BULLETIN OF THE 
No. 86 
Contribution from the Forest Products Laboratory, Forest Service, 
Henry S. Graves, Forester. 
March 14, 1914. 
(PROFESSIONAL PAPER.) 
TESTS OF WOODEN BARRELS, 
By J. A. Newlin, 
Engineer in Charge of Timber Tests. 
OBJECT OF THE TESTS. 
The object of the tests described in this bulletin, made in coopera- 
tion with the Bureau for the Safe Transportation of Dangerous 
Explosives, was to obtain data upon which specifications and changes 
in the design of wooden barrels used in the transportation of danger- 
ous liquids might be based. The tests do not offer any comparisons 
between barrels made of different material or of different species of 
timber. 
MATERIAL. 
The barrels used in the test were made by the St. Louis Cooperage 
Co., and were received in six groups of 8 barrels each (48 in all) as 
follows : 
Group 
No. 
Barrel No. 
Thickness 
of staves 
and heads. 
Number 
of hoops. 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
lto8 
la to 8a 
9 to 16 
9a to 16a 
17 to 24 
17a to 24a 
Inches. 
% 
u 
6 
8 
6 
8 
6 
8 
\ 
The barrels were made from quarter-sawed white oak. (One stave 
which seemed to be particularly porous was identified as red oak.) 
The material was practically straight grained and free from defects. 
The barrels were of excellent workmanship and were well coated 
with paraffin on the inside. The staves varied in width from 
about 2\ inches to about 7 inches. Thirty-one barrels had 19 staves 
each, 12 had 20 each, and 4 had 21 each. The heads were usually 
Note. — This bulletin describes tests that are of special interest to barrel manufacturers and to manu- 
facturers and shippers of dangerous liquids. 
32797°— 14 
