How to make a wooden barrel. How to make a wooden barrel with your own hands for wine and pickles - step by step instructions

Ecology of life. Life hack: In the household, barrels and tubs are in great demand. They keep lard, hams in brine, ferment cabbage, and soak apples. What can be compared, for example, with a cucumber or a tomato pickled in an oak tub.

In the household, barrels and tubs are in great demand. They keep lard, hams in brine, ferment cabbage, and soak apples. What can be compared, for example, with a cucumber or a tomato pickled in an oak tub. And in a linden barrel, honey, apple juice are perfectly stored, you can cook kvass in it. Finally, an oak tub with a lemon or laurel tree even today will not spoil the interior of even a city apartment. Just do not find these simple products either in the store or on the market. But you can do it yourself, and although this task is not an easy one, an amateur master is quite capable of coping with it. We will tell you more about the manufacture of these containers needed in the economy.

First of all, you need to choose wood. Oak and pine are unsuitable for storing honey - honey darkens in an oak barrel, and smells of resin in a pine barrel. Here we need linden, aspen, plane tree. Poplar, willow, alder will also come down. But for salting, pickling or urinating, there is nothing better than oak - such a barrel will serve for more than a decade. For other needs, you can use blackberry, beech, spruce, fir, pine, cedar, larch and even birch.

This table will help you determine the size.

External dimensions				Width and Depth morning groove	Distance from morning groove to the end
Drum capacity (l)	Height	Bundle Diameter	in my head
	345	295	262	3*3
	420	340	300	3*3
	535	420	370	3*3
100	670	515	450	3*3
120	770	525	460	3*3

Note that here are the dimensions of the barrels, in order to choose the size for the tub, the height and diameter of the head remains the same. The diameter in the bunch of the barrel (diameter in the center) for the tub goes into the diameter of the bottom.

When the size is selected, you need to proceed to the blanks of the riveting, the main component of the barrel.

I will give the dimensions of the rivets

Capacity	Riveting width	Riveting thickness	bottom thickness	Bottom width
	40-90			50 or more
	40-90			50 or more
	40-90			50 or more
100	40-100			50 or more
120	40-100			50 or more

There is another way to determine the size. The ratio of the diameter of the height of the tub or barrel should be in proportion, for example, 350:490 mm (Fig. 1-6). Increasing or decreasing the height, change the diameter of the container. The number of staves for a barrel or tub is calculated according to the formula 2 * Pi * R / W, where R is the radius of the tub in the lower section (for a barrel - in the middle); "Pi" is a constant value equal to 3.14; W - the width of the stave along the bottom of the tub (for a barrel - in the middle).

Rivets.

Usually, the lower part of the trunk of old trees goes to riveting, it is called “riveter”. But a lover of tinkering will choose blanks from ordinary firewood, and adapt a thin trunk to the job. It is best to make riveting from raw wood. First, the chock - it should be 5-6 cm longer than the future riveting - is split in half, gently tapping the log on the butt of the ax. Each half is then again pricked into two parts, and so on, depending on the thickness of the chock, in order to ultimately obtain blanks 5-10 cm wide (for sweet clover - 15 cm) and 2.5-3 cm thick. You just need to try to split went radially - this will save the riveting in the future from cracking.

The chopped blanks are dried in a room with natural ventilation for at least a month. You can use a dryer to speed up the process. The dried workpiece is processed with a plow or sherhebel and a planer.

Rivet marking.

They take a plank with a width of 30 to 100 mm, draw a line along the outside, dividing the riveting in half in width (for a barrel - and in length). For the taper of the tub (barrel), it is necessary to withstand the taper of the riveting. It should be around 8°. This means that if the width of the stave along the bottom of the tub (for a barrel - in the middle) is 100 mm, at the top it should be 8 mm narrower, i.e. 92 mm. And for the barrel at the top and bottom - 92 mm. Fix the set width of the riveting with dots and connect 4 dots with lines - for the tub and 6 dots - for the barrel. These are the riveting planing guidelines that determine the taper. The plane of the segment of the radius on the template, its direction towards the center, together with the already defined slope of the future skeleton of the barrel or tub, is the main requirement for the fit of the riveting one to the other during the sharpening. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the template to the riveting being processed more often, checking the correct planing.

Riveting point.

