you need to rip 1x12 to 9 5/8. Fingerjoints run over 6 foot length per box, but the butt joints can be taken out of a single length.
Fence boards are frequently priced as loss leaders at the big box hardware depot's. I have paid as little as $1.47/piece
The Cedar Fence boards (from Incense Cedar on the West Coast) are rough sawn to about 11/16 thickness. I add slightly to the end lengths (14 7/8) so the overall exterior width stays at 16 1/4. Sides are 19 7/8 as always. On the interior this yields slightly over bee space on ends, and a slightly looser distribution of the 10 frames. I like the extra width, as the outside of the two outside frames get drawn more reliably. Have not noticed bridging on the ends, so the extra space here is not a problem. The issue I anticipate is the top rabbet is weak, and prying well stuck frames would likely break this, hasn't happened yet, but is definitely the weak spot.
From an old cabinet maker.
A four sided box is best built with dovetails. Strongest joint there is. Plywood will chip badly so use backer boards or use solid wood. Tightbond III is best exterior glue. Gorilla glue is garbage.
Biscuits are made for alignment. They do not add strength.
Consider old shipping pallets as wood source.
Just my opinion.
Joe