# Wax foundation mould press



## Barry

What's the price of the press? You can get roller presses for around $800.


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## jmallard28

This will run about the same with shipping to US.


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## beeware10

If they are the same price go with the roller. no comparision. the roller is much more productive and produces a better product. go to dee lusbys site. she explains making fdn the best I have seen.


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## Barry

I agree. Less to go wrong with a roller mill, and faster? Perhaps.


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## irwin harlton

http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-237597.html


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## Robbo

Id like to find out how much these are :
http://www.china-bees.cn/mfjj/_notes/pmccyyq.htm

I ddint get a email reply - I think language is the problem. Would like to know the cost to Australia.

The air machine looks like its ok too. I would like to be able to make my own foundation over the winter 1 sheet at a time


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## blainenay

jmallard28 said:


> This will run about the same with shipping to US.
> View attachment 759


Hmmm. Looks kinda like a waffle iron. That gives me some ideas.


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## kilocharlie

Interesting low-production unit, especially for price if the Euro falls dramatically. 

It could be a hit for a health food fanatic beekeeper - clean wax foundation for local, wildflower honey-in-the-comb producer...

jmallard - Thanks for the link!

Barry - the price is 560 Euros, but there are other gadgets to buy, and he didn't list shipping to U.S. from Austria.

Irwin - Thanks for the archive!


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## jmallard28

I received an email from Alfranseder (the inventor) giving a price range of 52-73 euros based on increments of 10 Kg for shipping. I like your thinking Kilocharlie. I too am watching the Euro.


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## Grant

There was a plan for building your own in an old beekeeping book our public library had. I cannot put my finger on it right now as I copied the pages and filed them away after I built my own. Spent around $20 and it's a "waffle iron" style that uses "water cement."

But the wax would stick to the two plates and rip and tear. I tried teflon spray, PAM baking spray. It caused so much profanity I gave up. I still have the stupid thing. I'm trying to find someone I don't like so I can give it to them.

Foundationless frames saved my religion.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## Barry

I think you're referring to Keeping Bees by John Vivian. I made the press as well and had the same problems you had. I still have that do-it-yourself attitude and will try another design when I finally run out of my own wax foundation that I milled at Dee's.


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## Solomon Parker

I had the same book and made the same infernal contraption. Never got a single sheet out of it. That includes the original.


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## odfrank

I have one of these, never used it:

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/leafpress.html


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## max2

I like gadgets like these featured above. For some time I have been collecting my cappings and sent it in to be cleaned and rolled. I believe I got back my ( poison free) wax made into foundation.
Sadly the company requires now 100 kg ( more then 200 lb) of my wax to make a separete batch. Can't recall what the ratio is of honey ; cappings - but I need to grow a bit before I can supply a full batch.
If I supply my own pre-cleaned wax I pay 46 cents for the rolling. I found this good value.


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## diablod3

buushymountainbeefarm.com sells a foundation mold for 325.00 usd it is a silicon mold that is cooled by dipping in a tub or sink of water.


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## diablod3

"But the wax would stick to the two plates and rip and tear. I tried teflon spray, PAM baking spray." 
you can buy a waterproofing spray for use on clothing,etc. it may possible help with the sticking problem. especially if used along with the pam.


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## Jonathan Hofer

Resurrecting an older post: 

Is there a North-American distributor of the water-cooled press in the first post? 

JH


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## kilocharlie

Grant / Barry / odFrank / anybody - I would be interested in obtaining any aborted waffle iron efforts and will be happy to pay postage. PM me and I'll trade contact info with you. Thanks!


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## kilocharlie

P.s. Once you have the mould, you could try to vacuum-form a plastic separator sheet instead of spraying silicone, Pam, MS-136, PVA, or other mold release agent. PVA (Poly Vynyl Alcohol) is easily washed with water. Other ideas are talcum powder, compressed air, and freezing.


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## JohnBeeMan

"I tried teflon spray, PAM baking spray"

How about a candle mold releasing agent?


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## delber

I'm resurrecting an old thread I realize this, but I have a question / thought. . . Isn't the whole idea to be chemical free with making your own foundation? If you're spraying all of this on the mould then how is it still chemical free? 

How did you all make out with the waffle iron press?


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## EastSideBuzz

delber said:


> If you're spraying all of this on the mould then how is it still chemical free?


Isn't Pam an _essential_ oil?


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## Michael Bush

Organic soap in water and dip the wax. Put the wax between plastic grocery sacks when pressing.

Pam is vegetable oil. It is NOT essential oil.


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## kilocharlie

In answering your question, Delber, you wash off the home made foundation wax with water, then purified water. "Chemical - free" is quite the misnomer - "Low-pesticide content" would be more appropriate. You can't quite eliminate all of the pesticides - the bees bring some in regardless - it gets in the wax, the pollen, the honey. We all hope to stay way, way below the LD50 (the dose which proves lethal to 50% of the test bees) in producing our own foundation wax. Another helpful thing is to get your bees started on foundation, just to get the frames straight, then to introduce empty frames one at a time for them to fill up nice and straight and neat with their own-sized honeycomb. "Semi-foundationless" would be a good name for that approach.


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