Beehive frame sides

thingiverse

I wanted to make my own frames, but didn't want to deal with the hassle of all of the complicated rabbit and dado cuts in the wood. I wanted a (much) faster, (much) simpler way of building and replacing frames. The initial investment about breaks even when compared to buying frames. Each side is about 35g and at $20 USD per roll, you get about 14 frames (28 sides) per roll, plus a few $ for lumber vs buying a box of 10 unassembled frames for ~$20 not including shipping. The good news is that they're reusable, so if you need to replace a frame for whatever reason, you should only need to replace the top or bottom bars which is extremely cheap (comparatively). Using these sides, you can quickly rip 1in x 5/8in strips of wood for the top bar and 3/4in x 1/2in pieces for the bottom bar. If you want a slot for foundation, you can easily make a single cut down the middle of both the top and bottom bars roughly half the bar depth. No complicated cutting necessary. I pre-drill my screw holes then use #8 x 1" long flat head wood screws to attach everything.