pete1325
Senior Member
How difficult is it to dismantle a barrel, clean the staves and put back together?
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Ajmassa
just a guy
There’s a great YouTube video going through the whole process to do this at home actually. He’s actually a member here too. Will try to find it.
Ajmassa
just a guy
Watching this only gave me more questions... I get sanding the staves and then toasting them, but the video didn't show anything done to the heads. Were these just left alone? Reasoning behind this?
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
IIRC nothing is done w/ the heads. But I could be wrong. This looks like a fun project, but seems like a LOT of work.
Just yesterday I was talking to my son about reconditioning a barrel. I personally think it would be fun even though I'm looking forward to having some neutral barrels.
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Well I'm guessing you've got the tools for it.
pete1325
Senior Member
Do you have to toast the staves once you sand them all down?
Ajmassa
just a guy
Technically you don’t ‘have’ to. But I bet 100’s of yrs of trial n error has made it the standard for a good reason. And toasting adds so much more complexity than without.
But That open flame seems pretty easy to screw up doesn’t it? I always figured a plumbers torch could get the job done with some more control. Reconditioning an old barrel is definitely on my bucket list
I’d like to do it too, but not sure I’m willing to risk 60 gallons of wine to determine if I did it correctly.
I've seen your handy work and have no doubt you could do it.
You only see the good ones. I don’t post the failures
Well you're not alone, I don't think anyone does.
