A bit of the history of cooperage

Cooperage has a rich history and long-standing production traditions in many countries of the world. In Russia, like the crafts of other peoples, it was distinguished by its characteristics and national color, it always carried the features of the era, organically linked with the geographical environment. But the national form could not develop purely independently, that is, in isolation from the cultures of neighboring peoples - Belarusian, Ukrainian, etc. - cognitive and applied value.

No one knows where, how and when cooperage first appeared, but it was already known in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. In large barrels, the Greeks and Romans transported and stored vegetable oil, wine, and water. Archaeologists found a large barrel with a diameter of 1 m and a length of 2 m in Hungary, which in ancient times was part of the northern provinces of the Roman Empire. The staves made of pine were 14 cm wide and 2 cm thick.

Woodworking, including cooperage, occupying one of the leading places among other crafts, was a traditional handicraft occupation of Russians. The level of development of the cooperage craft was very high even in Ancient Russia. Cooperage utensils of the 10th-15th centuries, found by archaeologists in ancient Novgorod, were restored according to the found details - staves, hoops and bottoms. Already in those days, the inhabitants of Novgorod used all the main types of cooperage utensils, which were made throughout the subsequent time to the present day. Ancient craftsmen made barrels, tubs, buckets, bowls, jugs, mugs and other cooperage products. Some ancient cooperage products found by archaeologists have come down to us almost unchanged.

Probably, initially a person used hollow trunks for making wooden utensils, then dishes hollowed out of a whole trunk became the predecessor of cooper's utensils. Hollow and dugout dishes began to be used for storing oil, honey, and grain. Since deep cracks began to appear on the hollows from time to time, in order to prevent destruction, they began to be pulled together with bundles, ropes - this is probably how the first hoops appeared. Then, with hoops, wooden and iron, they began to tighten various vessels made of wooden planks. Cooperage workshops began to produce not only barrels and jugs, but also huge vats for blacksmith and leather enterprises. At some foundries, cooper formwork was used for casting cannons.

In workshops, factories and plants, wooden vats were used to store water. To keep the water in them constantly cold, the vats were almost completely buried in the ground. The influence of cooperage technique also affected the manufacture of wheels. So, in the cart wheel, the rim was assembled from jambs. Each jamb was pressed against the other, like rivets, with beveled edges using a metal tire, like a hoop. The hub (the middle part of the wheel) was pulled together by four hoops, as cooper's dishes were pulled together.

In cooperage, the beauty of the cooperage has always been valued. The witty and rational design of products not only provides it with high strength, but also gives it a special appeal. Wooden hoops, the main purpose of which is to tie staves together, in any cooperage product play the role of the simplest relief in the form of a roller protruding above the background. With an increase in the number of hoops, the ornamental belt becomes wider. The beauty of the product is also emphasized by the rhythmic arrangement of the hoops on the side surface of the cooperage utensils.

The perfect forms of barrels and tubs have served as a role model for many centuries of the development of artistic crafts. Turned products in the form of a barrel, kitchen food boxes, stands for spoons, piggy banks, etc. are widely known. The forms of cooperage utensils also attracted craftsmen - glassblowers, potters, blacksmiths. Nowadays, beautiful barrel-shaped vessels with hoops and bottoms and a beautiful handle are made of ceramics. Quite often, craftsmen working with metal turned to this form. In the 16th century, the royal court had at its disposal a lot of silver and gold utensils, among which were silver barrels with gold hoops. The famous Tula samovars until the middle of the 19th century were produced in the form of a barrel.

Back in the first decades of the 20th century, most of the dishes in the household of many peasants were made of wood, which indicates the great importance of cooperage in the life of the population. In some provinces, among other artisans in rural areas, coopers occupied second place, second only to carpenters in number. Cooperage did not lose its significance in the following years, despite the wars, devastation and poverty. Cooperage products: barrels, barrels, tubs, bowls, buckets, kubeltsy, baklags - everything that no peasant family could do without was made in large quantities.

Having a close relationship with agriculture cooperage had a pronounced seasonal character. Rural craftsmen, who possessed versatile skills in the field of woodworking, produced cooperage products mainly in the autumn-winter season, satisfying their own needs and the demands of fellow villagers and residents of neighboring villages. For many rural artisans cooperage was often a bloodline occupation. Making various dishes, the cooper did not limit himself to selling them on the local market, but in the fall he equipped a cart loaded with barrel containers and went to neighboring provinces or regions, from where he returned and brought a cartload of wheat for the sold products. Many coopers, having inherited their father's skill, often carried hand-made cooper's products along the same routes.

