The main external dimensions of the barrel are:
- height;
- bundle diameter;
- head diameter. The internal dimensions of the barrel are:
- height between bottoms in the center;
- bundle diameter;
- diameter at the bottoms. There are certain and natural relationships between the height of the barrel and its diameter in the bunch and between the diameters in the bunch and at the bottoms, the observance of which guarantees the strength and impenetrability of the product. The shape of the barrel depends on the choice of these ratios: the smaller the difference in diameters, the closer the shape of the barrel is to the cylinder; The greater the difference between the diameters at the bottom and at the bunch, the more convex the barrel. In cylindrical barrels intended for transporting fish products, the height is less than the diameter.
If we take the head diameter as a unit, then the recommended ratios, proven by many years of practice, for the main sizes of barrels will be as follows:
- head diameter d = 1.0
- bunch diameter D = from 1.10 to 1.25
- height h = from 1.10 to 1.50 For liquids such as beer, wine, etc., the most convex barrels are used, in which the greatest settlement of the hoops and screed of the frame is possible, which is especially important when the barrel dries out and the hoops re-settle .
To make a barrel of a certain capacity, the following are used: external and internal dimensions (mm).
- For the manufacture of barrels, rivets of the following sizes (mm) are required:
Filler holes are drilled or cut out before inserting the bottom. In a bulk barrel intended for drinks, a hole is drilled in the widest stave with a flat drill with the side edges beveled by 1 - 2 degrees. Flat drills various sizes can be made from a saw blade with a thickness of 1.5 - 2 mm. To get records the right size, deep marks are applied to the saw blade along a ruler using a scraper or file. You can also use a hard steel cutter - a claw. A holder is machined from a rod with a diameter of 8 mm. From one of the ends of the rod, a cut is made along the axis to a depth of 14 mm. At a distance of 7 mm from the edge perpendicular to the cutting plane, drill through hole. The same hole is drilled at the appropriate distance on the plate. The plate is connected to the holder with a rivet or a screw, for which a thread is cut. The drill is sharpened and inserted into the drill chuck.
Thanks to the beveled edges of the drill, the hole in the riveting is conical. Drilling is stopped when the cutting part of the drill comes out on the opposite side of the riveting.
A cork or plug is usually cut from linden. Linden wood is soft, homogeneous, does not swell or dry out. These are the properties that are needed for a wooden plug, since it must not only reliably close the drain hole, but also be easily removed from the sleeve.
Water is poured into the finished barrel and checked to see if it is leaking. Water can seep through only in the first minutes. The wood will then swell and close the cracks tightly. Most often, water seeps between the bottom and the rivets. If the barrel leaks for more than 30 minutes, it must be caulked with barrel grass.
Barrels made of linden, aspen, alder or spruce just need to be scalded with boiling water. Oak barrels contain a lot of tannins. Therefore, it is specially processed. First they are flooded for three weeks cold water. Every other day, change the water and observe its color. In the first days the water will turn light brown, then it will become lighter. When the water becomes clear and clean, it is replaced with a warm aqueous solution of baking soda. To prepare the solution, dissolve 20 g of baking soda in 1 liter of water. After 30 minutes, the barrel is washed first hot water, then cold. After this treatment, you can store any liquids in it.If you need to measure the volume of a non-standard barrel, you need to take a glass or metal container, for example, a 12-liter bucket or 1-2 three-liter jars and fill the barrel with water using the specified container. In addition, quite often when making cooper's utensils, a formula is used according to which the volume of the barrel = 3.2 hRr, where h is the height, R is the radius in the widest part and r is the radius in the narrowest part of the barrel.
Knowing the relationship between the main dimensions of a barrel and the formula for determining its internal volume (capacity), it is possible to determine the dimensions of the barrel based on a given capacity and determine its capacity based on the dimensions of the barrel.
Using the same data, you can determine the volume of wood in the barrel, which is equal to the volume of wood in the frame of the barrel plus the volume of wood from both bottoms. In barrels for food products, the use of pine wood for barrels for melted butter, frozen berries, fruits, dairy products, margarine, cooking fats and canned fruit and vegetable products is not allowed to protect these products from possible transfer they have a specific resinous odor.
For food products that can be processed, washed, boiled or steamed before consumption, such as corned beef, intestines, etc., pine barrels are acceptable.
