Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | Jun 18, 2002 03:31am | #1

   Roy Underhill can undoubtedly help (The Woodwright's Shop).  He's written several books.  I'd be surprised if one of them didn't include how to cooper.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

2. 
   Alan | Jun 18, 2002 05:25am | #2

   Ken,

   Sorry.  I have all of Underhill's books (being the luddite and heretic that I am).  He mentions cooperage here and there, but he doesn't do a "how to" anywhere.  Probably because he is not a cooper.

   Alan

1. 
   forestgirl | Jun 18, 2002 06:25am | #3

   Oh No!  Tell me it isn't true!  Oh well, another hero taken down a notch :-)

   I have one of those cooper's planes (semi-round base, v-shaped iron) just for decoration -- don't have the vaguest idea how to use it, but it's cool.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   Alan | Jun 18, 2002 01:49pm | #4

   Forest Girl,

   It sounds like your mystery plane is a croze (pronounced like the black birds).  A croze is both the tool and the thing it makes.  What it makes is the grooves that run around the inside of the ends of the barrel that hold the heads.

   Don't worry too much about Roy;  his status, at least to me, is unchanged.  He's done a heck of a bunch of things to fire my interest in old armstrong tools and old methods.  (I suspect he has influenced a lot of people besides me.  Duh.) 

   Roy put it pretty well in one of his books (heavy paraphrasing coming up).  Old tools and methods are technology.  They should be preserved for a lot of reasons, but perhaps most of all because once lost, they are gone forever--there's just no way back.  It's interesting that we often take giant steps backwards and revive the old way of doing things--and then wonder why we discarded some bit of technology that we find useful.  (There are quite a number of tools in collections, museums, antique stores, etc., that no one today has any idea what they were called or how and for what they were used.  That is a shame.)  Besides that, the old tools and methods are getting scarce--and scarce things go up in value.  But beyond all that, in the world of woodworking the old ways of work are often valued in and for themselves; people recognize and find value in having the touch of a human hand in the things which surround them in their everyday life.

   Sorry.  I didn't mean to preach....Weeell, maybe I did mean to preach--a little.

   Alan

1. 
   forestgirl | Jun 18, 2002 11:26pm | #5

   I love watching Roy Underhill's programs, and think that he is a very special fellow!  I'm not apt to do much in the way of handtool woodworking due to some limitations on how hard I can work my hands, but I still really enjoy watching him work.

   Thanks for the clarification on the croze.  I'd forgotten the correct word.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   AJinNZ | Jun 19, 2002 05:46am | #6

   Er, umm, I like those books too. I like hand tools more than I like machines. :) 

   Wood Hoon

3. 
   bobhallsr | Jun 20, 2002 06:39am | #7

   Ken, this prolly won't help 'cause I don't know where you are, but I had a nice long and informative conversation with the cooper at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Conn. a while back. Don't know if they are accesable on the net.

   BJ

   Gardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
1. 
   kmeyer | Jun 21, 2002 06:34pm | #8

   Thanks, Bee Jay,  I'll see if I can find them on the net.  Ken Meyer

1. 
   Merryhiker | Jun 21, 2002 09:33pm | #9

   Another place to try is Old Sturbridge Village. I just checked their website and I couldn't find anything, but they also have an active cooper and a phone call might provide some information.

4. 
   sschefer | Jun 21, 2002 09:54pm | #10

   Heres something that may help you in your quest.

   http://www.artisanbarrels.com/

   I think this is the same company that was featured in the "This Old House" Napa Valley restoration. Their phone number is (707) 527-8923.

   Steve - in Northern California

5. 
   JimGG | Jun 21, 2002 10:43pm | #11

   The Cooper & His Trade, by Kenneth Kilby, Linden Pub., 1971, has general info, but is not a detailed, how-to/plans book.

6. 
   JimGG | Jun 22, 2002 12:15am | #12

   I recall Drew Langsner writing about it. Try Landsner's Green Woodworking: A Hands-On Approach. If you go to it at Amazon.com & click on the index, you'll see it mentions cooperage. Langsner studied under a Swiss cooper and dedicated one of his books to him. I don't know if the book will be what you want, since it's a long time since I've read it. Ask you library to get it for you.

7. 
   JimGG | Jun 22, 2002 03:05pm | #13

   http://www.countryworkshops.com go to class descriptions, then swiss cooperage.

8. 
   JohnKrist | Jun 22, 2002 05:50pm | #14

   If you are anywhere near a colonial settlement recreation-Mystic Seaport, CT or Strawberry Bank, NH-these places have working cooperages. Or, if you are near a vinyard that bottles its own wine they could start you down the right path toward a connection.

   JK

1. 
   DonStephan | Jun 23, 2002 04:02am | #15

   Seem to remember reading about making wooden barrels in one of the Foxfire compilations, but can't swear to it. If it was there, the article would include detailed instructions and pictures.

9. 
   2jacks | Jun 23, 2002 05:18am | #16

   Ken i am new to this info line, but I have played with a bit of coopering, with info gathered through various issues of fine woodworking. Hope this will help. 

                                                                        Jack

10. 
    osagecanusee | Jun 23, 2002 07:45am | #17

    I'm not sure, but Drew Langsner has a couple of books out, and I know he apprenticed with a Swiss cooper, so check out if he talks about coopering in his books.