# Another version - frame building jig



## challenger (May 27, 2009)

I wanted to copy the jig on youtube that uses bungee cord. No matter what I did I still couldn't get the end bars tight to the jig except for the first few. I decided to try some ratchet straps and they work very well. This jig is actually two nearly identical jigs stacked on top of each other. I also use medium honey supers so I figured I'd make it this way and remove one jig when I do mediums. I made it so it holds 30 frames at a time. I don't know why I decided 30 was ok but that's how it's built. One good thing that came from this size was that I can stand in one spot per side and apply glue without having to take any steps. I guide the bottle with my left hand and hold the bottle with my right. I put a small drop on the ears of the end bars in one direction and go back and put glue on the opposite ears instead of glueing right,left, right, left etc. I also mofified the glue bottle by adding two sizes of shrink sleeve to the tip. This makes for a much smaller drop of glue. Prior to this I was wiping off more glue than I was applying as I tried to go faster. Now I pretty much squeeze the bottle just a little and go down the row. Get to the end and go back and then the other side. 
This no revelation or engineering feat-I am just posting it in case others want ideas.


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

I'm missing a "like button" here. Very nice setup for the task!


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## dynemd (Aug 27, 2013)

Nice jig! How do you set the side bars up to begin? With the straps loose?


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## challenger (May 27, 2009)

I tighten them up about as tight as they will go. Then I slide the first and last side bars in for each side. It's a little tight but easily done. This makes a gap between the jig and straps for the remaining 28 bars per side and makes it very easy to use sent these. 
Just a note-taking bottom bars have to be done first. If I do the top bars first and flip it over the end bars will splay out and make it an aggravating affair. I don't know why this happens and it's a mystery because I've looked at it and adjusted things without being able to get rid of this issue. The jigs are made with a very close tolerance and the straps are tightbut this still occurs?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

How long does it take you to load up, ratchet, glue, staple, and remove one batch of 30?


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## appalachianoutdoors (May 16, 2015)

This is my frame building jig that I have. Slide in the end bars, add a little glue, then top bars and staple. Flip jig over, add glue and bottom bar, then staple. Remove both slide boards and remove the finished frames.


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## challenger (May 27, 2009)

I have one similar to appalachian. That was my first one. I made a second one as well that used 10 frames. I really wanted something bigger to speed things up. I have not timed myself but I know it is quicker than using a ten frame jig. I will use it some more and try to see if I can get a time. I just used it to build 200 frames but I was also trying to modify and change it as I did a batch. I only did 90 frames in a row without changing something at the end. I have it now where I feel I am happy with it so I don't see anything I need to change.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

I'd be curious to know the time to make 30.


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## appalachianoutdoors (May 16, 2015)

I average about a frame a minute including getting out stuff, and cleaning up, ...


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## rookie2531 (Jul 28, 2014)

I like the setup you have for you. But for me, I do not use a jig. I have a work bench though.

One question, what is the orange ratchet strap doing? Seems pointless for the bottoms


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## appalachianoutdoors (May 16, 2015)

I wonder how it would work to build a 20 or 30 frame jig designed like a 10 frame jig?


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## challenger (May 27, 2009)

For the deep frames you need to use two straps. The end bars are too long to be held firmly with just one strap. Also this jig separates into two jigs for doing medium (or shallow) frames. When I do them I'll be able to do 60 at a time using both jigs. 
This is just an example of another version of a frame assembly jig. I'm certainly not saying it's the best so use whatever you want to use.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

I just want to know if it's faster than my 10 frame jig.  Mine's getting pretty beat up from throwing it together kind of shoddily a few years ago. Maybe a 20-frame version? Scaling up doesn't seem like it would really make it much faster honestly, but I'm curious.


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## challenger (May 27, 2009)

I was also considering a 20 frame jig but thought it wouldn't make much difference so I went with a 30. As I said I didn't time my work BUT I am willing to get crazy and say it is much faster. It is definitely NOT 3X faster than a ten frame but I'll guess someone running my 30 frame (I say "my" because there may easily be better, more efficient types available) against someone using a ten frame will do 100 frames 1.5-2X as fast.
It's awfully nice pulling all those frames out of the jig at one time too. Makes ten frames feel like not much.
How about a room with a 100 frame jig? Two people running a pair of 1/4 crown staplers and glue bottles? That would be efficient. Unless someone gets shot with a staple by the other person. That would slow things down a little.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

By drilling a stick and fixing 10 paint brushes in just the right spacing, a 10-frame jig is faster than a 30-frame jig. The gang brush has a glue dipping tank (and a rinse tank) that does waste a little bit of glue at the end of the production run, but a food scraper can save most of it if it has not yet dried.

I thought about making a 30-frame jig, but the gang brush was a lot more time savings, and it handles easier. A 30-frame jig would require some pretty good speed before the glue started drying in hot weather. Working in an air-conditioned environment would allow use of a 30-frame jig and a 30-brush gang, saving even more time.

The next big time savings is a parts loader. Orienting 10 or all 20 side bars into a 10-frame jig (or all 60 into a 30 frame jig!) will save still more time. Same for the top and bottom bars - a parts loader will save gluing and loading time. This also allows for division of labor - one guy loads side bars, 
another guy loads tops and bottoms, another guy glues them, another guy staples continuously - he does not have to wait for the next jig to be loaded. Just about the size of most commercial bee crews...


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Kilocharlie;

I just use a ten frame jig because it is easy for me to handle and that is as large as I can keep the glue workable. I agree that any way of speeding up gluing and getting total glue area coverage would be a big time saver. I spend far more time glueing than I do loading or stapling.


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