Before packaging, pine barrels made as container products are either roasted inside with steaming and washing, or coated inside with enamel. Any barrel must be made of wood of the same species, since in this case the riveting of the frame and bottoms works under the same conditions, resisting the forces of compression, bending, as well as shrinkage and swelling of the wood.
The assembled barrel must have the correct shape - without distortions, depressions or bulges. The bottoms must be inserted so that the chamfers fit tightly into the morning groove around its entire depth. The rivets of the upper and lower bottoms should be located in the same direction. The end hoops must be filled in level with the ends of the riveting; The locks of all hoops must be located on one stave of the frame.
To pack liquid products in barrels, 1-2 filling holes are drilled - cylindrical or conical. For example, in an oak beer barrel, a filling hole with a diameter of 50 mm is drilled in one of the staves, into which a metal sleeve is wrapped flush with the stave, into which a conical-shaped wooden plug is inserted. Another hole with a diameter of 25 mm is drilled and burned in the middle of the length of the outer riveting of the bottom at a distance of 50 mm from the frame. Holes are drilled in rivets with a width of at least 100 mm; plugs are made from soft wood.
When making food barrels with filling holes, the outer diameter of one hole should be 40 mm, the second - 20 mm, the inner diameter of the conical holes should be 5 - 7 mm less than the outer one. The cork should be 40 mm long, made of straight-grained softwood, without knots, chips or cracks. Outside diameter The plugs should be 5 mm larger than the hole diameter, the inner one should be 2 mm smaller than the hole diameter.
A barrel made for food products should not have any foreign odor that is not characteristic of the type of wood from which it is made. Inner surface must be clean.
The barrel is checked for leaks by filling it with water through the sleeve hole or through the opened bottom. A barrel completely filled with water rolls in different directions.
Barrels with a capacity of 15 liters and above are manufactured. For example, for fish 15 l, 30 l, 50 l, 100 l, 120 l, 150 l, 250 l, 300 l; for grape wines with a capacity of 50L, 100L, 150L, 200L, 250L, 300L, 350L, 400L, 450L, 520L, 600L, etc.
IN household Barrels and tubs are in great demand. They keep lard and hams in brine, ferment cabbage, and soak apples. What can be compared to, for example, a cucumber or a tomato pickled in an oak tub? And in a linden barrel, honey and apple juice are perfectly stored, and you can make kvass in it.
Finally, an oak tub with a lemon or laurel tree today will not spoil the interior of even a city apartment. You just can’t 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 craftsman is quite capable of handling it. Let us tell you in more detail about the manufacture of these containers needed in the household.
First of all, you need to choose wood. Oak and pine are unsuitable for storing honey - honey darkens in an oak barrel, but in a pine barrel it smells like resin. Here you need linden, aspen, and plane tree. Poplar, willow, and alder will also do. But for pickling, pickling or soaking better than oak there is nothing - such a barrel will serve for decades. For other needs, you can use sedge, beech, spruce, fir, pine, cedar, larch and even birch.
The following table will help you determine the size.
| External dimensions | Width and depth morning groove |
Distance from the morning groove to the end |
|||
| Barrel capacity (l) | Height | Bunch diameter | In my head | ||
| 15 | 345 | 295 | 262 | 3*3 | 20 |
| 25 | 420 | 340 | 300 | 3*3 | 20 |
| 50 | 535 | 420 | 370 | 3*3 | 25 |
| 100 | 670 | 515 | 450 | 3*3 | 25 |
| 120 | 770 | 525 | 460 | 3*3 | 25 |
Please note that the dimensions of the barrels are given here to select the size for the tub, the height and diameter of the head remains the same. The diameter in the barrel bunch (diameter in the center) for the tub goes into the diameter of the bottom.
When the size is chosen, you need to start preparing the stave, the main component of the barrel.
I will give the sizes of the rivets
| Capacity | Rivet width | Rivet thickness | Thickness of the bottoms | Bottom width |
| 15 | 40-90 | 14 | 16 | 50 or more |
| 25 | 40-90 | 14 | 16 | 50 or more |
| 50 | 40-90 | 17 | 19 | 50 or more |
| 100 | 40-100 | 18 | 19 | 50 or more |
| 120 | 40-100 | 18 | 19 | 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). By increasing or decreasing the height, the diameter of the container is changed. The number of rivets for a barrel or tub is calculated using 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 at the bottom of the tub (for a barrel - in the middle).
