VIDEO: From billet to barrel

It all starts with an axe and a billet of wood. Watch how Alexandrovici Iosif from Plesa village, Romania, makes it look easy as he makes ‘pickle jar’ from birch using a variety of hand tools and simple jigs.

In another place, Ruedi Kohler, 87 years at the time the video was shot, shows another master artisan’s approach to the craft and art of coopering. This time we see the making of an Alpine milk bucket.