They plan the riveting with a planer, adjusting each in thickness, and immediately determine which side will be the outer one. To do this, the left and right sides of the riveting are semi-halfed along the length. With a sherhebel with an oval base and a piece of iron, they plan the inner side cleanly according to the template (Fig. 5) and draw a line with a pencil dividing the riveting in half along the length. Then, with a hacksaw, the riveting is trimmed along the length and the dividing line is drawn to the ends. A semi-joiner (joiner) cleans the outer and sides of the riveting, the correct planing is checked with a template. It is made along the radius of the assembly hoop for the tub, and for the barrel - along the radius of the umbilical hoop, made in advance. For a barrel with two bottoms, two pairs of hoops are prepared - 2 stubborn and 2 umbilical. The umbilical hoop should pass freely through the stubborn one.

Especially carefully check the correctness of the sharpening of the sides of the riveting for the barrel. The template should fit snugly against the side and outer sides of the riveting, especially at the center line dividing the riveting in half along the length. When planing the sides, deviations from the line drawn to the end and dividing the riveting in half should not be allowed.

HOOPS

Barrel hoops are made of wood or steel. Wooden ones are not so strong, and a hundred times more hassle, so it is better to use steel ones. Hot-rolled steel tape with a thickness of 1.6-2.0 mm and a width of 30-50 mm is used for hoops.

Having measured the barrel at the place where the hoop was stretched, we add to this size the double width of the strip. With hammer blows, we bend the workpiece into a ring, punch or drill holes and put rivets made of soft steel wire with a diameter of 4-5 mm. One inner edge of the hoop must be flared with blows of the pointed end of the hammer on a massive steel stand.

Skeleton assembly.

The assembly hoop is made in the middle between the top and bottom of the tub and a slightly smaller diameter along the middle line for the barrel. On a clean wooden base, we put the assembly hoop vertically and put 5-6 rivets inside it with the outer side to the hoop. On the left, we clamp one of the rivets and the hoop with a clamp. Slightly lift the hoop and spread out the rest of the rivets. Let's get a hoop. The snug fit of the rivets along the entire length (for tubs) and up to the midline (for barrels) is the result of careful sharpening and fitting. In the same way, we assemble the frame for the barrel, but here we remove the assembly hoop after fitting the umbilical hoop, then we fill the stubborn hoop. If it is stuffed tightly, then we planed correctly and correctly selected the last riveting in width.

The skeleton for the barrel from the middle or a little higher fan-shaped diverges to its bottom. To tighten the loose end of the skeleton, various methods and devices are used. The end of a steel stranded cable with a diameter of 6-8 mm is fixed to a fixed support. The second end is thrown onto a hot, steamed loose skeleton, put on a ledge of a pillar made of earth, dug in for this purpose, or a raised part of a log and using the “stranglehold” method, using a strong stake inserted into a loop at the end of the cable, “twist” the skeleton and put it on umbilical, and then stubborn hoops.

After assembly, the skeleton is checked for horizontality and verticality, and all hoops are finally upset. On the inside of the core (barrels or tubs), the sag is cleaned, and at the ends of the rivets they are cut off by 1/3 of the thickness (Fig. 6) and by 2-3 mm from the outside. The outer and inner sides of the skeleton are finally cleaned, the upper and lower ends are half-filled.

Installation of donets in the skeleton.

To do this, several operations are performed.

1. Cutting the morning groove in the skeleton. Morning cut the morning groove. The width of the teeth of the steel nail file is 4-5 mm. Therefore, the width of the cut morning groove should be 4-5 mm. The nail file protrudes 4-5 mm from the half-fallen bar of the morning time. Therefore, the depth of the groove of the chime cannot be different. The thickness of the chime bar is a limiter for the distance of the chime cutting from the top of the core to the bottom of the plank on which the bar is fixed, i.e. 40-50 mm. Be sure to chamfer 2-3 mm or a little more on both sides of the morning groove to prevent chipping of the core riveting when inserting bottoms and compressing them with hoops.

2. Assembly of bottom shields. They are assembled on wooden or metal (preferably stainless) studs-nails from 4-6 boards. The extreme ones are called shoals, the middle ones are called grouse. Planks are taken on the jambs, which is wider. We don't yet know the diameter of the circle from the chime. We take a compass (Fig. 4) and spread its legs approximately by the radius of the intended circle along the chime, insert the tip of the compass leg into the chime, divide the circle into 6 parts. Thus, we will determine the radius of the circle by chimes for the bottom. We transfer the resulting radius to the bottom shield and draw a circle.

