bARREL STAVE DEVELOPMENT

 barrel staves

 For a long time I have been disappointed at the lack of imagination shown by certain makers when using barrel staves. The number of people making arches for night lights to my mind is a waste of lovely raw material.

I have made both table and floor lamps, large and small platters and on a smaller scale whisky flight/sharing boards ( a bit like the night light holders but blame my son for wanting to taste whisky on Burns night.)and wax melts.

During the recovery from my surgery I started thinking about furniture. Why not try making stool/table legs and stretcher rails from staves then add either an oak or upholstered top to give contrast and finish the piece.

First attempt was a bar stool. Having limited storage room it sat by the shoe rack and was a good perch when taking off my work boots. Next came a small coffee table and I am now working on a bench seat again with a heavy oak top.  

 

 

 

 

 Barrel stave low table with oak topBarrel stave bar stool with oak top

Furniture

I am familiar with working with barrel staves, but making furniture with them is a challenge. There is not a straight edge anywhere so I had to resort to school geometry to set out the shapes I was going to make.

Having chosen the staves I was going to use, I marked a centre line along the length of each stave, then constructed lines at right angles using pencil and compass. I then measured the required angles from these perpendiculars to get the shape of the components.

For the table, joints were made using dowel pegs and counterbored screws, the screw heads being covered with oak plugs which I left in the natural oak colour to contrast with the dark of the weathered surface of the staves. The top was from a 20mm board of figured oak again fixed using counter bored and plugged screws. The original had a rectangular top, but the second design has the corners softened to give the outline shape of a barrel.

The bar stool started with the top. Three pieces of 50mm thick oak jointed together and shaped in to an octagonal form. Staves used for legs were recessed in to the top, then a set of crossed stretcher rails added low down to act as a footrest. 

First impressions from customers seem very positive, but I may have to organise some form of storage if the range expands.