HMS Bounty Launch by mattsayers148 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1:16 - SMALL

[GLakie]

Nice job on the spigot Matt. You might have to start slipping those little critters a "Mickey" in the evening. Maybe your local Vet can help with squirrel sedatives.  

 

Cheers 

[mattsayers148]

Thanks George, I'm not sure I can take much more of their abuse, I'm beginning to feel dirty.

 

Matt

[CaptainSteve]

... I was happy with doing the barrels today, but his seductive charm got me. Anyhow, it's a spigot.

 

Well, go ahead. 

Turn it on.

 

Let's see it working !!!

 

(Seriously. Nice job, Matt.)

Edited February 8, 2015 by CaptainSteve

[Salty Sea Dog]

Nice spigot Matt! You've started the fall down the tiny detail rabbit hole. Quick, get yourself a lighted Optivisor!

[mattsayers148]

Thanks to everyone for the likes.

 

Hey CaptainSteve and Buck,

 

Thanks guys, you've both paved the path, I'm just blindly following it. The most challenging part was drilling the holes for the three separate pieces. It was a #73 on the main spigot shaft and a#75 for the little handle. I just don't know if I could bring myself to make another without some better vision. You guys are breaking down my walls. I'm going to have to succumb and stop fighting this issue for the sake of humanity.

 

This quandary goes out to everyone. It was my understanding that the barrels were made water tight and a bung hole was drilled to fill with fluid of your choice. The bung hole could be drilled at the bilge or the head and sealed, then drill out a hole for the spigot when ready to consume.

 

So where should one drill for the bung? Also are all spigot holes pluged then spigot placed into barrel when in use? Would they just have a spigot or two to be used when needed? I've seen photos with a small water barrel strapped on the gunwale for ease of use, is this accurate? Should every barrel have bung and where?

 

Matt

[CaptainSteve]

...

This quandary goes out to everyone. It was my understanding that the barrels were made water tight and a bung hole was drilled to fill with fluid of your choice. The bung hole could be drilled at the bilge or the head and sealed, then drill out a hole for the spigot when ready to consume.

 

So where should one drill for the bung? Also are all spigot holes pluged then spigot placed into barrel when in use? Would they just have a spigot or two to be used when needed? I've seen photos with a small water barrel strapped on the gunwale for ease of use, is this accurate? Should every barrel have bung and where?

 

Matt

 

Interesting questions, indeed ...

 

OK. Let's start with this advice from the FAQs page of the Thousand Oaks Barrel Co, of Virginia.

Q: When I turn my spigot, nothing is coming out:

A:  Physics 101…remove the bung when dispensing to release pressure and allow for airflow.

 

Thus, each water, wine or spirit barrel must have two openings in it:- one for the bung and one for the spigot. I would imagine that spigots would be harder to make, and thus, more expensive than bungs. Therefore, I'd suggest that whilst each barrel containing liquid would have a bung, there might only be two or three spigots on board - passed around and used as each barrel is tapped.

 

I would imagine that a barrel, once filled with contents through a single hole, would then have that hole stopped-up with a bung. Then, when the time comes to "tap" the barrel, a hole would be made by screwing in the spigot (similar to a self-tapping screw). 

 

As for where the bung-hole would be located, I'd imagine on the top. This would make filling easier, and well, just seems logical. 

 

The spigot, to tap the barrel, would be inserted as far as practicable from the bung, allowing for as much downward pressure as possible. So, most likely, on the curved face of the barrel, perhaps quite low, maybe about 1/5 the way up from the bottom, allowing the pressure of the contents to push down, forcing liquid out through the opened tap. As the level inside lowered, it may become necessary to tilt the larger barrels to allow the contents to come out.

 

For barrels containing dried/solid food-stuffs (flour, rice, pickled meats), the top would be pried off like the lid on a modern tin-can.

Edited February 8, 2015 by CaptainSteve

[Salty Sea Dog]

I'm not an authority, but when I was researching wooden spigots and barrels, every bung hole was located on the barrel's side at the widest point.

