Inside the Barrel
From Stave to Barrel
Oak staves were traditionally shaped entirely by hand, each piece carefully cut and formed individually and painstakingly put together to produce a true piece of functional art.
As time passed, special hand tools were invented to aide in the process, but it wasn’t until the industrial revolution that coopers turned to power tools and mechanization.
Today most of the staves are prepared by machines that allow companies to create hundreds of barrels per day, instead of only a couple of them per week.
The process of putting together the barrels is known in the industry as “barrel raising.” It begins with the selection of the bung stave (a wide stave), followed by alternating staves of narrow, medium and wide widths, until there are enough staves to complete the circumference of the barrel. A large iron hoop keeps the staves in place as the barrel is moved to the stave bending area.
Bending can be done either using fire (most common method) or water. The purpose of the bending process is to soften the wood staves so they can be molded into the shape of the barrel. Once the staves have been bent into shape, the barrel is toasted (this will be discussedin greater detail in Lesson 8) and aligned either manually or by machine prior to the cutting of the grooves (known as crozes) at each end of the barrel to help keep the heads in place.
The heads, which make up about 25% of the inner surface of the barrel, are also toasted (or charred) prior to being added to the rest of the body of the barrel.
Once the barrels have cooled down completely, they receive their permanent hoops (until now the staves have been kept together using temporary steel hoops) and are inspected visually and physically for leaks.