3. Cutting out donuts. With a bow saw or a circular saw, we cut out the required bottom. In this case, the cut should be along the inner side of the line drawn by the circle when the saw teeth are set 2-2.5 mm. This will reduce the diameter of the circle by 0.14 constant "Pi".

4. Donets processing. We put the bottom circle on the workbench, sharpen it cleanly on both sides, draw a line 3-4 mm thick at the end with a pencil in the middle. With a radius 25-30 mm smaller than the bottom, draw a circle on its two sides. These are the borders of chamfering. With a chisel or planer, we will chamfer and make sure that the mortise groove and chamfered bottom fit well. The line at the end of the bottom is left untouched.

5. Donets installation. This is the final operation for the manufacture of a barrel or tub. We turn the skeleton of the tub with the wide part up and slightly knock down the lower hoop. We knock down the stubborn at the barrel, and shift the umbilical hoop so that the bottom enters the morning groove. To keep the bottom in a horizontal position when installed in chimes, a nylon thread will help to cross-tie the bottom. When the bottom is set in chimes, the thread is pulled out, the hoops are put in place. Before installing the second bottom into the skeleton of the keg, two tongue and groove holes are drilled in it opposite each other and 4-5 cm from the inner side of the skeleton with a diameter of 20-25 mm, into which tongues are placed so that debris does not get into the keg. After installing the second bottom, the hoops are finally stuffed and make sure that the bottoms are crimped with rivets in the chimes, and the rivets between themselves would not have gaps. If the rivets were planed correctly and the slope was maintained according to the pattern, the bottom was carefully sawn out, the product will be of high quality.

Take note.

1. Before assembling the frames for a barrel or tub, the finished riveting should be dried to 17-20% moisture.
2. It is necessary to soak oak, spruce, pine, aspen barrels and tubs for at least 10 days, changing the water after 2-3 days. At the same time, jambs and planks are soaked, which press the fermented products.
3. To reduce the formation of mold on the staves of the tub, when stored in the cellar, it is wiped with a swab dipped in calcined vegetable oil. Jambs, planks and pressure stone are washed once a week with hot water.

HOW LONG DOES A BARREL SERVE

First of all, it depends on the operating conditions. But it is important to remember that you should not paint jellied containers with oil paint: it clogs the pores, which contributes to the decay of wood. It is desirable to paint the hoops - they will not rust. For decorative purposes, a barrel, a flower tub can be treated with mordants.

The brown color of the oak is given by slaked lime mixed with a 25% ammonia solution. A black solution of iron sulphate or an infusion for 5-6 days of iron filings in vinegar.

A decoction of the rhizomes of the fragrant woodruff (Asperula odo-rata) turns linden and aspen red. Red-brown color gives a decoction of onion peel, brown - a decoction of walnut nibs. These dyes are brighter than chemical ones and more stable.

It must be remembered that wood is better preserved with a constant humidity regime. Therefore, dry products must always be kept dry, and bulk products filled with liquid. Both of them cannot be placed directly on the ground. It is better to substitute a brick or plank under the barrel than to subsequently get rid of the rot by cutting the chimes.

But no matter how long a barrel made by one's own hands serves, all this time it will be a pleasant reminder to the owner of the difficulties overcome in comprehending the secrets of the ancient cooper's craft. published

Cooperage is one of the most difficult craft, so the answer to the question, how to make a barrel with your own hands, will also be difficult. This is a very time-consuming process that requires a decent professional level from the performer and the availability of a large number of tools for wood processing.

Types of barrels for their intended purpose and wood for their manufacture

Before you wonder how to make a barrel you need to decide what you need it for. The choice of material and method of manufacture depends on this. This type of container is made for the following purposes:

1. for fermentation, aging and storage of spirits, wine and beer;
2. for the preparation and storage of pickles;
3. for storage of dry products;
4. for storing honey, etc.

Barrels for drinks have two bottoms and a hole for inserting taps. The same type of container, but without holes, was previously used for long-term storage of certain products (for example, corned beef).

For other purposes, barrels with one bottom are enough - they are also called tubs. From above they are covered with a lid or circle for oppression. Making these parts is much easier than the bottom. Make a wooden barrel can be from such types of wood as:

1. oak;
2. ash;
3. cherry;
4. Linden;
5. alder and others.

The wood of the first three types is the most versatile. It is equally suitable for containers of any purpose. However, the "champion" should be recognized as an oak barrel, which, being strong, reliable and durable, provides ideal conditions for storing food.

