Here's some pictures of a coopered cask I just finished with some build pictures. It's the general size and shape of a butter churn (although almost all churns I've seen have straight staves) but since I am not planning to actually churn any butter we'll probably use it as an umbrella stand or something like that.
The first few staves:
churn staves.jpg
My makeshift shave horse (I've seen ones like this described as a "shave pony") and my regular jointer flipped upside down in the vice. The shave horse actually worked surprisingly well. The jointer worked ok, but a bigger one on the floor would be really nice. My next project is to learn how to make planes so I can build a real cooper's jointer...
shave horse and jointer.jpg
After dressing the staves and raising it up, but before bending
before bending.jpg
To bend I decided to boil / steam it rather than the more traditional method of putting it over a small fire. Since I had never done this before I thought that would maximize my chances of success and minimize the risk of destroying it.
steaming.jpg
After about 30 minutes in the pot, I pulled it out and started driving the hoops down. I wore safety glasses because I was really afraid the staves were going to break violently...
driving first hoop.jpg
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