In many cases, one of the most important determinants in the development of cooperage was the availability of forests with wood of the appropriate quality. However, this correspondence was not universal. Quite often, areas with a small forest cover, but with a wide development of the cooper's craft, were known.

Some scholars believe that cooperage was known in ancient Greece, but its use was rather limited.

It is assumed that Greek craftsmen made mainly large barrels in which they transported and stored vegetable oil, wine and water. However, more or less specific information about cooperage only refers to the 1st-2nd centuries of our era.

Archaeologists at the site of Staraya Ladoga in the cultural layers dating back to the 8th-10th centuries discovered the remains of cooperage utensils. According to the excavations of ancient Novgorod, one can draw conclusions about the level of development of the cooper's craft in Russia in the 10th-15th centuries.

The dishes of that time were restored according to the found details of cooperage dishes: hoops, rivets and bottoms. After the reconstruction, it became obvious that the Novgorodians used all the main types of cooperage utensils, which became widespread in all subsequent centuries.

The ancient craftsmen perfectly mastered the craft of cooperage, turning the production of jugs and buckets, barrels and tubs, gangs and tubs, mugs, pails and glasses into a real art.

Craft Features

From time immemorial, only men have been coopers. This is due to the fact that the craft requires the use of considerable physical strength.

Cooperage - in its original, true form - is unique in that it does not require anything artificial. Everything can be taken from nature - the cooperage technique implies only wood.

The wooden frame is pulled together with wooden hoops. Without any glue, the hoops securely compress the frame rivets and ensure tightness. Nothing metal is required - no nails, no screws. Any connection can be made on wooden dowels.

Under the product assembled according to the cooperage technique, one can understand any product, the skeleton of which consists of planks-rivets smoothly joined to each other, pulled together by hoops.

Wood

Important in the cooper business was the use of that other wood. The craftsmen took into account the type of wood, humidity, growth conditions, harvesting season and other conditions. Oak was considered one of the most valuable species.

Coopers, mastering the instrument to perfection, subtly understood and felt the plasticity of wood. Knowing the various qualities of certain breeds, they skillfully used them in the manufacture different types wooden utensils.

It is necessary that the wood is well pricked, processed by cutting (planed, sawn), be sufficiently elastic and viscous, and easily bend when steaming.

From deciduous trees, the wood of which is used for cooperage staves, oak, hazel, linden, alder, birch and poplar are widely used, and from conifers - pine, cedar spruce, larch and juniper. In the southern regions, beech and chestnut are also used.

Oak

This is the best material. Oak wood is cut with with great difficulty, but it pricks well. Distinguished by great elasticity, after steaming it becomes very flexible and easily bends, and this is a necessary quality in the manufacture of barrels.

In addition, dense and heavy oak wood dries well, warps and cracks a little. It is filled with special preservative substances - tills, which protect it from damage by putrefactive microbes.

Oak wood is not afraid of exposure to moisture - on the contrary, immersed in water, it becomes even stronger.

Aspen

Staves from its wood were mostly used for dishes intended for various pickles and pickles. It was noticed that cabbage, fermented in an aspen tub, retains its whiteness and elasticity until the hottest days of spring.

The tendency of aspen wood to swell is considered in some cases a negative phenomenon, but not in cooperage. It is thanks to the swelling that the aspen rivets are closed by the edges so tightly that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them.

Linden

Due to its softness and uniformity, linden wood is well cut in all directions, it easily splits both along the layers and in the radial direction.

It hardly warps and cracks very little. One of its most important properties is slight shrinkage or, as experts say, resistance to loss of volume. The lime tub, which has lain empty for almost the whole summer in anticipation of the harvest, practically does not dry out.

Mastery Secrets

Imagine that you have entered a cooper's workshop at the moment when the cooper is jointing the edges of finished staves. It may seem that he violates all the rules adopted in carpentry: when planing, the jointer, fixed upwards with the sole, remains motionless, while the riveting held in the hands of the master moves along it.

But it is this original jointing method that is one of those “secrets” without knowing which one should not undertake the manufacture of even the simplest tub. Or another operation: stuffing a hoop.

It will take a few minutes for an experienced cooper to do this. With the help of special clips, he will deftly attach three rivets to a metal hoop and put the resulting tripod on a workbench. Then, with extraordinary speed, all the other rivets will be inserted into it.

And soon on the workbench, instead of a tripod, there is already a skeleton of a tub. In addition to these, there are many other "secrets" that have been verified for centuries.