Oak products have antiseptic properties, release tannins into alcoholic beverages, improving their taste, and also easily withstand the effects of brines when harvesting pickles. Ash and cherry are the first "deputies" of oak wood. They have similar but weaker properties. Therefore, we will consider . The manufacture of containers from other types of wood, such as linden, has no fundamental differences, with the exception of the nuances of the finish.

Oak barrel for honey

Rules for the procurement of material for barrels

Before you start doing handmade wooden barrel, you should prepare and prepare high-quality material. The wood must be mature, healthy, free from defects (knots, slant)

The best time for harvesting material is late autumn or winter, when the natural moisture content of wood is at a minimum.

It is unlikely that you will be able to meet all the requirements. For example, for the manufacture of staves for wine and cognac barrels of the highest quality category, the process of drying and aging wood takes 6–8 years, but if you are only concerned about how to make a barrel for yourself, follow these rules:

1. Before drying, the logs are split into blanks of the desired thickness;
2. Drying is carried out in a place closed from direct sunlight - under a canopy, in a barn, etc .;
3. The duration of drying depends on many factors and can take 1-3 months;
4. the residual moisture content of the wood before processing should be about 25%.

Speeding up the drying process using hot air and other methods usually results in deterioration of the quality of the wood and its properties in the finished product. Tips, , also take into account the need to hold the processed rivets before assembling the product. As a result, the residual moisture content of the wood should be 17–20%.

Making rivets and tools for this

For those who wish make your own oak barrel the most difficult will be the manufacture of rivets. The process of marking and splitting logs is clearly shown in the following figure.

As a result, you will get blanks of a conical section, from which, after drying, riveting is made. This detail has a complex shape, so its manufacture places high demands on the skill of the performer. The main dimensions of the barrel and its elements, depending on the volume, are as follows:

This table will help you figure out how to make a barrel, and the drawing - to understand how to give the rivets the desired shape

Tool

And what tools do you need for this. The curvature of the sides should provide the barrel with a taper of about 8°, due to which the product is resistant to loads from the outside and from the inside. To treat the surfaces of rivets, a planer, jointer, sherhebel, plow and other tools of this group are used. In this case, the outer surface of the part should have a slightly convex shape, and the inner one should have a concave shape.

Barrel capacity, l	Height, mm	Center diameter, mm	Edge diameter, mm	Riveting width, mm	Riveting thickness, mm	Bottom thickness, mm

Planing accuracy and quality are regularly checked against the template. To calculate the number of rivets, the largest circumference (in the center of the barrel) should be divided by the width of the blanks. This way you will also determine the exact and uniform size of the part. The process of making rivets can be seen in the video.

After that, the answer to the question of how to make an oak barrel with your own hands, will become clearer as you master the toughest challenge.

Making bottom shields and tools for this

For the manufacture of bottom shields, 4–6 planks are used, interconnected by studs made of wood or stainless steel. Drawings, or, more precisely, instructions, of this process are given here

But at first we will limit ourselves only to connecting the planks, since the rest of the operations are carried out taking into account the dimensions of the assembled barrel body. We will have to do the following:

1. draw a circle on the shield: its diameter should correspond to the size of the bottom of the barrel, to which is added twice the depth of the morning groove (this is 6 mm);
2. perform filing along the contour with a bow saw or circular saw;
3. chamfer around the entire circumference so that the bottom enters the morning groove.

In a similar way (adjusted for a larger or smaller diameter), a cover and a circle for oppression are made. If you intend make your own barrel for drinks that have two bottoms, it should be remembered that such products are made according to individual measurements for the top and bottom. You will see the result of your efforts only after you collect all the details into a single whole. Assembling the barrel is the most enjoyable stage of its manufacture. We will describe how this process is carried out below.

Barrel Assembly Order

The following information about how to make a barrel, will be recommendations for its assembly. For this, in addition to wooden parts, you will need metal hoops - assembly and permanent. The first of them serves to set and fix the complete skeleton. Permanent hoops are divided into morning and cervical (umbilical). They provide tightening of the rivets. To make a wooden barrel from the available kit of parts, you will need to perform the following operations:

1. using clamps on the assembly hoop, fix two, and preferably three, rivets;
2. Fill the space between them with the remaining parts;
3. put on a neck hoop from the fixed side;
4. Steam the loose side of the skeleton and pull off the rivets with the help of a collar (noose), after which put on the morning and neck hoop on this side of the skeleton;
5. on the side of the assembly hoop, cut a morning groove for installing the bottom;
6. cut and process the first bottom, then put it in place;
7. On the same side, install a morning hoop, which finally fixes the bottom;
8. to finish the inner and outer surface of the barrel body;
9. to carry out hardening (firing) from the inside;
10. Repeat the bottom installation operation on the opposite side.

