Wooden Bucket

[Jerry Thompson]

I am going to make a wooden bucket. It will be tapered. I have a rotating scale to figure out the tapered bevel cut. If I put wooden or metal rings around the bucket an inset them slightly into a dado will the dados match up if I cut them first? That is from the wood stock before I cut the tapered bevels.
Please don't throw any math formuals at me as I am a very mathamatically challenged person.
Thank you

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jerry,

IIRC....the videos I've seen of people making barrels and buckets...the metal rings were just beaten on....no insets or dados. If the wood shrinks...you can tighten up the joints by just further wedging them.

[Rick Gifford]

Interesting.

Being an angled bucket is probably the concern if the dados will match. This one is a straight bucket, but he used dados:

http://www.fastol.com/~vicsue/bucket.htm

Since each stave will be angle the same on your bucket, I would guess the dados will stay lined up ok. If there does happen to be any mis-alignment on the bottom lip of the dado, it could be easy fixed with a file.

Please post pics when you get it done.

[Rick Thom]

I am planning to try my hand at some buckets too, but of a slightly different design than yours. I've ordered this book http://www.beaverbuckets.com/Catalog_BucketBook.htm to help me out, but it's yet to arrive, so i am just marking time. A part of the challenge will be to see if I need coopers tools or if I have something on hand that will do a satisfactory job. I had a cooper make this bucket for me @ 30 years ago and it features a nicely made iron handle. The bands are of a light weight steel strapping and are not inset.