Rivets
Usually the lower part of the trunk of old trees is used for rivets; it is called “riveter”. But a tinkerer will choose blanks from ordinary firewood and adapt a thin trunk to the job. It is best to make rivets from raw wood. First, the log - it should be 5-6 cm longer than the future stave - is split in half, gently tapping the log on the butt of the ax. Each half is then split into two parts again, 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 protect the riveting from cracking in the future.
The chopped pieces are dried in a room with natural ventilation at least a month. To speed up the process, you can use a dryer. The dried workpiece is processed with a plow or sherhebel and a plane.
Rivet marking.
Take a board with a width of 30 to 100 mm, draw a line along the outer side dividing the stave in half along the width (for a barrel - and along the length). For the taper of the tub (barrel), it is necessary to maintain the taper of the riveting. It should be about 8°. This means that if the riveting width at 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 riveting width 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 radius segment on the template, its direction towards the center, together with the already determined slope of the future frame of the barrel or tub, is the main requirement for the fit of the riveting to one another during sharpening. Therefore, you need to more often apply the template to the riveting being processed, checking the correctness of planing.
Riveting edge.
They plan the staves with a plane, adjusting each one according to thickness, and immediately determine which side will be the outer one. To do this, half the left and right side rivets along the length. Using a sherkhebel with an oval base and a piece of iron, plan the inner side clean according to the template (Fig. 5) and draw a line with a pencil dividing the riveting in half along its length. Then, use a hacksaw to trim the stave to length and draw a dividing line at the ends. The outer and side sides of the riveting are cleaned with a semi-jointer (jointer), and the correctness of planing is checked with a template. It is made according to the radius of the assembly hoop for the tub, and for the barrel - according to the radius of the umbilical hoop, made in advance. For a barrel with two bottoms, two pairs of hoops are prepared - 2 persistent and 2 umbilical. The umbilical hoop should pass freely through the thrust hoop.
Especially carefully check the correct 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 midline, dividing the stave in half along its length. When planing the sides, deviations from the line drawn at 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 durable, and they are a hundred times more hassle, so it is better to use steel ones. The hoops are made from hot-rolled steel strip with a thickness of 1.6-2.0 mm and a width of 30-50 mm.
Having measured the barrel at the place where the hoop is tensioned, we add double the width of the strip to this size. Using a hammer, we bend the workpiece into a ring, punch or drill holes and install rivets made of soft steel wire with a diameter of 4-5 mm. One inner edge of the hoop must be flared by striking the pointed end of a hammer on a massive steel stand.
Frame assembly
The assembly hoop is made in the middle between the top and bottom of the tub and with a slightly smaller diameter along the center line for the barrel. On a clean wooden base We place the assembly hoop vertically and put 5-6 rivets inside it outer side to the hoop. On the left, we clamp one of the rivets and the hoop with a clamp. Raise the hoop slightly and arrange the remaining rivets. Let's clamp the hoop. The tight fit of the rivets along the entire length (for the tub) and to the center line (for the barrel) is the result of careful sharpening and adjustment. In the same way we assemble the frame for the barrel, but here we remove the assembly hoop after attaching the umbilical hoop, then we fill the persistent hoop. If it packs tightly, it means we planed correctly and selected the last rive correctly in width.
The frame for the barrel from the middle or slightly above fan-shapedly diverges to its bottom. To tighten the loose end of the frame, use various ways and devices. The end of a multi-core steel cable with a diameter of 6-8 mm is secured to a fixed support. The second end is thrown onto a hot, steamed, loose frame, put on the protrusion of a post made of earth dug for this purpose, or a raised part of a log, and using the “noose” method, using a strong stake inserted into a loop at the end of the cable, the frame is “twisted” and put on umbilical and then stubborn hoops.
After assembly, the frame is checked for horizontality and verticality and all hoops are finally seated. WITH inside the frames (barrels or tubs) are cleaned of the sag, and at the ends of the staves 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 frame are finally cleaned, and the upper and lower ends are hollowed out.
Installing the bottoms into the frame
To do this, several operations are performed.