Nowadays

Cooperage craft has not lost its relevance. Natural barrels and other items of cooper's utensils and furniture cannot be replaced by any modern technology. In winemaking, the desired results can only be achieved in dishes made from properly selected wood.

To store oil - vegetable and butter, beekeeping products, pickles, pickles, in baths and saunas - barrel products are needed everywhere.

Engaged in cooperage now, mostly private craftsmen, small artels, individual entrepreneurs. Workshops are located throughout Russia, where the necessary materials are available.

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The oldest samples

Such samples of Russian cooperage utensils were discovered during archaeological excavations. Fragments of barrels, tubs, buckets, jugs, tubs, pails, gangs, tubs and other cooperage products were found. All of them are preserved in peasant economy and were widely used until the middle of the 20th century.

Craft in everyday life

Most often, coopers combined their craft with traditional peasant occupations. They worked mainly in winter, starting from Pokrov. Some craftsmen were engaged in cooperage all year round, with the exception of three to four months in the summer during harvesting and haymaking.

Hollow dishes

With her, perhaps, everything began in Russia. It was used to store oil and all kinds of bulk products, such as flour and grain, as well as for collecting honey. Sooner or later, but deep through cracks appeared on the walls of the hives and dishes. And then the first step towards cooperage was taken - the hoop was invented. Dugouts and hollows, in order to prevent cracking, began to be pulled together with all kinds of bundles, rope, wire. Later, wooden and metal hoops appeared, which became classic.

Oak application

Oak staves were used to make tubs for pickling cabbage and pickling cucumbers, tubels for storing bacon and corned beef. Apples soaked in oak tubs remained strong and tasty until spring. Where special strength was required from cooperage, oak was indispensable. A better well bucket than one made of oak, forced to work in the most severe conditions, is hardly to be found. Oak wood also has one more unusual property - it speeds up the leaven of the dough.

Linden application

Cooper's utensils made of linden staves keep food well. It is also important that at the same time it does not give them any unpleasant smell and taste. The best honey is in linden barrels: it keeps its aroma and original freshness for a long time. Linden cooperage containers are considered the best for storing and transporting butter, which does not go bitter for a very long time. And for the transportation of such a delicacy as red and black caviar, linden barrels are simply irreplaceable. Linden wood is an excellent material for portable travel utensils intended for water and all kinds of soft drinks: flasks, baklags, lagoons and the like.

hoops

Of great importance is the wood from which the hoops are made. It so happened that it is mainly the wood of garden trees. such as: lilac, irga, bird cherry, sweet cherry, linden bark, willow, oak, ash, elm, maple and hazel.

barrel grass

Cooperage utensils, be it a tub or a barrel, sometimes require additional refinement. It happens that the master is not sure that the staves are fitted to each other with sufficient accuracy, then the barrel grass helps him out. Basically, these are herbs with a coarse fibrous structure. Such as cattail, reeds and others. Quite often, finished cooperage utensils are said to flow in chimes. This means that there are gaps in the joints between the staves of the core and the bottom. They can be eliminated with the help of specially prepared barrel herbs.

Not only barrels

Coopers produce not only barrels and dishes. There is also cooperage furniture. These are round and oval tables, stools, ottomans and banquettes, bedside tables and other furniture made using cooperage technique. All of them are united by the fact that the tree is not sawn into the necessary parts, then assembled and glued together, as in carpentry. Cooperage are made according to a special cooperage technology, which provides for manual processing of wood and fastening of rivets with hoops without glue. Thus, this furniture can be considered 100% eco-friendly. It doesn't even have nails.

Cooper is engaged in the creation of high-quality barrels and containers made of wood, designed to store various types of drinks, food products, chemical raw materials. He also takes part in the dressing of ship masts. The profession is rare, specialists are in demand in every corner of the world. The profession is suitable for those who are interested in labor and farming (see the choice of profession for interest in school subjects).

Short description

Bondarism is folk craft whose history goes back centuries. Since ancient times, coopers have been manufacturing barrels that were used to store and transport fish, meat, various types of fat, fuel, vegetables and other organic and non-organic products and substances. Today, wood products are being replaced by containers made of metal, plastic, glass and other materials, but barrels still continue to be used in the food and beverage industry. Natural wood does not enter into chemical reactions with liquids, which makes it the best solution for storing various types of cognacs, ciders and other types of natural alcohol, as well as fish and seafood, soft drinks, chemical products.

