# Trimming Down Wine Staves



## inovention (Jul 16, 2014)

I came into a number of wine and whiskey barrels recently and am having a delightful time making simple things like wine racks, spice racks, end tables, etc. with them. As I have been working more I realize the need to have perfectly straight pieces as part of my designs (working on a couple options for a folding chair at the moment) and am stumped with how to cut the staves from their larger middle section down to straight pieces only curved along their length. Any ideas for a sled or jig for my table saw that would do the job? Currently I am just marking them off and cutting them with my band saw, but it is not entirely consistent and certainly time consuming.

Thanks!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you have enough thickness you could flatten the wood with a jointer.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

inovention said:


> I came into a number of wine and whiskey barrels recently and am having a delightful time making simple things like wine racks, spice racks, end tables, etc. with them. As I have been working more I realize the need to have perfectly straight pieces as part of my designs (working on a couple options for a folding chair at the moment) and am stumped with how to cut the staves from their larger middle section down to straight pieces only curved along their length. Any ideas for a sled or jig for my table saw that would do the job? Currently I am just marking them off and cutting them with my band saw, but it is not entirely consistent and certainly time consuming.
> 
> Thanks!


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Just so I'm understanding your need, you have staves that are wide at the middle, and narrow at the ends. They are the same thickness end to end, and look something like this.

To make them the same width from end to end, make a jig that runs against the fence that lets one edge hang out. When you make a pass on the table saw, you have one straight edge. Then, remove the jig, and use that straight edge to cut the opposite edge to make the edges parallel.





















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## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

CabinetMan nailed it.
Do what he suggested.
Bill


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## tinat610 (9 mo ago)

I know this is an old topic, but I thought I'd show how I am currently cutting my staves in case anyone else is looking to do it themselves. There doesn't seem to be much info out there about it, so hopefully this helps someone.

I made a jig out of a 1x6. I taped down a plastic ruler at each end to make sure both ends of the staves line up. So if the smallest end of the stave is 2" then clamp the larger end at 2" as well. I would recommend toggle clamps that flip up vs. flipping down to avoid hitting the fence. I had to cut my clamps down, but it seems to be working great. Once I get a straight edge on one side, I just run them against the fence with no jig (charred side up) to get the other edge straight. Remember that the staves also taper in, so cut at least a blade width from the smallest end to make sure that it's straight.










Everything seems to be straight so far! I do plan to put tar paper on the plywood that will be behind the staves to hide any gapping that may (or may not) happen. I also ordered bungs on etsy to fill the holes.










I am facing the front of a large bar which is 40' long, so I'll be here ripping staves for a while. I'm running them vertically and will be using 3 metal bands (typically used to strap pallets) to wrap around the staves to emulate an actual whiskey barrel.










BTW.. I got my stave for ONLY $1 each (any size) on FB Marketpace. Totally worth the 1 hour drive. I bought 500 of them and if I have enough left, I plan on covering the top part of the wall that is framed in the background using them horizontally as pictured in the the photo below. The bottom will be a rusty coordinated steel wainscotting. 










I really hope this helps someone. I held back on my project because I wasn't quite sure where to start and information is very limited. Now that I have a procedure down, it's moving along really quickly.


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## Half Fast Eddie (Jan 12, 2022)

I like the “textured” upper wall. Did you lightly sand the exposed face? How are they fastened to the wall.


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