The initial stage of assembly can be seen in the video

.

One more video

will give an idea of ​​the subsequent operations. However, in this case, an allowance should be made for the fact that professionals work here, who have their own techniques and perform many actions automatically. Perhaps not everything will work out the first time, but how to make your own oak barrel you will definitely learn.

For barrels with a capacity of up to 50 liters, four hoops are used; for larger containers, their number is increased to six. They are made from a steel strip 30–50 wide and 1.5–2 mm thick. The diameter of the hoop is determined by measuring the place of its installation on the body of the product. Double the bandwidth is added to the value obtained. This is necessary to connect the strip into a ring using rivets made of forged steel wire with a cross section of 4–5 mm.

Answering the question how to make a barrel, it is necessary to mention that one edge inside the hoop requires flaring. This gives it the necessary taper for a snug fit to the frame rivets when putting on and upsetting. Cutting the morning groove is performed using a special tool, which is called a morning time in professional slang. The procedure is somewhat reminiscent of opening a round tin can.

In an article about how to make a barrel, it is impossible not to mention the hardening of the product. Most often this is achieved by firing. This ensures increased resistance of wood to moisture, organic acids and other influences. It is most convenient to perform the firing of a case without a bottom using a burner such as a portable forge

Finishing surfaces, drilling holes for taps (chops) is done before firing.

Checking the barrel and preparing it for use

Our advice on how to make a wooden barrel with your own hands, completes with information on how to check its tightness and prepare the product for use. To search for leaks, the barrel is filled with water. If within an hour of filling it is still leaking, you will need to take steps to seal it. To do this, there is a proven "old-fashioned" method using cattail, which is also called barrel grass. They caulk leaks. Another method of sealing is waxing with natural wax.

Each master has his own answers to the question, how to make a barrel, and many professional secrets, for the disclosure of which one would have to write an entire monograph. Therefore, you will have to turn to experts more than once for help on a variety of nuances of the barrel manufacturing process. By the way, the literary hero Robinson Crusoe was never able to cope with this task. When you achieve the tightness of the product, it remains only to prepare the barrel for use.

Answering the question how to make an oak barrel, should also give recommendations for soaking it. Most often this is done with plain water. The procedure takes up to 10 days with fluid changes every two to three days. However, for barrels intended for strong drinks, soaking lasts from one month to six months using alcohol-containing liquids with a strength of 18-55%. In this article, we have tried to answer the main questions regarding how to make a barrel. We hope that this information will be useful to you.

The barrel in our time not only has a practical function. Today, for storing liquids or something else, they are used in warehouses, in wine cellars and so on. For decorative purposes, they began to be made relatively recently. With skillful processing, they can be used to decorate a garden plot, as well as in the form of furniture: chairs, tables, bar counters, etc.

Even a well-worn barrel can be restored and used for other purposes. For this, of course, you need a fair amount of imagination. You also need to take into account its condition so that the material is not too dry from time to time, otherwise all efforts will come to naught in the very first time of its operation. There are actually quite a few ideas on how to turn such a container into something more functional or beautiful. For example, in the garden you can break a mini-flower bed on it, and on several levels. Or make an interesting table or bench. You can even organize a fountain in them, only it will not last long if the wood is not properly processed: under the influence of water, it can quickly lose both its aesthetic appearance and strength. Some craftsmen adapt the barrel for a washbasin: for this, a sink is inserted into the upper part, and a pipe is installed inside the barrel.

How to make a wooden barrel with your own hands

Before you start making a barrel with your own hands, you need to decide on the material. Usually used for this purpose? do-it-yourself barrel

Before you mount the barrel, you must first make the frets. These are wooden boards that are sawn from a tree trunk. They can also be made by splitting wooden blocks. Sawn, as a rule, are stronger than chipped because it is not always possible to split the log correctly, and because of this, part of the strength may be lost.

It has long been customary to fasten the frets into a single structure using metal hoops, which are made of durable sheet steel. To make the barrel even more durable, you can additionally nail them. The number of hoops depends on the height of the barrel, but, as a rule, there are at least three of them.

