The Blacksmith Association of Missouri held their winter meeting at A & K Cooperage, Higbee, Mo. Dale Kirby and his crew make beautiful oak wine barrels. They are shipped all over the country. The majority of them end up in California.
Barrels waiting to be shipped.
Securing the top.
Here a barrel is being toasted.
At one point the barrel was wet down, and smoked and steamed some more.
The big machine takes over. Here is an excellant article on the Cooperage
Forging a hammer.
The trade item for this meeting was anything with a heart. There was a great display, from towel holders, coat hooks, a necklace, letter openers, a heart punch, and even a couple of tomahawks with heart piercings.
The first barrel finished had the club logo burned on. For a dollar chance someone would take it home with them.
And look who brought the barrel home!!!
P.S. We were just the transporter :(
2 comments:
It was a fun day! At our meeting that evening our speakers arrived in a helicopter - two air police officers to talk about proper use of laser pointers. Both meetings were good and we were pooped when our heads hit the pillows that night. My DVR dropped the last few minutes of PW cooks, bummer, but I saw most of it. Did you get any wine?
It looks like such a fun day. The only thing that could have made it better was if you had won the barrell.
My DVR dropped the last bit of PW Cooks too. That just isn't fair!
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