Advice on how to saw a titled half of a wooden bourbon barrel.

[Ronn W]

 

I had the good fortune to spend 9 months on board a square rigged ship ( the  "Brigantine Romance") in the early 70's.  Chance of a lifetime. She is gone now.

http://www.squaresail.com/romance.html  for more info.

[wtnhighlander]

Well, that explains the rum incident. Pretty sure I'd need a lot of it to spend 9 months at sea.

[collinb]

Though this idea may not be specifically the best solution, it seems that the gravity issue is what needs to be addressed.

Let's think about gravity for a minute.  If staves drop then how about filing the inside with something solid so that they won't drop -- something that can easily be cut yet remains firm. I'm thinking of that self-expanding packaging material that fills the empty spaces.  It gets fairly firm and might make for a solid-enough substrate for cutting.  Plus, begin by wrapping the outside with that stretchy plastic pallet wrap to hold things in position and don't depend on the steel straps. 

my 2c.

[SawDustB]

I'm with the suggestion for adding ribs to the back. This seems like one of those places where a pocket screw jig can earn its keep. If you create a rib for each half at 3 locations along the height of the barrel, and screw them into every stave from the inside before cutting it apart (yes, I realize how fun that sounds, and you'd have to cut the top and bottom out) then it seems like the barrel might keep its shape. I would also go with screwing the bands on from the outside before cutting, so that between the two you might have a chance of it remaining intact.

[Patrick]

On 5/11/2016 at 4:51 PM, Dolmetscher007 said:

This is super good to know. 
Would it be possible to...
Disassemble the whole barrel
Glue it up in it entirety, just NOT gluing the two "halves" to each other
Putting the whole barrel back together slipping the rings back into place.
Then removing the rings, and watching the two halves fall perfectly away from each other .

Would that work, or would I just make a mess, get glue everywhere, and end up hating life?

 

 

The barrel rings (hoops) are manufactured to have the correct angle for it's position along the barrel.  I have new ones, old ones, etc...I'm positively sure of this.  

I've 'split' a number of barrels in half to make coffee tables.  Screw each and every stave to at least 3 hoops before you cut the hoops or your barrel will fall apart.  If it falls apart I don't think you'll get it back together nearly as tight as it was assembled at the cooperage.