Coopering

[Blackswanwood]

I went up to Scawton Sawmill this morning and spotted that they have let out one of their sheds to a cooper.

The master cooper was very happy to let me take a look at their work but unfortunately they weren’t firing any new barrels today.






Hopefully coopering won’t be replaced by AI!

 

[Mike G]

Superb! I thought that most coopering operations had moved abroad, so it's nice to see this.

 

[NickM]

Yes, that's great. I should be making those as my Mum's maiden name (and my middle name) is Cooper.

 

[Cabinetman]

That’s great to see. Lots of good Oak there, which brewery or distillery was it for Robert?

 

[Blackswanwood]

That’s great to see. Lots of good Oak there, which brewery or distillery was it for Robert?

They are independent Ian. The master cooper is ex Sam Smiths and then worked for another firm before branching out on his own.

I guess that the growing number of micro-breweries and distilleries has created more of a market for independent coopers.

 

[AJB Temple]

There is a very strong market from english wine producers right now in this size and far larger. Lots of demand for second hand as well by the top end producers such as Sugrue.

 

[toolsntat]

Very good to see this Robert and well done on having a chat and getting some pictures.
There is another cooper doing the rounds regularly at the moment who is really championing the coopering craft called Euan Findlay.
There are numerous post with information on coopering and the tools used.
I did not even know about the knockerupper until he showed one in use

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Cheers, Andy

 

[AndyT]

For a contrasting slant on the subject... This was suggested by YouTube - a French manufacturer of wine barrels which look just like the ones in Scawton but have only the barest possible minimum of handwork skill in their manufacturing.
All the staves are shaped by machine.

Does this help kill off the trade or does it help by prolonging the use of oak barrels by winemakers?
These barrels will at least need repairing in years to come.

 

[wallace]

Nice little wadkin 6"RA planer in the background, with templates on the wall. I wonder if that is how the bevel is put on.

 

[AJB Temple]

One of our premium wine suppliers, Dermot and Ana at Sugrue South Downs, buy a lot of oak barrels. Some of them are huge, oval and exquisite. There is a thriving second hand and barrel refurbishment market too.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

For a contrasting slant on the subject... This was suggested by YouTube - a French manufacturer of wine barrels which look just like the ones in Scawton but have only the barest possible minimum of handwork skill in their manufacturing.
All the staves are shaped by machine.

Does this help kill off the trade or does it help by prolonging the use of oak barrels by winemakers?
These barrels will at least need repairing in years to come.

It's all a continuum really, once barrel staves were made with axe, drawknife and hand planes. The step from there to what we see in Scawton looks a lot larger to me than the difference between that and the YT video. Both use sawn wood, power planing etc. I would expect a barrel made by axe and drawknife and a lot of skill to be the better barrel as it respects the wood grain, but who does that anymore.

 

[Guineafowl21]

I bought an SCM T110 spindle moulder from a cooper. Here are the knives he was using - 100mm tall and two different, opposing curvatures:


I also buy tonne bags of old whisky barrel lids for firewood, which have a very nice smell when cutting and burning. These are joined together with some sort of complementary profile and dowels: