Wooden Barrel: Bulged Oak Staves Bent by Fire, with Two Heads

A barrel is the cooper's closed vessel: oak staves held by hoops, bulging at the middle, with flat heads set in grooves at both ends. Coopers heat the staves to bend them. Shape staves wider at the middle than the ends, raise them in a hoop, heat them over a small fire and draw the open end together, drive the hoops, and fit the heads. The picture: a new oak barrel in a cooper's workshop, with iron hoops on the floor.