The last stage is the installation of the bottom. After it is installed on the owl, a hoop is put on for fixing, which is also additionally nailed for greater strength.

How to make a bar at home from an old wooden barrel

In fact, there are a lot of options for barrel minibars. It can be a variant with a front door, and opening from the top, and with an open interior space with shelves for storing drinks. Which one is considered the best is hard to say. It all depends on taste preferences.

barrel bar

Before proceeding with the manufacture of a bar from a barrel, it is necessary to clean the old wood. This must be done both inside and out. Before that, you need to remove all hoops, except for the one that holds the bottom. They then put on quite simply, and you can move them down to the desired level with a hammer. Then the edges are aligned on the side of the bottom, on the other side. We leave one part open for now. Further, the hoops are treated with a special compound so that subsequently the metal does not rust. If you need a front hole, mark the location and cut it out.

If you are engaged in the manufacture of your own wine, pickles, then you know that there is no better container than a wooden barrel. After all, made of wood, it becomes one of the main points in the recipe, it is an environmentally friendly raw material that preserves the taste and useful properties of products. In addition, the alcohol contained in wines or moonshine, when interacting with containers made of synthetic materials: plastic, nylon, can dissolve them and the interaction products are mixed with the drink.

Purchasing a barrel for your winemaking or brining is not difficult, but if you want to save money or like to do everything yourself, then it is worth learning the technique of making an oak barrel with your own hands. This is a process that takes a lot of time and effort, but with our advice, you will see that making a barrel with your own hands is not so difficult even for those who have never done it.

The manufacture of barrels from wood is called "cooperage", and the master who deals with this business is a cooper. This is a whole art that originated in ancient Greece and is still popular. The technology has not changed for thousands of years, is time-tested and not as difficult to implement as it seems at first glance. But how to make a barrel yourself in modern conditions?

Choosing wood

First of all, of course, choose the material from which you are going to make your future barrel. We will offer you the main types of wood that coopers prefer, tell you what their positive and negative sides are, and also help you choose the most suitable option for you.

Oak

Of course, first of all, we should talk about the manufacture of oak barrels. This wood rightfully deserves the title of a classic material used by master coopers. With high strength, flexibility, this tree contains "tannins" that act as an antiseptic. The moisture acting on the walls of such a barrel makes them stronger. Therefore, the service life of oak barrels is measured not even in tens, but in hundreds of years. With drinks stored in such a barrel, the processes of oxidation and interaction with wood take place, and they acquire a pleasant aroma with a hint of vanilla.

Fur tree, pine tree

These types of wood are also used as material for the manufacture of barrels. They are soft, easier to process and cut, but inferior in strength to oak and many other species. Their disadvantage is the smell of resin, which is why this type of wood is rarely used as a material for barrels.

Cedar

Of the representatives of coniferous varieties, coopers prefer it, especially in those places where its natural habitat is located. By properties, it is similar to pine or spruce, but such barrels have no smell. They are well suited for storing products, especially for dairy products.

Linden

This type of wood is fibrous, perfectly cut and processed. Strong material, does not give in to drying out, does not smell. Linden barrels are recognized as the best for storing and transporting honey, caviar, and pickles.

Aspen

This is a cheap, but long-lasting material, it is strong, resistant to moisture, and has antiseptic properties. Aspen was recognized as ideal for pickling and storing vegetables. The peculiarity of this variety is that it swells a lot, but for a cooper it is rather a plus, because thanks to this, the rivets close tightly.

We make rivets

So, you have decided on the type of wood, let's say it will be oak. Now we make the details of the barrel, starting with the rivets. These are tapering at the edges, or rectangular boards (sawn or chipped). The latter win in terms of strength due to the structure of the fibers, which does not undergo destruction during splitting.

The shape of the stave depending on the type of barrel

To determine the exact number of such rivets, do the following:

• Determine the required barrel parameters
• Make drawings of your design
• Create sketches of riveting and bottoms in natural sizes

After these procedures, perform simple calculations that allow you not to miscalculate how many rivets you need. It is calculated by the formula: 2*Pi*R/Sh, where:

• Pi is a constant value of 3.14
• P - radius of the bottom (if the sides are equal) or the middle (if the sides are convex)
• W - size of the width of the riveting

Barrel sizes depending on volume

It will take a lot of time and labor to make stab rivets; certain skills are needed here. The main thing to do is to split the workpiece so that fragments with a smooth surface are obtained.