The cooper is responsible for the creation of the barrels, controlling all stages of production. He is well versed in different types of wood, can pick up quality raw materials, assemble a barrel or repair in case of a leak. The profession belongs to the category of handicrafts, there are few specialists, training is carried out at specialized courses or directly at industries, factories that need the services of coopers. This specialty can be chosen by people who are familiar with woodworking firsthand: carpenters, woodworkers, carpenters and others.

Features of the profession

• dressing barrels and other products for the creation of which wood is used: tubs, tubs, tubs, bowls and others;
• quality control of the materials used;
• calculation of the capacity of products, drawing up design drawings;
• manual and mechanical uncorking, capping of wooden containers filled with finished products;
• checking the quality of each barrel, identifying defects, carrying out repairs on site or in the workshop. If it is impossible to perform repairs, then the specialist draws up an act, writing off the rejected barrel for disposal;
• steaming, drying, roasting, heat treatment and other work necessary to create a high-quality barrel, clean it and sterilize it.

Each cooper is required to have minimal knowledge about the properties and species of different types of wood, adhesive compositions, processing agents that protect the tree from rapid destruction. Therefore, the specialist must receive a basic technical education, closely related to woodworking.

Pros and cons of the profession

pros

1. There are very few specialists who have chosen this area of ​​training, so they never have problems finding employment.
2. Opportunity to work both for the company and for yourself, creating barrels for private customers, as well as decorative items for interior or landscape design.
3. Short training period.
4. The profession is in demand at any time of the year.
5. Due to the rarity of the profession, specialists can dictate their own terms of cooperation.
6. Experienced coopers are provided with orders for many years to come.
7. Continuous professional development.

Minuses

1. Interaction with varnishes, adhesives and wood, during the processing of which fine dust and chips appear, leads to the development of diseases of the respiratory system, allergic reactions.
2. The work is difficult, associated with strong physical exertion.
3. Low salaries in this segment.
4. There may be problems with training, because coopers are practically not trained at courses or at institutes. Therefore, one has to look for a master who can take a student, or other ways of gaining knowledge.
5. Completion of the assigned tasks in a short time, any mistake leads to the deterioration of a huge batch finished products.

Important Personal Qualities

The profession is predominantly male, because fragile girls will not be able to move massive elements of barrels or finished products. Specialists must have the following personal qualities:

• activity,
• diligence,
• good memory,
• ability to work repetitively
• confidence,
• purposefulness.

Do not choose cooperage for people who suffer from allergic reactions, have poor eyesight or hearing.

Cooper training

To begin with, a student who has firmly decided to become a cooper needs to get a profession in the field of woodworking by enrolling in a specialized secondary educational institution. After graduating from college, it is worth working in the profile for several years. Specialist with skill practical work with wood, can gain additional knowledge by adopting the experience of a professional cooper through training courses at the enterprise. The average training time is 3-4 years, large quantity A young cooper acquires knowledge and skills during practical work.

School of Masters Kalpa-Vriksha, Moscow

The course is suitable for people who want to learn or already know how to create wood products with their own hands. During the course they will receive a large number of necessary knowledge about carpentry, the period of attendance is 14 months. On the website of the school you can find training programs for adults and children.

Carpentry school Rubankov

Training is conducted in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the school offers a solid amount curricula: ordinary and classic carpentry, wood carving, production of individual elements of furniture. Classes are held in the evening, the minimum cost is 13 thousand rubles, depending on the complexity and the chosen training program.

Place of work

Coopers work at companies and enterprises specializing in the industrial extraction of fish and seafood, the production of various types of drinks, engaged in chemicals. Coopers are also in demand in the agricultural sector, where barrels and other wooden containers are used for feeding farm animals, harvesting and other tasks. A true professional can open a personal workshop, creating beautiful items with or without carvings for sale.

Wage

Due to the rarity of this profession, accurate level statistics wages no. Minimum bet, which a cooper-capper can count on, starts from 18,000-21,000 rubles. The salary may be higher, depending on the place of work (the popularity of the company, the volume of finished products, sales), qualifications, personal qualities.

Salary as of 04/15/2019

Russia 18300—60000 ₽

Moscow 30000—70000 ₽

Professional knowledge

1. Fundamentals of cooperage.
2. Types of wood used for the production of cooperage products.
3. Techniques for processing materials and finished products, coatings used in production.
4. Automation systems, production tools.
5. Rules for the repair, cleaning, sterilization, uncorking and capping of products.
6. Safety engineering.