As far as spigots go, it seemed like there were only about 3 sizes of wooden ones commonly used (these are metal in the picture because I couldn't find a series shown with wood ones). The smaller the barrel, the larger the spigot looks in relation. Also it looks like the bungs get replaced with a long plug when tapped. It's a guess, but I would think this plug would be loosened for pouring and seated when done. Kind of like taking your finger off the end of a straw to vent it.

Yeah the hole for the tiny handle tenon was a trick for me too! The drill used was the smallest in the set!

 

EDIT: Steve was replying before I finished. Wooden spigots were not threaded. They are tapered and use friction to seat them.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Salty Sea Dog

[CaptainSteve]

Hmmmm ....

I can't argue against pictures showing rows upon rows of used barrels with bung-holes at the widest point ... but how would a person go about filling a barrel through a hole located there ??

[Salty Sea Dog]

I would imagine that the barrels would be on their sides in a cradle when filled. Due to the curved barrel shape, air would be forced to the highest point and escape from the bung hole. You would be able to get the barrel completely filled if it was allowed to overflow and a bung plug would almost pressurize the contents as it was hammered in. Not saying this is the definitive answer, but it sounds good!

[mattsayers148]

Well on the point of filling, I read in several places about the use of a "funnel" just can't think what it's called. Ah, just found the modern version called, of all things, a funnel. Buck, now that you mentioned it, I remembered discussing the positioning. Even in some modern day camping water containers, there's a stopper that is opened when the container is turned down to dispense. If you try to pour with the valve not opened, the water trickles or just drips. Toilets, gas tanks and such all have to use a vent or some form of high pressure to break the suction caused by water tension.

 

The reason for the bung on top or side came from my search of "what are barraceos?" It's a freshwater barrel: dimensions: 7in at the head, 8 1/2in at the bilge and 21in tall(capacity 5gal) that's the size diameters of the little kit supplied barrels but a bit more than double the length.

 

With that, now I have to make 4 of these as CaptainSteve noted in his spreadsheet, they had four empty barracoes. It was in reference to those where it mentioned the bung and spigot both in the head. It would make sence with the larger barrels would be at the bilge, and possibly had to be placed on a block like Buck's barrel.

Edited February 8, 2015 by mattsayers148

[mattsayers148]

This may answer some questions, and the need to make some more tools.

 

Also the spigot I made is for the larger barrels(3/4in scaled down to 3/64). If I were to make the smaller size: spigot hole would be reduced by 1/64in and bung hole reduced by 1/128 making bung hole a generous 7/128th of an inch.

Edited February 8, 2015 by mattsayers148

[Canute]

Fellas, I can validate some of the conjecture. As a lad, my maternal grandfather (Italian immigrant) had two wood wine barrels out in his "shanty", a garage extension. He made some strong red wine, in the 50s and earlier. The barrel bungs were cork, one on the side and one on the end. I do remember the side bung having some material around it, making it easier to pop out to pour the wine through the spigot/tap on the end. Every year the family pitched in to harvest the grapes and fill one barrel with new wine. My dad and uncles took the squeezings and poured it thru a funnel into the barrel, skins, pits and twigs included. The family drank the wine in the other for a good portion of the year. The wine got strained thru cheesecloth when it was poured into a serving jug.The wine was a dinner time staple. Even us kids got a little, well diluted with soda. I believe the barrels held 25 gallons or so.

[mattsayers148]

Hey Ken,

 

Great family history. Do you know how long they used the same barrel? On one site I read they last 5-10 yrs. After that time they would reopen and do the fire inside as with a new one. That's for extensive use I'm just curious with family use I'd think it would last much longer.

[Canute]

Matt, it was definitely longer than 5 years. I think they made wine until about 1960. For all I know, those barrels are still there. Haven't been in the shanty since the early 80s and at least one was still laying there. Harvest time was a lot of fun and Mom, Gramma and all my aunties cooked up a storm.

