has anyone turned a big barrel into a little barrel?

[_Merlin_]

I recently acquired 70 full sized whiskey barrels, and as I do not have enough product to fill even 1 part way I was wondering if anyone has tried re-manufacturing a barrel down to say 1-5 gallons?

[Saltbush Bill]

The cooper i buy my barrels from does it all of the time.....he makes 25L and 50L barrels from full sized barrels that he dismantles.
Wont be easy to do without coopering skills.

[OtisT]

I’ll bet the staves could be remilled into staves for a badmo barrel head. I make those in 1 to 3 gallon size and they age product at a pace like a large barrel. See the link to badmo barrels in my signature below.

Otis

[Swedish Pride]

think it was MCH or SCR who did a write up of his attempts.
long story short, it's really hard even with good tools and solid carpentry skills.
staves in a big barrel are thicker and wider and have less curv on them than would be ideal for a small barrel.

I myself was looking at trying it and saw that thread ( cant find it now though) and said fuck it, I'm not going through that heartache

[Swedish Pride]

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38931&start=30#p7306164 found it

[Yummyrum]

The cooper i buy my barrels from does it all of the time.....he makes 25L and 50L barrels from full sized barrels that he dismantles.
Wont be easy to do without coopering skills.

And these guys with a lifetime of skill sell them for around $400 Aud . Sure , they covering costs , but that would be one hell of a lot of skill and effort .