Aluminium Honeycomb

湖北天马养蜂场2011-09-04 17:54:05巢础/巢脾生产工具3846

AsadirectresultofproducingthepageonAluminium?Cored?FoundationIreceivedEmailfromBrianCramptosaythathehadsamplesofthematerial.IwasduetometBrianwithinafewdaysandheagreedtohavethesampleswithhimonthatoccasion.

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WemetafewdayslaterandIwassurprisedtoseethatthesampleshehadwerenotwhatIwasexpecting.Theywerepartialdepthhoneycombcompletewithwoodenframes.

Idulysatdownwithmyverniercalipersandmadeadimensioneddrawingofthetwoframes.OnewasB.S.shallowandhaddronesizedcellsandtheotherwasB.S.deepwithworkersizedcells.

ThetwophotographshavebeenprovidedbyBrianandhavebeencutinhalftosaveloadingtime.Thetwoarereproducedataboutthesamescale.

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TheframesweregiventoBrianintheearly1960sbyBeo?CooperandapparentlywerecommonintheDerbyshireareaupuntilthattime.Thedrawingshownbelow,thatIhaveproducedfromthedetailsthatIrecorded,showsthemethodofconstruction.

Thecombisinthreepieces...Acentralflatsheetofaluminium0.24mm(0.010")thicknessflankedbytwopanels5.00mmthickformedlikeradiatorcoolingfinsandtiedtogetherbysteeltierodsthatwerecrimpedattheend.Thetierodswereinthetopandbottomrowsofcellsandinthecaseofthedeepsheettherewasathirdtierodalongthecentralrowofcells.Thecellsthathadthetierodsinhadbeenfilledwithpropolisuptothelevelofthetheleveloftherod.(thiscanbestbeseenintheshallowframephoto).Thewholeassemblywasheldtogetherbybroadlygroovedwoodenframeparts.

Dimensions

Workercells...5.00mmpitchinhorizontaldirection,diagonals4.75mmand4.80mm.

Dronecells...6.35mmpitch,diagonalsboth6.20mm.

Totalcombthickness...10.2mminbothworkeranddronecases.

Cellwallthickness...Thiswasextremelydifficulttomeasurebecausethealuminiumwasverycorrodedwithwhiteandgreypowderydeposits.Apartfromthecorrosionitappearedthatthestripsofaluminiumalsovariedconsiderablyinthickness.Thethinnestbeing0.1mm(0.004")thethickestwas0.2mm(0.008")withthemajorityofmeasurementscloseto0.125mm(0.005").Itshouldalsobeappreciatedthatalltheverticalcellwallswereoftwothicknessesofmetal.Thetwothicknesseseffectivelyreducetheworkercellbottomsto4.9mm,withthedronesizeeffectively6.2mm.

Itisthoughtthattheitemswereoldatthetimeofbeingwithdrawnfromservice,butIdonotknowhowold.HoweverthewoodworkwasinaworsestateofdecaythansomesamplesthatIhavefromthe1920sand1930s.SuchdecayisnotconclusiveasIhavenoknowledgeofthestorageconditionsotherthanthattheyhavebeeninBrian'sshedsincetheearly1960s.Thesampleshadbeenusedandhadfragmentsofwaxcellwallsonsomeoftheedges.Thebluntsquareendedcellsappeartohavebeenusedatthisshapebythebeesastherewasnoevidenceofroundinginanyofthecellsotherthanthosewithtierodsin.

Thisispartialthicknessaluminiumcomb,Ihaveheardofafullwidthversion...Doesanyonehaveanyinformation?Thematerialwasobviouslysuccessfullyusedovermanyyears,whichwouldindicatethatthehighthermalconductivitywasnotaproblem.

Update...Ihavereceivedsomemoreinformation,onthistypeofaluminiumcomb,fromRobertBrenchley.Itcomesfromabook"BeekeepingforAll"writtenbyTicknerEdwardesandpublishedbyMethuenin1923.ThecombisdescribedandillustratedandIquoteafewsentenceshere:-

TheMetal-Comb

"SinceitsintroductioninAmericasomefourorfiveyearsago,bee-keepershavewatchedwithkeeninterestdevelopmentsintheproductionofanartificialcombmadeofmetalorsimilarthinmaterialasasubstituteforthenaturalcombmadeofwax.湖北天马养蜂场,加我们的微信一起学养蜂。

Inmodernintensivebee-culturethenaturalcombhasmanydisadvantages.Inworkingforrun-honey,naturallybuiltcombistoofrailtostandthepullofthecentrifugalextracting-machine,andithastobereinforcedbyatroublesomesystemofwiring."

Thatputsthedateat1918or1919.Iwonderwhatthe"similarthinmaterials"were?Thematerialwasknownas"'Semi-Comb"(Isurmiseduetoitbeinghalfthethicknessofafullydrawnbroodcomb).TicknerEdwardesmentionstheconductivityofsuchaluminiumcomb,butheonlyusesthecharacteristicto"sabrerattle"ononeofhispetdislikes...'Singlewalled'versus'doublewalled'hives.