1. Cutting a morning groove in the frame. We will cut the morning groove with a morning knife. The width of the teeth of the steel file is 4-5 mm. Therefore, the width of the cut groove should be 4-5 mm. The file protrudes from the half-filled mound block by 4-5 mm. Therefore, the depth of the chimney groove cannot be different. The thickness of the chimney block is the limiter of the distance of cutting the chimney from the top of the frame to the bottom of the plank on which the block 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 the frame rivet from chipping when inserting the bottoms and compressing them with hoops.
2. Assembling bottom panels. They are assembled on wooden or metal (preferably stainless) pins and nails from 4-6 planks. The extreme ones are called shoals, the middle ones are called grouse. Wider planks are used for the jambs. We do not yet know the diameter of the circle by morning. We take a compass (Fig. 4) and spread its legs approximately to the radius of the intended circle along the chime, insert the tip of the compass leg into the chimney, and divide the circle into 6 parts. Thus, we will determine the radius of the circle from the sides for the bottom. We transfer the resulting radius to the bottom shield and draw a circle.
3. Sawing out the bottoms. Bow saw or use a circular hacksaw to cut out the required bottom. In this case, the cut should be along the inside of the line drawn in the circle when the saw teeth are set apart by 2-2.5 mm. This will reduce the diameter of the circle by 0.14 constant values "Pi".
4. Processing of the Donets. Place the bottom of the circle on a workbench, sharpen both sides cleanly, and draw a line 3-4 mm thick on 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 boundaries of chamfering. Using a chisel or plane, remove the chamfers and make sure that the morning groove and chamfered the bottom fit well. We leave the line at the end of the bottom untouched.
5. Installation of bottoms. This is the final operation of making a barrel or tub. We turn the frame of the tub over with the wide part facing up and slightly knock down the lower hoop. We knock down the persistent one at the barrel, and move the umbilical hoop so that the bottom fits into the morning groove. A nylon thread tying the bottom crosswise will help keep the bottom in a horizontal position when installing it in the morning. When the bottom is installed in the chimes, the thread is pulled out and the hoops are put in place. Before installing the second bottom into the frame of the barrel, two tongue-and-groove holes are drilled in it opposite each other and 4-5 cm from the inner side of the frame with a diameter of 20-25 mm, into which tongues are placed so that debris does not get into the barrel. After installing the second bottom, the hoops are finally stuffed and make sure that the bottoms are pressed together with rivets in the chimes, and that the rivets have no gaps between each other. If the rivets were planed correctly and the slope was maintained according to the template, and the bottom was cut out carefully, the product will be of high quality.
Take note.
1. Before assembling the frames for a barrel or tub, the finished stave must be dried to 17-20% humidity.
2. Oak, spruce, pine, aspen barrels and tubs need to be soaked for at least 10 days, changing the water every 2-3 days. At the same time, the jambs and planks are soaked, with which the fermented product is pressed.
3. To reduce the formation of mold on the staves of the tub when stored in the cellar, wipe it with a swab dipped in calcined vegetable oil. The jambs, planks and pressure stone are washed with hot water once a week.
HOW LONG DOES THE BARREL SERVE?
First of all, it depends on the operating conditions. But it is important to remember that painting filling containers oil paint should not be used: it clogs the pores, which contributes to the rotting of the wood. It is advisable to paint the hoops - they will not rust. For decorative purposes, a barrel or flower tub can be treated with mordants.
The brown color of oak is given by slaked lime mixed with a 25% ammonia solution. A black solution of iron sulfate or an infusion of iron filings in vinegar for 5-6 days.
A decoction of the rhizomes of woodruff (Asperula odorata) colors linden and aspen red. The red-brown color comes from a decoction of onion peels, and the brown color comes from a decoction of fertilized fruit. walnut. These dyes are both brighter than chemical ones and more stable.
It is also important to remember that wood is better preserved at constant humidity. Therefore, dry containers should always be kept dry, and bulk products filled with liquid. Both of them cannot be placed directly on the ground. It is better to place a brick or plank under the barrel than to subsequently get rid of rot by cutting the chimes.
But no matter how long a barrel made with your own hands serves, all this time it will be a pleasant reminder to the owner of difficulties overcome in understanding the secrets of the ancient craft of a cooper.
