Self-boring barrel spigots

Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, Inc., The, Sep 2001 by Roger, Bob

This article is about a little-known and hard-to-- find category of wood boring tools which I call self-boring barrel spigots. Also known as boring faucets, these tools consist basically of a liquid-dispensing valve (spigot) and a wood cutting edge (bit) combined in a single tool, along with a means for rotating the cutting edge (usually a brace or bit stock, wrench, or by hand using handles) through the head of a wooden barrel or, in a couple of designs, through an already-in-- place bung or stopper. In most of the designs, the tool is rotated to cut the hole and insert the spigot into the barrel in a single operation. Once attached, the boring spigot usually stayed in place until the barrel was no longer in use. Although the spigot might then be removed and reused in another full barrel, it appears that by always being immersed in liquid the metal bit might oxidize and become useless. Perhaps that is why so few of these early tools have survived.

This article is limited to boring spigots that are for use with wooden barrels or casks. There are similar inventions for use with "thin-walled" metal containers, but I have not included them because they are not woodworking tools. I did a fairly extensive search of likely United States patents issued before 1925, and the latest patent I found is 1917. There may have been such spigots in use before the start of the United States patent system (1790), especially in England and Europe, but I have not found reference to any Readers with additional information on these tools (or knowing where one might be located) are encouraged to contact the author.

The Fundamental Problem

How do you tap a full barrel that is laying on its side? A common method was to bore a hole in the barrel using any of a variety of bung borers, boring taps, augers, tapered reamers, and the like. Then install the spigot or pump in the hole, either by friction or threaded fit. Sometimes a special permanent collar would be installed to receive the spigot, so that repeated installations would not destroy the wood around the opening. Another approach was to bore the hole almost through, then place the spigot (or bung ) in the hole and drive it the rest of the way through, breaking out the remainder of the hole but reducing the amount of liquid spilled. If a bung or stopper was already installed, there were two common ways to install the spigot -first remove the bung with a bung puller or bung tickler, or drive the bung into the barrel using the spigot as the drive. Most of these approaches resulted in some spillage of the barrel's contents. If the contents were under pressure the spillage could be significant. If it were molasses or syrup, it could be very messy.

Solutions to the Problem

Perhaps the initial attempt at a partial solution to this problem was the Cock Plug Bit. Salaman,1 under "Bit, Cock Plug," illustrates a short center bit with a tapering plug behind it, so that when the bit penetrates the barrel the plug keeps the liquid inside until the bit is removed and a spigot driven into its place (spilling some liquid in the process). Salaman also references "Smith's Key" (published in Sheffield, England, 1816), which illustrates a cock plug bit having a different style of cutter.

Under "Auger, Cooper's Bung Borer," Salaman shows a continental-style tap hole auger (Item F) with a disc at the back of the cutter. He suggests that the disc may be intended to act as a stopper, like the cock plug bit. However, in studying my examples of this type, I noticed that the taper is long and expands all the way to the disc (unlike the cock plug), which would allow significant spillage before the disc ever got to the hole to plug it. Therefore, I do not believe the disc was meant to serve as a plug, but was there only for structural stability.

There was another way, one which reduced or eliminated spillage during the process. That method was to use a self-boring barrel spigot. This article discusses twenty-four inventions for self-boring barrel spigots that I found in the U.S. Patent and Trade Office patent database. My descriptions focus on the wood boring aspects of these tools rather than the valve designs.

Overall, it appears that:

* most of the designs incorporate some style of center or twist bit, two use twist drill bits, and four use a form of plug cutter;

* only two patentees (Ladd and Weed) addressed the problem of bit oxidation (because of being kept in liquid for a long period of time). It was not a problem with Sexton's patent because his boring bit is extracted as soon as the hole is bored;

* only a few patentees addressed the issue of chip displacement;

* less than half of the designs are single self-contained units. The others had extra parts which could get misplaced or required the use of a separate tool (brace, wrench, screwdriver, turning rod) to bore the hole and install the spigot;

* many of the patents require turning by hand, a process I found difficult when using mine to bore a soft pine board.

Here are a few thoughts to ponder while reading about the patents. Barrels are still used today, so why aren't these tools still in use? Was such a tool not really needed-if it wasn't, why were there at least twenty-- four patents? Were all of these designs ineffective? Knowing that at least one of these designs was manufactured, why are they so hard to find in real life and in references? Was oxidation really a big problem, causing them to be discarded after use?