1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



57 



letting them in fliish with the wood, that the 

 t'v; nies may come u]) tight. AViiere the tin 

 comes between the frames, and separates 

 them but a tritle, the bees will fill in the 

 crack Avith propolis. We wish to stop all 

 this so far as we can. The cut of the frame 

 below, will give you an idea of the way in 

 which the separators are put on. 



BROAD FRAME TO HOLD 8 SECTIONS, AND 

 TIN SEPARATORS. 



The tin is so cut, that when a i fold is 

 made on each end, it can be just snapped in- 

 to the notp.hes at A and B. They can be 

 used without tacking, but those we ship, are 

 t icked fast with four slender brads. The 

 tin should be stretched on the frame, to pre- 

 vent its bulging, and making depressions 

 and elevations in the comb honey. 



The shallow notches are very quickly 

 made in the bolt of end bars, witli a common 

 rabbet plane. To guide it in the exact spot, 

 and to have it cut the notches of the proper 

 width, a frame of strips of board, is placed 

 over the bolt, which guides the plane. 



A great many, at tirst view, ask why we 

 do not use solid plank, and rip off the strips 

 after having done the grooving, etc. The 

 great reason is, that we should be obliged to 

 rip off these little pieces one at a time, and 

 then handle them singly to plane, and tie 

 up. With the plan I have given, we rip and 

 plane about 25 pieces in a strip ; when bun- 

 dled up, we cut off 100 at once. This means, 

 ICO cuts one way, and 25 the other, 125 in all, 

 make 2500 pieces ; by the other plan, the 

 workman would have to make 2500 move- 

 ments. This system of working in wood 

 can be used in making boxes and frames of 

 almost every description, and for a great va- 

 riety of wood work, where great quantities 

 of pieces are wanted, exactly alike and at a 

 very low figure. 



Now, about grooving the ends of the pieces, 

 or the dovetailing, as it is fi-equently called. 

 A year ago, I told you how to saw one or 

 two grooves at a time, by means of a steel 

 track parallel with the saw, on which the 

 I'rst groove runs as soon as it is sawed, as a 

 guide for the rest. This plan does very well, 

 but it is slower, and not as accurate, as when 

 we have .a gang of 8 saws to cut the whole 

 number at once. The saws we use are 4^ 

 inches in diameter, and about 3-32 in thick- 

 ness. They are run by steel washers be- 

 tween them, that gauge the tightness with 

 which the sections rlt togetlier. If they are 

 too loose, a washer of thin ]Ki])er imt betAveen 

 them7 will make them tighter. The saws 

 are shar])ened like a rip saw, but they have 

 no set. They get dull very (juickly, for cut- 

 ting constantly in the end of the wood, is 

 very severe on saws. A ?>i or 4 inch belt 

 will be required to run these saws, and the 

 pulley should be not less than 3+ inches in 



diameter. The sliaft should be about 1 inch 

 in diameter, and should run in broad strong 

 boxes. It may be fin., where the saws go 

 on. As these saws must cut always the 

 same width, exactly, it is best to run them 

 Avithout set ; and to make them "clear'" in 

 this shape, we have them ground thinnest 

 in the center. Such saws 4i inches in diam- 

 eter, are worth about $2.00 each; a steel 

 Avasher 50c more, and a suitable mandrel 

 and boxes $10.00. Therefore the whole out- 

 fit with 8 saws, will cost about $30.00. I 

 confess, I am not very well pleased with any 

 of the grooving arrangements I have ever 

 used. They answer very nicely at first, it 

 is true, but they need so much hling or 

 grinding, that it is quite a task. They all 

 work nicely running with the grain, or a- 

 cross the grain, but cutting into the end of 

 a block, seems to be a different matter. 



If Ave wish grooves and tenons more than 

 i, say 3-16, the Barnes' Cutter Head, is an 

 improvement. These require sharpening 

 frequently, it is true, for they are like a saw 

 with but tAvo teeth ; but they clear so nicely, 

 it is really a pleasure to work Avith them. 

 Perhaps I should say Avhen they are in prop- 

 er cutting order, for neither a saAV, cutter 

 nor any tiling else is pleasant to work Avith, 

 unless it is sharpened just as it should be. 

 It is no use to say you cannot sharpen a saw, 

 for you must do it, or you are not tit to l)e a 

 bee-keeper. Perhaps I can help you a little. 



PUTTING CIRCULAR SAWS IN ORDER. 



We Avill take the Cutter Head, for an il- 

 lustration, for it embodies nearly all the 

 principles involved. 



CUTTER HEAD FOR GROOVING SECTION 

 BOXES. 



The point or spur D, is of course, to cut a 

 little ahead of the chisel shaped cutter C, 

 and is to gauge the exact width of the 

 groove, while C, follows after, and takes 

 out a shaving of wood. Now suppose tlie 

 tool be so carelessly ground that the heel B, 

 is higher, or rather farther from the hole in 

 the centre, than the cutting edge C ; it is 

 very plain that the heel Avould only rub on 

 the wood, get hot, and make things smoke, 

 without doing any cutting at all. At about 

 this stage, the operator of the foot-poAver 

 saw, is in danger of losing his temper, es- 

 pecially, if he has tired himself out, and 

 worked himself into a perspiration, without 

 stopping to examine into the matter. To 

 illustrate, I will give a letter that Barnes 

 Bro's wrote us, after one of our customers 

 had complained of his Cutter Head. 



We mail yon this A. m. the cutter-heart that Mr. 

 returns by our request, for our examina- 



tion. He has irrounrt it, or sharpened it from the 

 outsirte, and spoiled 1t of course. It should be ground 

 or sharpened from the inner edg-e. Please put it on 

 the saw and you will see thiit the edg'e is gi-ound 

 down so that the part back will not let it cut; hence 

 the .iumpingr he speaks of. You will also see that it 

 has never been sharpened on the inner edge, the 

 temper color has pot been removed. We would as 

 soon tell a man to li^iteh to the tongue of a wag'on, 

 after selling- him cnc, as telling him to not griwl 