© finished barrels in the photo
A wooden barrel is the best container for storing wine and various pickles, because wood is environmentally friendly pure material, preserving the taste and usefulness of products. This irreplaceable household item can be purchased ready-made, but if you have free time and desire, then using our tips, making a barrel with your own hands will not be difficult.
Craftsmen who make barrels are called coopers, and the process of creating containers is called cooperage. This is a kind of art that originated in Ancient Greece, but, oddly enough, the technology has changed little since then, and wooden containers are still popular, especially among winemakers. Today we invite you to familiarize yourself with the basics and some of the subtleties of this craft.
Wood selection
The first important task is to choose the right suitable look wood for making containers. Let's look at the main varieties used, as well as their pros and cons.
First on our list is oak. It is rightfully considered the most suitable, so to speak, classic material used in cooperage. Its wood is strong, flexible and rich in special tannins that act as an antiseptic. It is noteworthy that under the influence of moisture, oak barrels only become stronger over the years, so their service life is quite long. Another feature of oak is the pleasant aroma with notes of vanilla, which it gives to the substances stored in the barrel.
Oak – best material for barrels
Spruce and pine can also be used to make barrels. These are soft woods that are easy to cut and process, but their strength indicators are average. The main disadvantage of such wood is its characteristic resinous smell, which is why it is not often used to create containers for food.
From coniferous species Cedar is also popular in cooperage, although it is more widely used in those regions where its plantings are extensive. Its characteristics are similar to pine and spruce, but there is practically no foreign odor from cedar barrels. Containers made of this material are suitable for storing food; it is believed that it is especially good to store dairy products in them.
Another material from which a barrel can be made is linden wood. It is a fibrous wood and, due to its structure, lends itself well to cutting, chiseling and processing. The material is durable, practically does not dry out and has no odor, so barrels made from it have won recognition as one of the best for transporting and storing honey, caviar, pickles and other delicacies.
A budget-friendly but durable option is aspen. This tree is durable, resistant to moisture and has antiseptic properties. Aspen barrels are ideal for storing various pickles. A feature of aspen is its tendency to swell greatly, but in cooperage this is rather an advantage, since it allows for very tight closure of the staves.
Manufacturing of rivets
The next thing to do after you have decided on the type of wood is making the barrel parts. You should start with the rivets. They are planks tapering at the edges or rectangular, which can be chipped or sawn. The former are more durable, since the structure of the fibers does not collapse when splitting solid wood.
Parameters of barrels according to their displacement In order not to make a mistake with the number of rivets, you must immediately determine the size of the barrel. After this, you will need to make a life-size pattern of the riveting and bottom. Then you should carry out a simple calculation. Required quantity can be determined using the formula: 2*Pi*R/Ш, in which “Pi” is a constant value; R is the radius of the bottom of the barrel with smooth sides or the middle of the container with convex sides; W – riveting width.
Making a barrel with your own hands from chopped staves is a labor-intensive process and requires certain skills. The main task is to split the workpiece into even fragments and at the same time obtain as little waste as possible.
The splitting can be carried out in the radial and tangential direction. In the first case, the split plane passes through the core of the deck (this method requires less effort), and in the second it does not touch it. When working with hardwood, the second method is not recommended, as it complicates and slows down the process.
Scheme of splitting the deck into rivets Raw material is the easiest to process; it is optimal if the wood for making the barrel is freshly cut. However, not everyone has the opportunity to purchase such wood, and as an alternative, you can look for suitable blanks among the firewood that goes on sale for heating stoves. In urban environments, sawn poplars can be used as a material. These trees often lie in yards for a long time after being cut down, waiting to be taken to a landfill. If there are no other options, you can use boards. When choosing them, pay attention to the fact that the annual rings run along the plane of the board and are not sawn through.
The shape of the staves depending on the type of barrel A sufficient number of rivets are pricked and left to dry. IN summer period You can spread the material under a canopy and leave it to ventilate; this process will take about 3 months. If there is no opportunity or desire to wait, use another method. For artificial drying, paper is glued to the ends of the blanks with wood glue and the rivets are placed in the oven of a well-heated Russian oven for a day. After this procedure, the material will be suitable for further processing.
Making a hoop
Another important component of the barrel, which allows you to assemble all the rivets into a single whole, is the hoops. Depending on the material they are made of, they can be metal or wood. Iron has more strength, but it also has a drawback - a tendency to rust, which over time significantly worsens appearance products. Therefore, metal hoops are used only if increased strength is required.
