Nigh Ox Newsletter

December 2000

Coopering

On November 3rd and 4th a group of eight students and two Tillers' interns, all first time coopers, gathered in the Tillers' woodshop to learn how to make a small bucket or 'piggen'. The instructors were Chuck Andrews and Dave Trotter. Chuck is a veteran but this was the first time that Dave had helped with a Tillers class. He learned coopering while working at living history sites and is currently employed by Slate Run Farm in Ohio.

Coopering is the art of joining individual pieces of wood together to form a watertight container. The simplest bucket requires a special set of tools. It also requires a different mindset than most of Tillers' other woodworking classes. Experienced coopers do most of their measuring with their eyes. They learn to judge the size and fit of parts without the aid of tapes and squares. It is challenging and can be frustrating for beginners. The angles are complex.
The class learned the traditional method of coopering. They used the froe, wedge and hewing hatchet to rough out their staves then moved to the shaving horse to refine the shape. Using jointer planes they shaved the edges to the proper angle. After fitting was complete they cut the groove for the bottom with a croze and finished the assembly with steel bands.

John Tetmeyer donated the aromatic cedar used by some of the students. The cedar made very attractive buckets; but as the students who worked with it learned, it was definitely more of a challenge than the straight-grained red pine that was the other choice. As always the real product of the class was not the buckets that the new coopers took with them but the basic skills they learned - skills which they can refine and share with others.

After the class Chuck Andrews and Dave Trotter discussed options for future classes. Tillers plans a class in making coopers tools for next year and a barrel making class for 2002. Please call if you are interested.