So I bought one of those half whiskey barrels to use as a slack tub in my blacksmith shop.  Yes, a 5 gallon bucket will work, but I mostly bought it for the nostalgia of having one.  I bought it last spring and stored it in my basement over the winter.  Come spring my half barrel had dried out so that you could see right through most of the barrel slats.  I read about stashing them in a creek or a pool, but I had neither of those options.  I did have a kiddie pool, but that only would have filled up the barrel about half way.  Here's what I did and it worked so I thought I'd share it:

You have to get that end slot (the bottom) swelled first.  I put mine outside when the weather predicted 2 days of soaking rain.  After that, it would hold a little water in the bottom so I brought it into the shop and just started putting 2 buckets of water in it twice a day.  I have a drain in the shop floor so the water ran right down into the drain.  I thought it was major progress when I managed to get 3 inches to stay in there over night.  I wet some towels and put them on the rim of the half barrel and started splashing water on the inside surface every time I added water.  This really helped, and I was gaining an inch every day.  I found at about 5 inches that draping the towels over the outside helped as well to swell those areas.  After about a week of this I'm up to about 10 inches that the half barrel will hold without leaking.  I have about 2 more inches to go and then I'll keep her full so it doesn't dry out again!

I was smart and have the half barrel sitting up on blocks so I don't get premature rot.  My best advice if you are thinking of buying one of these is to look over the selection at the home center and pick the one that you cannot wiggle the slats or see through them, then take it home and fill it with water immediately.  My guess is it will hold water really well when "fresh".

 

Be sure the bands are tight.

Take dry barrel with bands in correct location outside. Stick in a large leaf/garden stuff trash bag, place all the way to the bottom of the bag and use spring clamps to fasten the bag around the top of the barrel. Fill with water. Check every day refilling as necessary.

I use ice cream maker wooden buckets for demos, easier to haul/fill/empty, I start a couple of days early and let them share the shower with me and wrap a wet towel around them when I get out.

I stuck mine under the downspout one rainy spring, that did the trick. Unfortunately, I neglected to empty it over winter. It froze solid, and split out the bottom- 1" thick white oak.

Steve

I have been seeing half barrels split length wise and am wondering if those would be better for a slack tub than the usual half barrels cut longitudinally.  They are sold as planters and have an included base so that they don't roll over. They also have additional clamps to compensate for the barrel hoops being cut.   I'm thinking that the extra length might be handy.  Any thoughts?

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand"

Guess it would depend on what you are doing.  I generally find a 5 gallon bucket is more than sufficient for my work as I like working high C and so I DON'T want to water quench it. I only need to cool tools off amd if I'm using high alloy tools not even that!  Being used to working that way I tend to just normalize stuff in general. So a 5 gallon bucket and a hand forged dipper. works fine.

I only drag out my half barrel if requested for demos. 5gl bucket is a good thing to have close by but out of reach from the forge. It's good to keep tools cool and in which to dunk a shrink trapped and baking your hand leather glove. Cools your hand and the leather softens right up so you can get it off and do any doctoring that may be needed. 

Frosty The Lucky.

2 hours ago, George N. M. said:

I have been seeing half barrels split length wise and am wondering if those would be better for a slack tub than the usual half barrels cut longitudinally.  They are sold as planters and have an included base so that they don't roll over. They also have additional clamps to compensate for the barrel hoops being cut.   I'm thinking that the extra length might be handy.  Any thoughts?

I bet they'd work just fine, but I think they'd take up more room being longer

5 gallon buckets work just fine, and really, you don't need all the water my half barrel holds but it does look much cooler than an orange 5 gallon bucket.  I noticed the home centers that sell the half barrels also sell plastic inserts for them so if you want the look without messing with the barrel being swelled you could go that route.  The only problem will be when the oak slats dry out and it becomes really obvious you have a flappy half barrel.  For me, I like the connection to the old and that's what the barrel is really.

2 hours ago, George N. M. said:

I have been seeing half barrels split length wise

Are you talking about wooden barrels George? If so how are they holding them together? 

Frosty The Lucky.

Perhaps the "They also have additional clamps to compensate for the barrel hoops being cut."

Dear Frosty,

It appears that there is a U shaped piece of sheet metal that goes over the end of each barrel hoop that has rivet going through the U shaped piece, the end of the metal barrel hoop and the wood of the barrel stave along the edge of the vertical cut.  I hope that makes sense.  I haven't noticed if the ends are secured to the staves in any manner.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

That makes sense. The hoops around the ends could be shortened and nailed to the ends. The staves are notched to lock the ends in place so the hoop would lock everything in place nicely. It was that darned center hoop that had me scratching my head. 

Thank you George

Frosty The Lucky.

The barrels made at the cooperage I visited in Bardstown KY didn't have anything connecting the hoops to the barrels. They drove them down tight with a dull chisel like a caulking chisel and hammer. They started at one spot and worked their way around the hoops until tight. 

Pnut (Mike) 

You can watch it done If you Google brown forman cooperage.

Edited May 4, 20197 yr by pnut

Pnut; now cut the barrel in half lengthwise and  how well do the bisected hoops hold it together?

Happy thoughts , glitter, and fairy dreams will hold it together quite nicely;-). 

Just kidding

13 hours ago, George N. M. said:

 

It appears that there is a U shaped piece of sheet metal that goes over the end of each barrel hoop that has rivet going through the U shaped piece, the end of the metal barrel hoop and the wood of the barrel stave along the edge of the vertical cut.  I hope that makes sense.  I haven't noticed if the ends are secured to the staves in any manner  

Don't Know how I missed it. I'm gonna blame it on the early hour I was posting. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

Pnut (Mike)

Edited May 4, 20197 yr by pnut