1960.34.1

Save to My account Previous record Next record

Details

ID Number

1960.34.1

Category

T&E For Materials

Sub-category

woodworking T&E

Item Type

cooper's

Item Name

bench

Materials

WOOD, UNKNOWN METAL, STEEL

Measurements

overall: 32 in x 25 in x 72 1/2 in

Description

(.01) Bench - 4 main legs - semi-circular cut in bench for cooper - rope pulley system - elevated platform at right of bench top - hinged wood at bottom right - X-cross beamed ends (.02) Hinged wood - used to tighten rope - operated by left hand

History

"Luke Saunders was the last cooper to use this equipment (up to the fall of 1938). It was used to make barrels in which Point Pelee apples were shipped to Britain. The freighter on which they had been shipped was sunk by the Germans at the beginning of World War II. Saunders was an independent cooper, who worked annually at Point Pelee. The hoop and stave materials were supplied in advance, in bundles sufficient for saunders to assemble three barrels per bundle. The staves were assembled loosely inside a small pattern hoop at one end, and a larger hoop was driven down about one third of the height of the barrel. The barrel was inverted, and the open ends of the staves were gathered inside the loop of the rope in the bench. Pressure on the pedal brought them together and another small pattern loop was driven down over that end. The barrel was removed from the rope, and the second large pattern hoop was set from the end, (the hammer end of the cooper's adze was used in setting all pattern hoops). Barrel hoops which had previously been thoroughly soaked were substituted for the pattern hoops, using the adze and a wooden driver. The topper or sun plane was used in evening up the lengths of the staves. The barrel was slipped over the stove, whose heat drove out the moisture and gave the staves a permanent set.

Collection Name

Museum Windsor

Subject (Fre)

Y

Subjects

Brewing industry / Industrie de la brasserie subject

Manufacturing subject

Pelee Island (Ont.) / Île Pelée, (Ont.) place

Saunders, Luke person