Hey Folks,
Okay, so the three types of cooperage, depends entirely upon whom you ask.
The most common answer, in this country, is "Tight", "Slack", and "White".
• Tight cooperage is the most commonly recognized. It is the trade craft of manufacturing watertight casks for various needs, usually breweries and wineries.
• Slack cooperage is the manufacture of casks for dry goods, such as nails, etc.
•White cooperage is tight cooperage of open topped vessels such as pails, tubs, churns, etc.
But wait, what about the controversial "fourth" cooperage?
Well, some authorities claim that there is a "Tight, Dry" cooperage, which would be for things like flour and gunpowder, etc. However, I guarantee that if you ever ask a tight cooper about it, you'll hear them say that, ...anything that's not tight, is slack.
Which brings up the perspective that white cooperage is a subset of tight cooperage and not a recognized form on its own, thus bringing the number back to three. This is the position taken by the cooper's guild in London, but casks* are made 'round the world, and the French, and Germans have their own distinctions as well.
*BTW "Barrel" most properly denotes a specific volume, not a product of cooperage. The volume of a barrel was usually dependent upon the contents. A barrel of beer was a different volume than a barrel of ale, or a barrel of wine, etc. Oil is pretty much the only commodity currently traded in barrel units, which again, are a unique volume.
Other archaic units associated with cooperage are the keg (usually a half barrel, but different volumes again in different countries), and the firkin, usually a quarter barrel. There's also "Tun", and "Puncheon", and a host of others. They all started as staved wooden vessels.
Partial credit given for white, but no one got the bull's-eye this time.
Tom
_________________ "There is no path to peace, peace is the path." Mohandas K. Ghandi
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