Bee Box Finger grab

[Gordon Stump]

A friend asked how to make this finger pull. I am drawing a blank. Some kind of router bit finger grab?


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[Lee Schierer]

A friend asked how to make this finger pull. I am drawing a blank. Some kind of router bit finger grab?


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beebox1.jpg

It is probably done on a shaper with some stops on the fence.

When I made mine, I made a jig to hold the box sides in place on my TS over the 3/4" wide dado blade. With the blade down, I would place a box piece in the jig, start the saw, hold the piece down with a large push block, raise the blade the right number of cranks, lower the saw the same number of cranks, turn off the saw, remove the box side. YOu could slide the piece to a second stop if you want a longer finger grab.They worked just fine for more than 28 years until I got rid of my equipment. Even though the bottom of the slot would catch rain, I never had a single instance of rot at the hand grip locations.

[Charles Lent]

I have done similar. A dado blade in the table saw set to the desired angle will do the cut. Stops added to the saw fence will limit the starting point and length of the cut. Predetermine how many cranks of the blade height produces the desired cut. Back the height adjustment to get the dado blade just below the table. Add a feather board to the fence to hold the work piece down during the cut.

Now, place the first work piece against the back stop and fence and use a Grripper or similar to hold and feed the work piece. Start the saw and raise the dado blade the pre determined number of revolutions. Then feed the work piece forward to the stop. Crank the blade height back down and turn the saw off. Now remove and inspect the cut. Make any needed adjustments and repeat the process for the next work piece.

It appears as though they used a 6" dado blade set, due to the tight radius at each end of the cut. You can use a larger diameter dado blade set, but the end curves of the cut will be longer.


Charley

[Mike Henderson]

I make the handholds on my bee equipment with a jig and a plunge router. Look here a short way down the page.

The wood is 3/4" and I make the handhold 1/2" deep.

Mike

[I saw a YouTube video where a guy had made a jig for his table saw. It was a ramp thing where he slid the wood into the blade from the side. I don't remember exactly how it worked.]

[Bill Dufour]

I make similar on a shaper with marks at the middle or stops at each end.
Bill D

[John K Jordan]

I’ve made a bunch with a router and a simple template clamped to the wood, either before or after building the box.

A friend has made 100s. He ganged a stack of circular saws blades and mounted them on an old portable table saw at an angle. He tilts the side of box into the spinning stack of blades and cuts the handholds in about two seconds. The saw is dedicated to this one task.

The resulting handholds are a little rough but perfectly functional. I have a bunch of his supers and deeps.

[Jim Becker]

For the few boxes I chose to make from scratch, I just used a router with a simple template. I only made them to be able to experience doing it...it was less expensive to buy knocked down sets of five from Mann Lake than it was to buy the material, not even including my labor.

[Gordon Stump]

Thanks to the woodworkers who responded. I told my friend about the dado on the table saw. I also said it was a bit dangerous (for me)! Since I do not charge friends for stuff like this I was relieved he decided to go with cnc. Maybe that would work fine with a 4 axis machine. Idunno!

[Brian Tymchak]

I could see maybe using a bit like this panel raising bit but it would need a collet extension to make the cut the few inches beyond the edge of the box. I've never used a collet extension so I'm not sure this would be safe.. Have to admit I'd be a bit leary about it, even spinning at the slowest speed. You would need a custom fence or I guess just a split fence to allow the extra bit height.

[Bruce Wrenn]

When I kept bees (50 hives), instead of a hand hold, I added a 1 x 2 to end where the frame rest is. Served a couple of purposes. First afforded a much better grip, reinforced frame ledge, and thirdly, I used a set of tongs on a cart to move hives. FYI, I used brood boxes for supers. Since I built both tops and bottoms, extra length wasn't a problem. Everything made to be same length, which meant no shifting when loaded onto the trailer.

[Jim Becker]

I used that method for NUC boxes, Bruce...it was fast and easy. Best to have a bevel cut on the upper side and caulk the joint between the hold and the box to insure that water doesn't sit and get in there to degrade the box prematurely. This method also has a small advantage when picking up a box that might be imbalanced by the resident's decisions on where they put stuff relative to the frames because of the wider hand-hold.

[Charles Lent]

Actually, using a dado blade to make these is quite safe. With the box end on the saw table, the dado blade is completely covered. The feather board holds it down. You raise the spinning dado blade the predetermined number of hand wheel revolutions, move the box end from one stop to the other, and lower the dado blade with the hand wheel. Then remove the box end and replace it with the next to repeat the process.

Every other method proposed will make a handle, but they won't look like the one in the photos.

Charley

[Bruce Wrenn]

I used that method for NUC boxes, Bruce...it was fast and easy. Best to have a bevel cut on the upper side and caulk the joint between the hold and the box to insure that water doesn't sit and get in there to degrade the box prematurely. This method also has a small advantage when picking up a box that might be imbalanced by the resident's decisions on where they put stuff relative to the frames because of the wider hand-hold.

Jim , I used 9" deep boxes for both supers and brood box. Those little hand holes didn't get it. I built a two wheel cart with a set of tongs on a chain for adjustability to move both hives and supers.

[Jim Becker]

Jim , I used 9" deep boxes for both supers and brood box. Those little hand holes didn't get it. I built a two wheel cart with a set of tongs on a chain for adjustability to move both hives and supers.

We used medium boxes exclusively because they were easier for Professor Dr. SWMBO to lift, especially when fully populated. Good thing with that cart for the same reasons...those crafty lady bees create very heavy boxes!

[Russell Hayes]

I made a jig that supports a handheld router at about 15 degrees and controls the width of the handhold. The jig has spacers for the short side of the hive boxes. I use a dovetail bit to route out the hand holds. Takes a minute or two per box. I assemble my boxes with rabbet joints, glue and screws. Never had a joint failure, and the bees don't care.
Bees are the same as cattle to qualify for ag real estate property tax rates.