For a long time my father was engaged in carpentry: he made various carved chairs, doors, tables, and so on. All this was not the main income - it existed as a third-party, not a big income, a part-time job. But among the pile of senselessly stored things in the barn, he was haunted by two old, almost collapsed barrels, with rusty bondage. For a long time, he himself did not understand that they were haunting him, but somewhere deep the thought matured - questions were ripening about how these magnificent products are made ... Of course, even with Soviet childhood, he found cooperage workshops, where machine tools, but those barrels from the barn are still older and do not look like a machine tool.

Time passed, I grew, and the barrels all stood. And somehow by chance I mentioned them to the priest, and everything seems to be on that. Later I arrived as a lady after a long departure - no barrels!!! And it means that mommy has a tub of flour and is so awkward and oblique (oh, sorry I didn’t take a picture). I went into the workshop of my father, who dismantled the barrels and began to study ... Such amateur performance did not give any special results, as the tub showed.

Then a little later, we went to my paternal grandmother and asked: does she know what? And she told us about one elderly cooper who lives with them in the village of Zorkaltsevo in the Tomsk region and sent us to go to him.

In general, we met with this sweet "grandfather", who, being quite a young man, studied a craft with one cooper, so that he had to earn something in order to feed a family in which he was the only man.
We took him to visit us, showed him the workshop, and made the first barrel together, under the guidance of an old cooper. He told us all the secrets of handicraft and gave us ancient tools, similar to those used in Russia.
We have taken important and necessary moments of the manufacturing process, removed those that are not relevant for handmade in our time. We prepared wood for riveting (the so-called planks that make up a cooper's product), which turned out to be rather difficult to harvest, since this kind of harvesting is quite lengthy and has several stages of long-term drying.

Generally, total amount the cost of procuring the material amounted to 20,000 rubles, the amount includes: 14 tr. - 1 m * 3 Cedar (with primary drying), metal strips for bondage for 2 tr, to them the primer and black paint 2 tr. and the rest of the sum is made up of riveting and travel expenses.

Using this material, we have 12 products. Thus, on average, one cooper's creation costs in the region of 1500 rubles. - up to 3000 r. (if it is not a font) excluding labor and wood aging.

To begin with, we put up a little price tags a little higher than the cost ones. For example, a barrel of 30 liters. cost 4000r. (i.e. + 1000 to the costly price tag).

That is how my father and I started our business. Slowly, we began to gain fame in narrow circles, orders began to arrive, the business turned out to be quite profitable. Increasing the pace, we have prepared a large enough manual labor number of products and decided to arrange their sale. Just in time to prepare international festival"Ax Festival", where various artisans and craftsmen exhibited their chic products at the fair.

We stopped in the very first days and by the 3rd day of sales we had nothing left!!! The costs amounted to 25,000 rubles, and the net profit was 30 thousand rubles. (taking into account the fact that we raised the price tags for the holiday). In addition to this, we gave out a lot of business cards and provided ourselves with orders for a long time. Feeling the return, we were even more drawn into this matter and we created the VK group.
And at the moment our price list looks like this:

From the list of these products, the most popular can be distinguished, they include: Tubs, gangs and steamers. Tubs are great for pickling (cucumbers, cabbage, mushrooms) and storing water - everything in the tub gets an unusual pleasant taste and aroma; gangs and steamers buy various sauna stores. Barrels, of course, are also often taken, but still less often than those previously mentioned, since there will be fewer people who make wines and insist cognacs. And as for the fonts, they are often interested, but they rarely take it, since the price is not small and many are embarrassed by the delivery of such bulky products.

As a result, cooperage brings good income and aesthetic pleasure.
I would like to tell a lot more directly about the process of making cooperage products, and specifically about barrels, because its creation is the most complex and interesting process out of a number of others, but you can read and watch all this in our group.

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Cooper business. Instruments

Cooperage is a very ancient craft, which is the ability to make wooden utensils from staves - long trapezoidal or rounded planks. Coopers made such dishes - artisans, masters in the manufacture of barrels, tubs, bowls, oaks, jugs, valleys, mugs, kvass and others from ...

In some villages, not so long ago, a dance called "Bondar" was traditional. It was performed by two men, one of whom imitated a barrel, the other, the master who collected it. He adjusted the staves one by one, stuffed the hoops, etc. When the "barrel" was ready, both began a merry dance ...

Cooperage is a very ancient craft, which is the ability to make wooden utensils from staves - long trapezoidal or rounded planks. The master cooper approached each traditional element very consciously, with a delicate taste. His products combined functional purpose…

Cooper business. From theory to practice