First you'll need either a spent whisky cask or wine cask; if you want to make a wine barrel bar you'll have less cleaning to do on the inside, but you won't get the benefits of the amazing whisky smell when you cut into it!
Depending on how you would like the hoops to look, clean them up with a wire brush or use an attachment on an angle grinder to speed things up.
The next steps is to grind off the charcoal from the inside of the barrel; this is a filthy job and a full face mask and respirator is 100% essential. We remove the hoops using Cooper's tools and basically climb into the barrel to ensure all charcoal is removed, the next step is to seal the inside with a couple of coats of Danish oil.
As we often also fit engraved barrel ends as a decorative and unique top we leave one end off the barrel and then sand the outside to the desired lightness, replacing the hoops as we go.
Cutting the door takes a good bit of skill and we would advise you practise a wee bit before committing to your barrel. We like to use a reciprocating saw, although there are other ways of doing this, including using a circular saw or a jigsaw.
You will then need to cut the hoops at the correct place using an angle grinder with a cutting disc.
The interior can be kitted out however you like. We always add a full middle shelf, but also offer a turntable base and 5-bottle rack. The smart lighting system is next and then we add the final finishing touches of the magnetic bottle opener and the personalised tag and unique barrel number. Several coats of Danish oil are applied as well as a coat of special top oil for extra resistance and durability.
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