Coopered Buckets Hoops

Where could one find hoops for Coopered buckets? I can not seem to find any.

traditionally the hoops for buckets are made by the cooper, they use an interlock formed by the two ends of the wooden hoop.

If you are talking about the metal hoops for barrels, those are also made by the cooper.

Depending on the size of the barrel the hoops could be as thin as 20 gauge or as thick as 3/16, width is also determined by the barrel size.
Metal hoops usually have two rivets each and they are formed (taper) to fit the shape of the staves.

Are they made of a particular metal? Are there sites where it can be bought?

I use 1070 mild steel for mine. I heat it in my forge and then hammer it to fit. I have a standing ring that the cask staves are set into and it has an adjustable clamp to pull the staves tight to each other at the middle, then I can use rope or strap clamps to pull the ends together for hooping.

The problem with anyone making bands for sale would be making them so they would fit tight and so hold the staves of an unknown barrel together.
At the big Cooperages they have turned this into one of the specialty jobs.

Are you just wanting to try coopering or are you trying to make this a hobby? There is a lot to learn to be a cooper and several specialty tools are needed too.

Bryant RedHawk wrote:I use 1070 mild steel for mine. I heat it in my forge and then hammer it to fit. I have a standing ring that the cask staves are set into and it has an adjustable clamp to pull the staves tight to each other at the middle, then I can use rope or strap clamps to pull the ends together for hooping.

The problem with anyone making bands for sale would be making them so they would fit tight and so hold the staves of an unknown barrel together.
At the big Cooperages they have turned this into one of the specialty jobs.

Are you just wanting to try coopering or are you trying to make this a hobby? There is a lot to learn to be a cooper and several specialty tools are needed too.

Looking to make it a hobby. I had bought "How to make a coopered wooden bucket" that got me started.

I have the tools and have my staves held with bands at the moment, I just need a way to keep them together. It does not need to be metal but, I would like it to look nice as I plan to sell them.

Wood bands look nice, are pretty easy to make too.

coopering is a good book to have

Bryant RedHawk wrote:Wood bands look nice, are pretty easy to make too.

coopering is a good book to have

Is there a particular site/book that shows how to make woods bands? I have read that there are usually made from white oak.

yes they are usually made from white oak. the best book is "Country Woodcraft" by Drew Langsner, 1978 Rodale Press.

Judith Browning put up an article that showed her husband Steve making a bucket with wood bands. Here making wooden buckets

I am also wanting to learn coopering and am wondering what kids or size of rivets to use?

Metal hoops are steel or stainless steel, the rivets are same metal as the band and they are hot riveted.

Where can a person buy holding hoops for making wooden buckets that you use while making the bucket before replacing them with
The permanent hoops that you make

In the shipping industry metal banding straps are used to secure loads.  At destination these are cut off and discarded as trash.  They are also somewhat of an occupational hazard as they are a tripping hazard and lead to cuts, as they tend to flop about when being moved.  Bottom line, people want to be rid of them as quickly as possible.  Go to lumber yards, appliance centers, etc. and talk to receiving folks.  A plate of cookies or other gift helps.  Ask them to put aside any metal strapping and you will pick it up promptly.

These straps range from 1/2 an inch wide up to an inch.  They will take a weld readily, and are plenty strong for temporarily or permanently holding cooperage.  They are usually 20 to 22 gauge flat metal but have plenty of tensile strength to hold and secure heavy material.  Compressing a bucket or barrel will be fine as long as a good weld or connection is made.  The one downside might be the thickness.  One might have to use a drift on the edge to tap them in place, as there is not a lot of edge to catch with a hammer; but a hardwood dowel will do the trick.

Brian Sayers wrote:Where can a person buy holding hoops for making wooden buckets that you use while making the bucket before replacing them with
The permanent hoops that you make

 Brian-- The heraldic "arms" of the European cooper's guilds usually included the three main tools of the trade: the short-handled broadax to hew staves, the croze to cut the groove for the head, and the set-up hoops.  That is, a graduated set of hoops in all sizes, stout enough to pound on for years, is a main tool.  When I worked in the cooper shop at the Ozark Folk Center, there was already a partial set there, made by the blacksmiths of mild steel bar stock, about 1/2 inch wide by 1/8 or 3/16 thick, arc welded solid and ground smooth.  These were then rounded and splayed (tapered) by hammering down on a mandrel (a heavy steel cone) to stretch the lower edge.  The thickness gave good purchase for the wooden hoop drivers we used.  (My teacher was from Appalachia, and his were of laurel-- I made mine of persimmon, with a few of dogwood.)  But the splay was never sufficient on many of them, and I had to hammer them out and re-round them.
    The set was pretty much every half inch diameter between 6 and 16, with some gaps and a few quarter inches.  (I found it useful to stamp the number on them.)  But for smaller and larger stuff (from tankards to washtubs) I ended up making my own out of old barrel hoops.  This cut well with large tin snips, splayed well if not already splayed appropriately, and punched well with my dad's (a sheet metal worker) punch.  I ballpeen rivetted (cold) with copper often, iron not infrequently, and cut-off nails in emergencies (but nail heads are too thick).  A wire brush wheel does wonders for old steel.  These thinner steel set-up hoops needed a steel hoop driver, though.  A cold chisel ground to a square flat end works well, or any scrap piece of steel that has or can be given an appropriate grip and square end.
    And a set of giant rubber bands, cut from old inner tubes and simply square knotted, completes the set.  Kilby shows brewery coopers pounding wooden "truss hoops" (of ash) to draw the the hot staves together, but they must be steam bent laminations mysteriously fastened.  I've had little luck with wooden set-up hoops, not for lack of trying.
    The picture shows three of my old (now rusty) set-up hoops cut from barrel hoops.  The two smaller ones are rivetted with copper, and the larger one with iron.  The largest, rusty hoop I actually found in our back yard.  This is an old cooperage town, and I suspect kids used to roll hoops around, even though the splay makes them roll in a circle.  It closely approximates the bar stock hoops we had at the Center, except it's 7/8 wide.  The oval white oak hoop with a plain single-lap join, is still on the block I made to shape it.  It's a remnant from an oval cedar wastebasket I did.  But they weren't stout enough to pound on repeatedly for set-up.
    This doesn't really answer your question, except to say, make them yourself, or commission a local blacksmith.