capping press hack

[Lexy]

hiya, just sharing a way I improved my capping press... I got irritated with how boringly slow it is, and how the middle never presses out properly no matter how hard you try (unless you press really small amounts each load).

The problem is my press has a flat stainless bottom so theres no way for the honey to get out. To try and fix this I got a bit of untreated pine and (roughly) plunge routed channels in it and put it in the bottom of the press. This provides channels for the honey to squirt out, and provides a much bigger surface area for it to get out no matter how far screwed down the wax is. The wax presses out at least twice as fast and takes much less effort, the wax also comes out a lot drier too. I guess if you made a top plate the same it would be even faster again...

If I'd known it would work so well I'd have cut it out of a plastic chopping board or similar rather than wood

cheers

 

[tristan]

always great to see people making things better.

 

[Rob McInnes]

hiya, just sharing a way I improved my capping press... I got irritated with how boringly slow it is, and how the middle never presses out properly no matter how hard you try (unless you press really small amounts each load).

The problem is my press has a flat stainless bottom so theres no way for the honey to get out. To try and fix this I got a bit of untreated pine and (roughly) plunge routed channels in it and put it in the bottom of the press. This provides channels for the honey to squirt out, and provides a much bigger surface area for it to get out no matter how far screwed down the wax is. The wax presses out at least twice as fast and takes much less effort, the wax also comes out a lot drier too. I guess if you made a top plate the same it would be even faster again...

If I'd known it would work so well I'd have cut it out of a plastic chopping board or similar rather than wood

cheers

View attachment 1215

that's similar to grape press!! yes a grooves flat base works well there, but honey has temp, viscosity and time against it. basically it will need to be done fast before the honey has time to cool and the press will take ages regardless of your press plate design. if you only have 1-2 hives, you could pop the capping's into the top feeder (from where the honey super came from, (very important!!!!)). the girls will clean it up and leave dry capping's, and its a nice food source for them

 

[yesbut]

They make beautiful art forms out of a pile of wet cappings over the course of a couple of weeks.