My next project will be a wax press. Can anyone give me some guidance on what size holes I should have in the perforated plate.
Which press are you considering. I printed a wax roller that you could use. I have tried to make a base and have one that I can probably scale up to match the roller that I have.
Judy just found several on Amazon that you can check out.
Jim Altmiller
Here is the nam of one of the ones on Amazon:
HNDTM Beeswax Foundation Press Mold Beekeeping Silicone
Jim Altmiller
Sorry should have been a little more specific. Its to press the honey out of the wax. Also thinking it could be used to press the remaining wax out of the slum-gum. Lyson makes one the holes on theirs are 1/8 x 1/4 oblong. And way overpriced.
My thought was steam strainer basket. Holes will be round instead of oblong, and 1/8 may be to large for the slum-gum.
IDK. Just kicking this around in my head
Bill,
Here is a picture of the roller that I made. I scaled it to bee small cell.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
Jim Altmiller
Sorry, I didn?t see your reply until after I posted the picture.
Jim Altmiller
No, thats ok. You used that yet?
No, I still need the flat plate that it would roll on. I designed and printed a miniature one, as with the roller, it will take a lot of thread to make it.
Jim Altmiller
I looked on amazon. Was thinking something like this.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
Well that could have been a little bigger still working on this pic thing.
Quote from: BeeMaster2 on August 01, 2022, 10:30:19 AM
Bill,
Here is a picture of the roller that I made. I scaled it to bee small cell.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
Jim Altmiller
Very impressive Jim. The plastic printers are awesome. I watched a video by Joe May demonstrating an anti-robbing devise he made.
Phillip
Quote from: BeeMaster2 on August 01, 2022, 01:43:33 PM
I still need the flat plate that it would roll on.
Confused. You need two rollers that fit inside each other. Yes?
Ace,
If I make a plate with the same pattern on the top surface you can lay a warm sheet of wax on top of it and roll that on top of it and make wax foundation.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: BeeMaster2 on August 01, 2022, 07:54:05 PM
Ace,
If I make a plate with the same pattern on the top surface you can lay a warm sheet of wax on top of it and roll that on top of it and make wax foundation.
Jim Altmiller
Yes double rack and pinion and you need to maintain the distance between ;the plate and the roll. Much harder to do then making two rolls with a gear on each roll keeping time. The kicker is the pitch diameter of the embossed rolls must match the pitch dia of the gears exactly.
Hi Bill,
This is what I use to press the remaining honey out of cappings after extracting,
[attachment=0][/attachment]
I like the looks of that Les.
Bill I really doubt that you would wish to go to the following extreme for your Homemade wax press, but for entertainment you might enjoy the following video posted here at "Beemaster" by Jim (Beemaster2) back in 2019.
Phillip
https://youtu.be/ambkAIFNgYM
I have a sausage press if anyone is interested in playing around. PM me.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wqJq5ZMHfAhvA77JA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GYbY3anrm6n2yBGP6
Les that is more or less what lyson sells, looked pretty easy to be able to fabricate one up for about a quarter of what they sell them for though.
Thanks Phillip that was an interesting vid. got me thinking about going horizontal instead of vertical. (gears turning).
Hi Bill,
I reckon you could make one without too much effort. The stainless cylinder would create a few issues. (You would need to get the mesh rolled.) The press works quite well at removing honey from the cappings. It comes out of the wax much better when the weather is warm. I have been leaving my cappings to drain overnight and then pressing them the next day. With the cool weather, I have been putting the cappings in my honey warming cabinet for about 5 or more hours or more before pressing them. Cleanup is a bit of a pain but once you develop a technique, it?s not too bad.
les what is the diameter of yours I was thinking 12 inch. The stainless cylinder would come from a strainer used on a steam line. already complete. Thats why I was wondering hole size on the cylinder. And all my extracting is done when its over 80 degrees.
Again I just know I loose a lot of honey and a lot of wax every year. I figured 2 more steps in the overall process might remedy that.
Hi Bill
My cylinder is about 8 1/2 inches in diameter and about 10 1/2 inches high. Just keep in mind that the larger the diameter, the greater the force required to press the wax. A 12 inch diameter cylinder would require double the force to achieve the same pressing pressure.
Bill what are your needs in accordance to the volume of wax which you will be pressing?
Phillip
last year I had 140 lbs of finished rendered wax. from cappings. I normally let those cappings drain for a day in capping trays. then the cappings are washed and rendered. My thought was to press the cappings then render.(cut out the rinsing part) Also all the slumgum can then be pressed also. Then if Im feeling overly ambitious I would make another for old wax, and the slumgum.
One thing about my conversion from 10 frame supers to 8 frame, as more supers go to 8 frame I have seen a consistent drop in finished wax. Also add to this my daughter does the uncapping by hand and she has also gotten better at it so that might have to do with the drop also.