cutting door in wine barrel

[Reggie Lamothe]

I have a wine barrel that is currently being used as a decorative table and I would like to cut and fashion a door out of the middle of it to serve as a cabinet. My (limited) understanding of coopering is that the steel bands are heated before being applied to the barrel so they shrink and pull the staves in tight. My concern is if I go to cut that band (which runs through the equator of the barrel) I won't be able to get it fitted back to shape again. If I plan to add more rivets around the cuts and add bracing around the barrel to compensate for whatever structural weakness I cause with cutting i think it would work out?

in short, will cutting a rectangular shaped hole in the side of a barrel cause too much instability that I won't be able to keep it barrel shaped?

[Lee Schierer]

If you remove the band, the wood under it will be a different color. If you really want to retain the barrel look leave the band in place. Before cutting the band or the barrel mark your cut ou with painter's tape. Drill holes in the band above and below your planned opening and secure the blind with rivets driven into tight fitting holes. The band is under considerable tension so the cut ends are going to try to move when you cut it.

The staves of any barrel are wider on the outside face than the are on the inside face. Cutting out the center section of a stave should not cause the barrel to collapse. Even cutting several adjacent staves should not be a problem as long as all the hoops are tight.

Here is a link where they cut a barrel. https://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-a-Wine-Barrel-into-a-Cabinet/

[Steve Peterson]

Reggie,

This is my guess as to what might happen. I have never cut open a wine barrel, so use your own judgement.

The staves in a barrel that have gone through the aging process should have mostly formed a new shape. There may still be a small amount of tension in the end bands.

Assume that you are planning to cut a hole that is 12" square. This might cut through around 4-5 staves. I would drill small holes in the center band to place screws in at least 2-3 staves on both sides of the cut before cutting the band. Add a crescent shaped support inside the door to hold the staves that have been cut. It should extend several inches on both sides, so it should be 16" wide. Each cut stave should get a wood screw to hold it onto the support piece.

[Tom Bender]

Safest to leave the hoop and cut in doors or drawers above and below it.

[Patrick Curry]

I’ve cut quite a few bourbon barrels in half (vertically) to make coffee tables. There’s always quite a bit of tension on at least a few barrel hoops when I cut them with an angle grinder ...BAM!
What works for me is securing each hoop with metal screws beforehand. Find some metal screws with heads that you can live with, as finished. The staves will start to pull apart over time if the hoops aren’t tight