[Salty Sea Dog]

Matt - Very cool new avatar!!

[mattsayers148]

Is that not the coolest adze you've ever seen or what?! I'm definitely gonna make one of those for my tool chest. I know it's not period, but hey, isn't that what a bash is? I thought about one of these but it said the pics too big.

 

Here's a bigger pic of the adze, it looks like a fist.

[mattsayers148]

I finally found the answer to the "4 barracoes" listed in CaptainSteve's spreadsheet. These were most often referred to as water cask, water keg and/or water breaker. These kegs were often refered to during rescue accounts such as on lifeboats or military ambulance wagons during the Civil War. Although labeled "water", these were also filled with other liquid "necessities" such as rum. I had found these images and couldn't find them again til I got the wording correct in my search. I put the bands on the barracoe before I found these images so they're a bit off.

[CaptainSteve]

Nice pics, Matt ... except that now I wanna re-do my Carpenter's chest with metal bands.

[mattsayers148]

Hey, that's a good idea! I still have the carpenters clothes chest to build, I just need to wrap up any loose ends first.

 

Here's some more if you really want to get crazy!

[GLakie]

Oh yeah! Metal bands-----Carrying handles-----Attention all squirrels!-----Get ready for your A-Game! 

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

Dammit, I quit!!!!!!!!!  

[mattsayers148]

Thank to everyone for the likes. Now George, I said when I finished my tiller that I was done with the whipping. So I will do my best to keep my word and make these barracoes functional.

 

And Pops, you are the keystone in this arch of madness. It was your awesome anchor crane that led me down this rabbit hole. Although, I've learned that there are many rabbit holes in this rabbit hole.

[mattsayers148]

4 barracoes

[dgbot]

So Matt what are you going to fill them with.  Rum, Brandy, or a good lager?

David B

[mattsayers148]

Well David, I bet the guys on that boat wished they were all filled with rum.

[monkeyman]

Ha! I've just finished the similar barrel. It's a bit different but still all the same :-)

Nice looking stuff you got there, byt the way. Pretty neat!

[CaptainSteve]

Matt. I gotta agree with Monkeyman.

 

I reckon I'll have to be re-doin' me own barrels.

Arr ...

Edited February 13, 2015 by CaptainSteve

[mattsayers148]

Hey Monkeyman, where/how did you find info on barracoes? I spent hours trying to find out what they're called now and photos.

 

Hey CaptainSteve, it seems like every time I complete an item,two more are added. I've already decided to include only no perishable items. You smashed that out of the ballpark with your hairy nuts. As far as the tools are concerned, my thinking on them are finally in focus. It seems that there would be little to do at sea in the area of finish carpentry. If the extra lumber on board were not enough for major repairs, these ships had to find land and go get the lumber from what they could find.

 

My mind goes to the Amish and their barn building. Felling their own trees and shaping them on the spot to fit. They use tools that are very aggressive to remove and shape timbers fairly quick and accurate. Old school methods where less is more.

 

Another item for thought is how pooping was handled. Did they hang over the edge of the boat on a makeshift seat/platform and dispose of digested items. Did they get naked and jump in the ocean where they could wash their bum as well?

[Canute]

Matt, have you done a broad axe? I think it was used to shape planks. The handle won't be too long, and the cutting edge was square. Saw one on an old "This Old House", when they did a timber frame house.

[CaptainSteve]

 seems like every time I complete an item,two more are added.

 

I felt exactly the same when making the breadfruits and coconuts. In fact, I would still like to do me own compass, like yours and Buck's.

 

Another item for thought is how pooping was handled. Did they hang over the edge of the boat on a makeshift seat/platform and dispose of digested items. Did they get naked and jump in the ocean where they could wash their bum as well?

 

Err, Matt ... I think the squirrels' bed-time has passed.

Edited February 13, 2015 by CaptainSteve