How can we make this?

[Paul Greathouse]

A friend of mine wants to reproduce this bee hive and asked me how he could make the handholds on the sides of the hives. The only thing I could think of is a curved template for a router. I'm assuming the original is made with a CNC router. We don't have access to a CNC so we need to figure out another way to make them.

Can anyone think of another way? Hopefully an easier way. A curved template this small may be difficult to make.

Here's some pictures of what he is trying to do. Hopefully they are clear enough to display the shape of the handhold.

128146

128147

128148

128149

[Rob Wright]

hummmm...

I went through the same quandary a few years ago. I ended up using a staked dado blade and carefully lowered the board down (like a blind stopped cut on a router table) huge pucker factor. You could also clamp the board to the table and raise the dado blade into the board

The last ones I made this spring were with a homebuilt cnc - sorry I know the answer you didn't want to hear!

Good luck and cut safe

[Keith Christopher]

I agree couple of stacked dado cuts. I would personally clamp the board down and raise the blade before I'd 'blind" cut it. Then smooth the bottom portion with a rasp or chisels.

[Alan Schaffter]

I would make it in two steps, using the same router template. First use a bowl bit to make all the recesses. Then put a small straight bit in the router and some stops on the template to cut the vertical face of the recess. Transition and clean them up with a gouge.

Version II: Use a template and a router as in the first version above then the tablesaw and dado blade technique mentioned by others to cut the straight lip. You will need to experiment with the depth of cut of the dado blade and may want to make that cut first.

[Jamie Buxton]

A few years ago, I had a good idea to reduce the pucker factor when plunging the table saw blade up into a workpiece. The worry is that the blade will catch, and shoot the wood at you. I drilled and tapped a 1/4-20 hole into the saw's table, near the front edge, in line with the blade. When I'm doing one of those plunge operations, I make a simple stop block. It has a hole through it, and a bolt goes through it into the tapped hole. For a workpiece to shoot at me, it'd have to shear off a quarter-inch bolt. This much reduces the pucker factor.

[David Freed]

hummmm...

I went through the same quandary a few years ago. I ended up using a staked dado blade and carefully lowered the board down (like a blind stopped cut on a router table) huge pucker factor.




!!!
That is what I was doing when my hand went through the saw. I was holding the board on the output side of the saw with my left hand. The way I was holding it I thought the board would be yanked out of my hand if it kicked back. WRONG! The board was thrown behind me and my hand was thrown by the blade so hard it hit me in the chest. I had done that type of cut many times before with no trouble. It only takes once. Three of my fingers are stiff some days, but luckily I got back full use of my hand; for now anyway.

[Bill Huber]

How about something like this with a small trim router and a bowl bit.
Make small passes and lower the router each time.

128164

[Steve Southwood]

Thinking the same line as Bill. Use a small router, like a Colt and just ride the arch. Should come out nice, with a little practice.

[Prashun Patel]

If you don't have to do too many, you might be surprised how well you can do by rouging the shape with a straight bit and a router, and then cleaning up the sides with handtools like a chisel or gouge.


You could also 'cheat' by slicing the box in 2 pieces right through where the handle would be, and then using a flush trimming bit and curved template to route the top and bottom halves of the handle, and then gluing the box back together.

[Rod Sheridan]

Lots of power tool methods, however the easiest is to use a gouge.

You're using some sort of softwood, the cut left by a gouge wouldn't even need sanding, it would be so smooth it would look polished.

Oh, and lowering workpieces onto a dado cutter.......Just asking for a great accident...........regards, Rod.

[Paul Greathouse]

hummmm...

I went through the same quandary a few years ago. I ended up using a staked dado blade and carefully lowered the board down (like a blind stopped cut on a router table) huge pucker factor. You could also clamp the board to the table and raise the dado blade into the board

The last ones I made this spring were with a homebuilt cnc - sorry I know the answer you didn't want to hear!

Good luck and cut safe


Rob, I'm assuming the pictures you posted are of the ones done with your homebuilt CNC? If not how did you get the curved bottom with a dado blade?

[Paul Greathouse]

How about something like this with a small trim router and a bowl bit.
Make small passes and lower the router each time.

128164

Thats kind of the idea I had Bill, it may also be the safest way. Thanks

[Lee Schierer]

First off---NEVER LOWER A BOARD ONTO AN MOVING SAW BLADE, IT"S VERY DANGEROUS. Whew, no that that is said, neverlower a piece of wood onto a moving saw blade, it is very dangerous. Always raise the blade into the work. The end result is the same cut with much much more safety.

As far as hand holds go in bee hives, they don't need to be made that way. Set up the widest width dado you have and rasie it up into the wood to a height of about 3/8". I made my own hive bodies about 20 years ago from #2 pine and they are still in use as I write this. The hand holds are simple stopped dado cuts. The commercial manufacturers use a special set up and the relief at the bottom supposedly promotes drainage, but it doesn't matter much. You can also just nail or screw cleats on the outside and they work just as well the bees don't really care what the outside looks like.:D