First off, it is very important to explain what a whiskey barrel top is. Almost 50% of my first time customers think barrel tops are solid round piece of wood that has the ring attached to as well. Unfortunately for most of you DIY -ers, this isn’t the case.
A barrel top is made up of a few ( 6-10) smaller pieces that are held together by dowels or routed grooves. The edges are bevelled and sit in the stave’s end notches. Then the ring is on the outside putting pressure on the whole thing. To remove a barrel head you have to take the barrel completely apart.
All barrels are only held together by pressure from the rings and the moisture of the wood. Once the barrel starts to dry out, the rings slip off and everything falls apart. This goes for the barrel tops also. If they don’t have the dowels or the support, they can easily come apart too.
****Please note that the oak boards that make up the barrel head are held together with tongue and groove or dowel construction. Disassembly of the slats and cleaning of the barrel heads is recommended prior to display. Barrel heads may come apart in shipping – this is normal and expected but we will pack them securely to try and prevent this.
Some lids will be painted, some lids will have their original markings on. These are picked at random and come in various conditions. Please remember these are a Raw Material item and will require some work to bring them up to standard.
The dimension can vary from lid to lid however these are 55cm x 55cm and 4cm thick approx.