Usually modern wooden barrel, purchased or made by yourself, has 4 hoops. Those that are closer to the center are called farts, and the outermost ones are called morning ones; if the barrel has a significant volume, additional ones can be located between them - neck ones.
Hoops with turnbuckle The thickness and width of the hoops are directly related to the volume of the container. If its displacement does not exceed 25 liters, then they have a thickness of 1.6 mm and a width of about 3 cm; for a 50-liter, the width increases to 3.6 cm, and for a 100-liter to 4-4.5 cm. If the barrel holds 120 liters or more, then the hoops for it should have a thickness of 1.8 mm and a width of 5 cm.
Even if you use wooden rims for the barrel, you will also need the ability to make them from metal, since during assembly you cannot do without the so-called working metal hoops. To assemble a barrel of these hoops you will need four. In structure and characteristics they are identical to permanent ones, and are manufactured as follows:
- Strips of the required size are cut from sheet steel. As cutting tool You can use bench or chair scissors.
- Holes are made at both ends of each strip with a punch and fastened with rivets.
- To make the hoop easier to put on, one of its edges is forged.
In working hoops, bolts can be used instead of rivets, and if the barrel capacity is small, then steel rims can be replaced with wire ones. The diameter of the wire should be 4-5 mm. For those who don’t want to spend a lot of time making hoops themselves, ready-made designs with a turnbuckle are available for sale.
Assembling the barrel
Considering how to make a barrel with your own hands, we came to the next stage - assembling the frame of the container. It consists of rivets fastened with hoops (temporary at first).
Assembling the barrel begins with a smaller hoop. 3 support rivets are inserted inside it at equal intervals and secured with clamps. Next, more rivets are added between the two supports until the entire space is filled. The hoop is then upset using a hammer and wooden block with a flat end so that all the fragments fit together more tightly. After this, a larger hoop is put on the rivets and also seated.
Frame assembly Before putting the rims on the bottom of the barrel, it is recommended to immerse the material in boiling water for half an hour. To carry out further work you will need 1-2 assistants. After steaming, the barrel is placed on a flat surface, the remaining free end of the rivets is wrapped with a rope, the ends of which are tied to some firmly fixed object.
Next, a crowbar is inserted between the stretched parts of the rope and twisted so that they are intertwined. At this time, your assistants must hold the barrel in place. When it is possible to achieve the desired bend and compaction of the rivets, the remaining hoops are put on them and fixed. The finished structure should be hewn and hardened by treating it with a torch or blowtorch.
Manufacturing and installation of bottoms
Making the bottom It is better to use a solid piece of wood or wide and strong planks as the bottom for the barrel (it is desirable that the number of joints between them be minimal). The selected boards should be planed so that they can be overlapped and then joined with staples. From the resulting workpiece, cut out 2 circles of the required diameter and sharpen their edges until small bevels form.
To fix the bottom, you will first need to loosen the tension of the hoops at the bottom of the barrel, slightly pulling them up. Then the bottom is placed inside and the hoops are pushed into place. If the top of the barrel is not removable, then the procedure is repeated for the second side, not forgetting to first drill the filling hole. After making sure that the bottom is tightly connected to the frame, the working hoops are replaced with permanent ones, and the container is ready.
Soak
Now you know how to make a barrel yourself, but there is still one more thing left important nuance– putting your product into operation. Before use, the barrel needs to be treated, otherwise the products stored in it may acquire an unpleasant aftertaste or even spoil.
First, you need to rinse the container thoroughly to get rid of sawdust, small debris and excess tannins. Rinsing is continued until the foreign odors disappear and the water becomes clear.
Before use, the barrel must be prepared Next, the barrel is steamed to disinfect it and improve the sealing of the staves. To do this, fill the container about a third with boiling water and turn it so that the water “flows” over the entire surface of the walls from the inside. Then the water is left inside until it cools, drained and the process is repeated again.
After steaming, the barrel should be soaked. Typically this procedure takes about a month, and the water in the container needs to be renewed every two days. In the first days of soaking, there may be leaks in the product; this is normal, but the leaking water must be replenished.
Before adding food, the inside of the container must be doused with boiling water. This will protect the wood from absorbing odors and will allow it to be used for different foods without mixing its flavors.
