Wine Barrel Cutting Jig?

[John Poole]

A friend of mine had what looked likes an upside-down wagon with four wheels standing up in the air set to a box on the ground. You place a wine barrel in between the four wheels and then you can rotate it while cutting with a skill saw. There were some wobbles in it and I think it could be improved.

Has anyone designed or know of a wine barrel cutting jig?


(We have a lot a lost wine barrels wandering around Napa looking to be cut in half for planters.)

[ray hampton]

I would mount the wheels so that they could be move in [closer together ]for smaller barrels, IF YOU can clamp two barrels on a table with a space between them for a third barrel, you could spin the third barrel as you cut it

[John Poole]

Actually, I was thinking of having the wheels on a stem that could adjust so the face of the wheel is tangent to the surface of the barrel is comes in contact with -- more traction and hopefully less wiggle.

I'm not seeing how the third barrel spins. Wine Barrels are curved with the largest diameter in the middle, they are not like 55 gallon drum barrels that have a uniform diameter from head to toe. If you place two wine barrels together on the floor, stabilizing them, the 3rd barrel would teeter because of the curves.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Make a couple of end chucks out of plywood or whatever that can grip the barrel rim, or screw to it. A pipe goes through the center of the chucks. Then you need some end blocks to hold it over some kind of circular saw.

I used to make middle eastern style hand drums on a lathe and I made various chucks to hold a hollow form from the inside so I could work the whole outer surface. Same idea, but of course I used a lathe and it would take a large lathe indeed to do it on a wine barrel.

[ray hampton]

Actually, I was thinking of having the wheels on a stem that could adjust so the face of the wheel is tangent to the surface of the barrel is comes in contact with -- more traction and hopefully less wiggle.

I'm not seeing how the third barrel spins. Wine Barrels are curved with the largest diameter in the middle, they are not like 55 gallon drum barrels that have a uniform diameter from head to toe. If you place two wine barrels together on the floor, stabilizing them, the 3rd barrel would teeter because of the curves.

EXCUSE me, I was thinking that wine barrels would be similar to the whiskey barrels, a couple of wood beams raised off of the floor would support the wine barrel so that you can cut it

[johnny means]

The spinning barrel idea seems like the wrong approach to me. I would build something like a small table with a large hole in the middle. Drop the barrel in the hole, then cut the barrel with your saw riding on the table top.

[John Poole]

One issue to address is that final few inches of the completion of the cut... what happens to the previously stable barrel? It collapses and its two halves roll about when its structure is so severed. 30 lbs each of cup shaped barrel halves rolling about is not much fun.

[johnny means]

That's why I would have the barrel standing still, upright. Simply sick a wedge in at the beginning of the cut to avoid pinching.

[johnny means]

Pictures are always helpful. My back is hurting so I'll have to illustrate with some smaller objects.

287801

[Loren Woirhaye]

I'd cut it not to full depth, then finish with a pull saw or a sawzall.

Many methods will work of course. It depends on how fast you want to make the cut and how clean you want the rim off the saw.

Assuming the barrels are the same size, a curved shoe for a circular saw could be made.

[John Poole]

It looks like the picture is upside down? I've edited it to clarify:287803
So the Cheez-It is the face of the table pointing upwards, the can is sitting on the grey ground.

How would place the skill saw so it'd glad is on the same plane as the knife's? Hmmm... should the barrel then rotate within the table hole, or the table tight against the barrel and the saw move?

[johnny means]

I would use a flush cut saw or a jamb saw. You could mount a jig or circular saw on to an L-shaped jig that would ride on the table's surface.

I would move saw and not the barrel.

[Pat Barry]

I don't get why it needs to be this complicated. Why not just mark it and cut it with a circular saw? Why the need for a fancy jig? I can see the jig if you are going to cut a whole lot of these (> 50 for instance). In which case I would make a jig bolted to the base plate of my circular saw that references the top (or bottom) of the barrel. Sort of an inverted fence.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Why not make a table saw sled with the wheels. Cut around barrel, except for lowering blade, or pulling sled back so blade doesn't cut in three equilly spaced areas. These areas only need to be a couple inches long. Turn barrel up and use jig saw to cut remaining three areas.

[ray hampton]

how many bands are on a wine barrels ? and what will the stave do when you finish the cut ?

[Cary Falk]

I thought the staves were loose so to speak. Cut the barrel and the barrel will collapse, No? I have read posts where people screwed the staves to the metal rings.

[John Poole]

Yes, the staves will come loose, but they will retain their shape if treated carefully and you minimize the force on the edge just cut. When you fill the half barrel with soil, the pressure of the soil keeps the staves in place.

[Jerry Miner]

I like johnny means idea of keeping the barrel upright. If you can jig up the saw to be horizontal and halfway up the barrel, the barrel could stand on a dolly on a flat floor and spin around. A wedge or three would keep the kerf open and avoid pinching the blade.

John--- I'm in Yountville and would love to see this when you get it together. I've always just cut around the barrel "cowboy style" with a Skilsaw, but then I've only done a few at a time, too.

[John Poole]

Hi Jerry (neighbor),

Yeah, the idea of taking a 60 lb item and maneuvaring it around a 2 pound item is the tail wagging the dog. I don't want to have to buy another specialty tool, especially since cutting through white oak that is 1 to 1 1/2? thick -- that takes some horsepower. I cut just as you described, but always seem to end up with a slightly irregular edge. The perfectionism in me wants to cleanly cut.

John

[Jak Kelly]

I was thinking that a table-saw jig might work; a 3 - sided box with a floor, kind of like a sled, the two sides would have a hemisphere cutouts in them to match the barrels, you could get a nylon edge protector like they use in industrial electrical work to cap-off the hemisphere cuts (the nylon edge protector is smooth and slippery and would allow the barrel to rotate smoothly), use your table saw fence to but one end of the barrel to, position the jig and barrel in the saw until you achieve your cutting depth, then simply rotate the barrel.
This would also be taking into consideration that all barrels are symmetrically close to the same size, like a 1/4" or less.

Might be a dumb idea, or maybe not what you are looking for, but just a thought.

[John Poole]

This would also be taking into consideration that all barrels are symmetrically close to the same size, like a 1/4" or less.


Wine barrels come in a variety of sizes and shapes, the only standardization seems to be a range of capacity, e.g. 55-60 gallons. Such a device would need to be adaptable to a variety of curves.

[Jak Kelly]

Wine barrels come in a variety of sizes and shapes, the only standardization seems to be a range of capacity, e.g. 55-60 gallons. Such a device would need to be adaptable to a variety of curves.

Hmmmmmm.................Maybe you make the side panels with adjustable sides, I'm thinking slots and wing nuts, so you can adjust the hemisphere part of the jig up and down????

[Floyd Mah]

Ha, ha. An opportunity to think outside the box, or barrel, as the case may be. Why would you want to move an extremely heavy barrel when you can move the lighter, controllable saw (as asked by John above)? Why use a circular saw and risk kickback when a jigsaw or Sawzall will do the job nicely? If the final cut is slightly irregular, dress it with a belt-sander afterwards (or maybe you can conjure up some elaborate drum sander or router jig). All you need to do is follow a line with your cutting tool and you are done.