speaking of slippery slopes

[Dave Lindgren]

I am in the process of getting back into white cooperage. Butter churns, cedar buckets, ale tankards, etc. have most of the tools I need already, with the exceptions of a small travisher, and a croze. both of those i think i can make myself. any advice from the neanders on on aquiring any of these tools reasonably? I dont need a croze for a 24" wine barrel, something more like 8 to 10 inches. any and all suggestions gleefully accepted!

Dave Lindgren
Have shaving horse, will travel

[Robert Rozaieski]

I have a travisher that is a little over half completed that I made (needs some final shaping and heat treating of the iron). It was not hard and I just used some scrap from the offcut pile. I have not seen any quality commercial travishers that I consider to be reasonably priced (for me ;)) so I decided to make one. I have not finished it yet so I can't show the shavings but I'm expecting it to cut fine after a little tuning (famous last words :rolleyes:). I made a wooden spokeshave using the same design principles and it works great so I think the travisher should work as well.

Sorry, can't help you with a croze, I don't even know what that is :confused:.

[Dave Lindgren]

A croze is a kinda router plane that is used to cut the notches for the top and bottom of the barrel. Used cross grained.

[Mark Stutz]

It's also curved, so it fits the curve of the barrell. I don'thave any Cooper's tools, but have started paying attention to them since I found out not too long ago that my great grandfather was a cooper.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hey Mark, Must've been on your mother's side of the family. After all, your name is Stutz, not Cooper.:D

For Dave, Keep an eye on Donelley's LFOD (Live Free or Die) tool auctions. Almost every type of hand tool shows up occasionally. You can google his website and then go through the tool list for each individual auction. A warning though. His photographs are "enhanced" and often look nicer than the actual tool.