A container treated with boiling water before adding food will last longer. To summarize, we can say that a hand-made barrel is perfect solution for storing homemade pickles, as well as for wines and other alcoholic beverages. By making such a container yourself, you will not only save money, but you can also be completely confident in the quality of the product, and, consequently, in maintaining the proper conditions for storing your products.
The best brands of cognac, wine, liqueur, rum, and whiskey are aged in wooden containers. In the household, barrels and tubs are also rightfully considered best place storage for pickles. In terms of sanitary and hygienic characteristics, they are not much inferior to containers made of of stainless steel, but surpass the latter in a number of quality indicators. Natural material creates a favorable environment for ripening products, giving them original aromatic and taste properties. You can make an oak barrel with your own hands if you carefully read the step by step guide for the manufacture of this desired product.
Professionals high level units, but this does not mean that the work cannot be completed. The requirements for making the required container at home are different. It is enough to make a structure that can withstand moderate loads during operation. The Bondar must have skills and knowledge in the following areas of activity:
- Joinery. Basic operations are performed using techniques and tools used in this matter;
- Basic metalworking skills. They are needed for the manufacture of high-quality, geometrically and technologically correct hoops;
- Basic knowledge of geometry. The shape of the barrel is complex, you need to accurately calculate the dimensions of each part: rivets, bottom, hoop;
- General concepts of heat treatment of wood. In cooperage it is important to choose correct mode hot processing during assembly (if the riveting has a significant bend), and then fire the finished product.
In the classic production of wooden containers, no adhesives or metal fasteners are used, with the exception of outer hoops. All connections are made by precise fitting of parts. Slots and gaps that make the product unsuitable for solving the assigned tasks are not allowed. A well-made barrel or tub, after assembly without soaking, should have the required tightness. In some cases, small leaks are allowed if the wood dries out, which can be easily eliminated by moistening and swelling the natural fiber.
Manufacturing principle and details of cooperage products
The technology for producing wooden containers requires precise, step-by-step execution operations, from the selection of raw materials to decorative finishing outside products. To make an oak barrel with your own hands, you need to know what it consists of:
- Frame. Assembled from prepared wooden blanks - rivets:
- Hoops. Made from metal strip. The exact diameter is determined in each specific case according to the planned dimensions of the barrel body. Wooden hoops are used less frequently. They are less reliable and more difficult to manufacture:
- Bottoms. Depending on the intended purpose, the container is equipped with one or two bottoms. The part is made by a set of wooden blanks assembled into a single plane, then a circle cut out according to a template with the necessary tolerance for a tight fit to the barrel body.
It is important to follow the exact recommendations of professionals at every stage of work. It is impossible to make a cooperage product of satisfactory quality without violating even one point of technology. The step-by-step production process is as follows:
- Choice of wood for staves, bottom;
- Drying, testing for suitability, rejecting low-quality workpieces;
- Manufacturing of rivets, bottoms, hoops;
- Barrel assembly;
- Burning;
- Final sanding decorative finishing front part (if necessary).
The geometric dimensions of the riveting in each case are original, depending on the height of the barrel, the degree of bending of the workpiece, its width, and the bevel angle of the end part for a tight fit with the adjacent element. You should accurately repeat the dimensions indicated in the existing drawings, or, having knowledge of the spatial construction of complex figures, independently determine the required values.
How to choose wood
Cooperage products can be made from different breed tree. However, oak barrels are considered the best. The choice is not accidental, since in addition to strength and durability, the material has unique biochemical characteristics to create optimal conditions storage of drinks and food products. Natural substances in oak wood fiber have an antiseptic effect, add to pickles, alcoholic drinks unique taste and aroma characteristics.
Experienced coopers choose raw materials when the tree is still growing. It is specially cut down and subsequently cut into necessary preparations. The lower part of the trunk is used, on which there should be no branches, visible bumps or bends. Usually it is 4-5 meters from the root, when the plant is at least 100 years old. It is difficult to fulfill these conditions at home if the master is not a native inhabitant of the forest. Therefore, the criterion for choosing wood for staves becomes the visible quality of the fiber. The requirements are:
- No knots:
- Inadmissibility of cross-layering;
- Cracks, natural defects, voids;
- Variety.