Scheme of the split of the fire on rivets

There are two main ways to split:

• Radially (the split goes through the core of the deck, which requires less effort)
• Tangentially (does not affect the core, not recommended for use on hardwood, it makes the process slower and more difficult)

It is easiest to process raw material, freshly cut is best. If you use ready-made boards, make sure that the annual rings go along their plane, without sawing.

After harvesting, you need to dry it, in the summer, in the air, under a canopy, this period will be from 3 months. For artificial drying, the following method is used:

1. Glue paper on the ends of the rivets
2. Place in oven
3. Leave it there for a day

Ready for barrel staves

The blanks are now ready for further work.

We make a hoop

Another detail is the hoop. It helps to connect all the rivets, creating a single whole; stainless steel is used to make the hoop.

Modern barrels have three hoops:

• Farts (closer to the center)
• Morning (closer to the edge)
• Neck (if the barrel has a large volume, they are additionally placed between the first two)

The size of the hoop depends on the volume of the container (thickness*width):

• Up to 25 l - 1.6mm * 3cm
• 25 - 50 l - 1.6mm * 3.6cm
• Up to 100 l - 1.6mm * 4-4.5cm
• 120 liters and more - 1.8 * 5cm

Stainless steel barrel hoops

You will need temporary metal hoops, which are made according to the following algorithm:

1. Cut the desired size strips from a sheet of steel
2. Make holes at the ends of the strips, which are fastened with rivets

Collecting the barrel

Now we have approached the main stage - the assembly of a barrel, consisting of staves, which are connected first by temporary, and then by permanent hoops.

Process with a tool - grinding, cut off uneven ends, drill a filler hole.

Watch a video on how an oak barrel is made.

Oak barrel repair

Do you have an old barrel that you do not use because it is dry, leaking, or for some other reason it is not suitable, watch the video on how the repair is done.

The second part of the video if the barrel is flowing

An oak barrel is a great thing for a person. In it you can salt vegetables, make wine, moonshine, cognac. At worst, just sit until it hits, like some, a great idea. No wonder in the old days the manufacture of barrels was the lot of real masters. We continue to tell you about the development of which you can do in the country. Next up is cooperage.

Unlike many endangered professions, such as saddler, lamplighter or carriage maker, coopers are quite in demand in the 21st century. The production of tubs, barrels and decorative bar elements is now on stream. Beer and wine containers are manufactured industrially - spacious workshops, computer quality control, wholesale deliveries. The cost, depending on the volume, ranges from several hundred to tens of thousands of rubles.

But, of course, the craving of a Russian person for things made with his own hands cannot be defeated by anything. Therefore, if you decide to make the barrel of your dreams yourself, we can only advise you! Follow the recommendations below - and any Diogenes will thank you!
So where does the barrel start?

Tree selection

Of course, first you need an oak tree. Moreover, not the first one that came across, but more or less adult, with a trunk diameter of 40-60 cm. Some specimens can be rejected even at the inspection stage. So, the characteristic tuberosity on the trunk testifies to the defeat of the giant by tobacco rot.

We also “weed out” twisted and knotty trees. In cooperage, only “tulka” is used - the first 4 meters of the trunk, the rest can be safely turned into fuel for the barbecue. Yes, if you can’t cut down the tree you like, you can always buy a similar one at the nearest sawmill.

Making staves

Now for some theory. The barrel consists of wooden parts, staves, tightly fitted to each other and tied with metal hoops. And the final quality of the entire product directly depends on how accurately the manufacturing technology of these elements was observed.

First of all, decide on the dimensions of the future barrel. Its height will affect the length of the riveting itself (it should be 2.5–3 cm longer).

Have you chosen a size? Cut on it the previously prepared oak round timber. It is good when the farm has a hydraulic cleaver. Well, if not, the oak log is split into sectors using the old-fashioned method, using wedges. The result should be 8 radially chipped ingots.

Now we cut the core and soft "white" fabric on a circular saw. From the resulting blanks, we plan out even boards of the same thickness on the thickness gauge.

Ready? And now ... put all this beauty in piles somewhere under a canopy. And leave it for at least a few months. And better for a year - a good oak barrel is not made in an hour☺. During this time, the sun and wind, without creating unnecessary stresses on the wood, will remove excess moisture from it. For now, you can work on grapes (for the Moscow region, by the way, there are excellent varieties, we will definitely tell you about them somehow). When the blanks are dry, you can continue. Using an electric jigsaw, give the boards the correct cigar-shaped shape, where the thickening will be only 0.8–1 cm wider than the ends.

