Building a Honey Extractor (using an 'antique' washing machine)

Step 15 The Completed Honey Extractor!

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a reasonable amount of work, you should be able to simply reassemble all of the parts you ahve test fitted numerous times, and have yourself a very unique honey extractor. (really...when is the last time you heard of a honey extractor inside an old washing machine...maybe Craftsman made one at one point...but I haven't seen one!).

See the video to see the unit in action, with two empty honey frames loaded.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2198672615668673960&hl=en

As long term followup, I anticipate possibly upgrading the drive system to an ice cream maker motor, or variable speed 110V motor. I would also like to relocate the drive motor to underneath the unit, so it's less visible.

Additionally, at some point if I can manage to come up with some stainless steel, I will likely replace my plastic liner with a stainless steel one.

Good luck building your extractor, and if you have questions, feel free to ask!

Comments

[mtngrown]

I'm working on a non-electric version of one of these using a 55 gallon barrel and some bicycle parts for the spinner. Hope to post the instructable sometime soon. Thanks for the post, it's great!!

[doozer_not_fraggle]

MtnGrown: Thanks for the comment. I've see a couple units constructed using the 55 gallon drum and bike spokes/rims as the basis of frame holders. We just finished using my unit for spring honey harvest on a few hives, and it's worked well, although the ceiling fan motor was grossly underpowered. It worked, but took nearly 20 mintues to spin down to shallow frames....too long. We've switched it to a variable speed 1/2" drill motor, which works much better. The only input I'd have for you is: 1) If you set your frames like i did mine (radially), the wind resistance is surprisingly high. If you are doing a hand crank, or pedal powered...it might be worth considering orienting the frames in a non-radial pattern where only one side is extracted at a time....and then you flip them over. While that seems like a nuisance, it is surprising how much wind resistance comes from a honey frame...and that might be pertinent to your implementation, given you won't use an electric motor. 2) "Pickle Barrels"....Food grade barrels seem shady at best, when you buy them. People here sell them, but I never had any idea how to tell if they are indeed food grade, or if they really came from a factory making something toxic, and the guys selling them are fibbing. That said...I've heard several people say that pickling companies sell their barrels, which are obviously food grade...so if you know someone working in any food supply industry...that might be a good place to get a barrel you are sure has not been exposed to anything that might pollute your honey. Thanks again for the view and input...much appreciated...I'm just glad someone out there has found my post useful! We're in the great state of WV...so keep the 'Mountain Grown" theme going!

[mtngrown]

Beautiful state, WV! I have kin up there. I'm in the northern Appalachians of North Carolina myself, so we're practically neighbors in mountain terms, lol. I hadn't considered the wind resistance factor, glad you brought it up. I have some recovered motors here from things like old refrigerators, washing machines and waterpumps. Think I'll use one of them on the drive gear instead of a hand crank and I'll just keep the hand crank option open for when I have to extract off-grid. Seems like pedal power would be great but difficult to set up unless you used a worm drive of some sort. Gotta love rural ingenuity...lol.

[TehLonelyOne]

 Very nice and detailed, looks like a professional job! But one question, since the wire basket you made looks like un-protected metal, is there any rust or metal taste that gets in the honey? I'm building an extractor at the moment, and trying to find out what would be best as a basket, but we don't have a welder! 

[doozer_not_fraggle]

Thanks for the feedback.

I actually bought a food grade paint (which is clear) and coated the internal components (not the liner, but everything else) with it.  It took some digging locally, but I found paint that met the 'food grade' requirement.

Many apiarist (bee keeper) websites sell a similar paint on their sites, so a quick google search should yield those places as well.

You can buy "brush on" or "spray on" food grade paint, but the 'spray on" isn't as easy as it sounds, so I'd say go with the "brush on".  I don't sell my honey commercially, so it's not as big of a concern, but if you are going to sell commercially, you might check with your local Agricultural Extension Agent (a free service in your state) and talk to them about other options.

Thanks again...and if you want to talk about my 'lessons learned' and hear what I would do differently, you can message me with your email address, and I'll be happy to talk about it.

Thanks again.

[TehLonelyOne]

 Ah yes food grade paint, I was thinking about that as an option as well. Thanks for the reply!