# Old Whiskey/Wine Barrel - What to do?!?



## BGerrits (Jan 24, 2010)

I found this old whiskey or wine barrel in our old shed next to our farm. It has been sitting up there for years. Wondering if anyone has any good ideas on what to do with it? And if anyone has any helpful techniques, please sshare  Its in a little bit of rough shape, but I think it will make a good project.

Brad


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## Raftermonkey (Jun 5, 2010)

Sorry, I don't have any ideas or techniques to share with you, but if I'm not mistaken there is a LJ on here that specializes in using whiskey barrels for his projects. I'm not sure of his name, but I'm sure if you used the search function and typed in whiskey barrel or wine barrel, he and some of his projects would come up.

winecountrywhimsey may be his name.


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## Mx329 (Feb 19, 2008)

We cut them in half and use them as planter boxes.


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## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

Yeah, winecountrywhimsy does incredible stuff with wine barrels. I've made votive candle holders and some other small stuff, but you can make adiriondack chairs, pot racks, hat racks, cutting boards, etc. out of wine barrels. There's a guy who cuts a door and makes a table out of it. You can put a round top on it and it's an instant table/bar. I'm also in the process of making a wine rack out of barrel staves. Three to four staves on each side, and stave shelves so that the bottles roll toward each other in the center to stabilize them. We go to a winery in Napa (Provenance) that has an entire floor of wine staves.

Barrels are actually pretty expensive, so you might want to think about it before you make your final decision. When making my first wine rack, I randomly picked staves, not ones next to each other on the barrel, and that made it much more difficult.


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## reggiek (Jun 12, 2009)

I've seen them sculpted into chairs (cut down the wall on one side…leaving a half oval…put a chair bottom in the barrell right where the top of the cut off is)....cabinets with shelves/drawers, an indoor water fall (made a little water wheel…and tipping bamboo cups….very creative), planter boxes, tool stands….there are tons of projects that would make good use of the barrell. One of my favorites was the cabinet. A friend of mine did this to a wine barrell. He cut out two doors from the sides. Put in two circles to maintain the shape and give it some stability…then put in some small shelves and some drawers….Its like a small desk…he used nice brass fittings. and the cut out pieces for doors….he carved in a beautiful grape vines intertwining (that would be the hardest for me).....he put a nice stain with poly and rubbed finish.


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