The inner edge of the blanks is crimped in the middle by a curved plow. Less than a millimeter is enough, and when necessary, the rivets will bend in the right place. We give the outer face the shape of an arc, the curvature of which is determined by a special pattern. Its radius depends on the radius of the produced barrel. The tool is easy to make yourself. The result should be a product the same as in the figure.

On average, a barrel will need from 25 to 30 staves.

Making a hoop

When the rivets are prepared, you can do the hoops. You will need a narrow strip of 2-3 mm iron, slightly longer than the circumference of the core.

Twist it into a ring and fix it at the ends with rivets. The hoop is almost ready. Slightly flare the inside with a hammer - and you can put it on the skeleton. For a small barrel, you will need two pairs of hoops. Not less! What if some ring will not withstand the fermentation of your beer?

While working with iron, make a couple more metal staples. They will then serve as "clothespins".

Barrel assembly

Rivets are prepared, hoops are ready. It's time to collect it all in a pot-bellied barrel. Take the finished ring and fasten the ends of two or three rivets in it with clothespins in arbitrary places. The design will resemble a stool. In this position, fill the entire perimeter of the hoop with rivets. When the last plank is in place, tap the metal belt with a hammer to fit the pieces tighter.

But before putting on the second hoop, the tree will have to be heated and steamed. It is done like this. We take out our semi-finished product to fresh air and install it with the “socket” up. A small metal urn filled with wood chips is placed inside. We kindle a fire in it. While the fire is burning, moisten the wood liberally with water. This will keep it from burning and add flexibility to the boards. After half an hour of such a “bath”, throw a noose on the end free from the hoop and pull it off quietly with a winch. In this place, haste is unacceptable. The path to the finish line can take from 40 minutes to 3-4 hours, but any broken rivet will immediately return you to the start of the race.

As soon as the wooden fan closes, immediately stuff the hoop. Just do not forget the old Cooper's law: "The same place is not knocked twice with a hammer." In simple words, when upsetting the hoop, apply only one blow to each place. In no case do not hit there two or three times - you will split the tree.
When the metal belts are in place, the skeleton of the barrel ends up. The internal cavity is leveled with a special scraper and polished with sandpaper.

And now another trial by fire. In order for the tree to get used to its new shape, it must be burned. The scheme is the same - wood chips burn in an urn. Stir the fire constantly, otherwise the barrel will catch fire. There are no recipes here. If you set fire to the boards, the wine will take on the smell of burning. You finish the firing ahead of time, and the staves will break the hoop.

Manufacturing and installation of bottoms

At a distance of up to 2.5 cm from the ends of the core, select the so-called morning groove. The bottom will then be inserted into it. Previously, such an operation was trusted only to a special cutter, the morning man (another endangered profession!). Today it is much easier to use a cutter. At the same time, remove the chamfers from the ends of the barrel. Useful when shrinking bottoms.

To make them, you will again need rivets, only a little larger. They are connected into shields with steel nails without caps. By actually measuring the length of the morning groove, you can easily determine the radius of the bottom. Outline it on the shield and cut it out with a jigsaw. Sharpen the ends of the round.
The connection of the bottom with the skeleton looks like this.

To put the bottom in its place, the skeleton will have to be unforged on one side. Rivets by this time should already hold their shape. Insert the circle into the morning groove, put it in place with a mallet - and again pull the product with a hoop. If everything is done correctly, the bottom will not leak. Before repeating the operation with another bottom, cut a drain hole in it. Diameter - 32 mm. When everything is ready, we grind the barrel, giving it a marketable appearance, and prepare for soaking.

Soak

In principle, the barrel is already ready. On this one could calm down, but the tree is still too saturated with tannins and tannins. Therefore, you have to soak them, otherwise the contents of the barrel will deteriorate.

Fill the container one third with hot (80°C) water. Rotate the barrel for half an hour so that the moisture moves around the entire perimeter. Then drain the liquid, replace it with a cold one. It should stand in the container for a day, after which it must be replaced again. And so - for two weeks. Someone soaks the barrel with ready-made wine, someone with moonshine. Everyone has their own style. But it's worth starting with the water.

Now the barrel is really ready for wine. Or beer. Or moonshine with cucumbers - what do you choose? ..