I have had a set of 10 half height plastic frame ends by "Guilframe" for many years. I don't use them anymore because of the propensity to hide small hive beetles from the bees and therefore allowing the beetles to become a problem.
During a period of wet weather, and having not a lot to do, I designed a 3d printed frame end for a WSP (180mm deep) and full depth beehive frame. It features solid top and bottom and sides so is more conducive to the bees being able to herd the beetles into traps.
I printed a couple of these at 15%, 3 boundary layers, 0.3mm layer height.
S3d told me that they weighed 57.89g pr and cost $2.81 pr to print.
I can buy wooden frames for $1.50!!
It obviously doesn't make economic sense to print your own, but if you prefer to do it yourself and hang the expense, then here you are.
The top and bottom bars for the WSP are rectangular timber. The top is 25mm x 10mm with a recess for the foundation. The bottom is 20mm x 10mm.
The full depth top bar is 27mm x 19mm and the bottom bar is 20mm x 10mm
No rebates are required for the ends of the bars. This makes the top and bottom bars much easier to make. Recycled timber pallets are a good source of timber for frames.
I assembled the prototype and wired it and it is going into a hive after I add some wax foundation. I have no doubt that it will work well, but the cost is an issue.
If you are interested in different size frames, leave a comment and I will upload your size.
3dPrintable_full_depth_frame_end.stl | 2.9MB | |
WSP_frame_end_-_WSP_end.stl | 3.0MB |