Stavemill professions

The saw sharpener is the man behind the scenes. He works quietly in support of the sawyers. It is a key role within the merrain mill. There is no good sawyer without a good sharpener — and no good sharpener without a good sawyer. As in all merrain work, it requires a sharp eye and […]

In the production of stave wood, every step is essential to ensuring high-quality wood for cooperage. After the edging process, comes the sorting phase. This crucial step involves selecting the stave wood pieces that meet the strict requirements for producing staves, ensuring the quality and, most importantly, the watertightness of the barrels.   S [...]

Edging is an essential phase in the transformation of oak into stave wood. After quarter-sawn boards are cut into planks, always following the grain of the wood, the edging process shapes the stave wood by removing parts unsuitable for barrel-making. On one side, the edger removes the bark and sapwood; on the other, the heartwood, […]

The next step in the stave mill’s first transformation: sawing. This is where the quarter becomes a plank. At Maison Charlois, as at the Group’s other stave mills, each splitter supplies two sawyers who are responsible for processing the quarters prepared by the splitters.   Bark, sapwood and heartwood are still part of the process. […]

Splitting is the crucial and decisive step in the stavewood production process. Although every stage, from the purchase of the oak, is important, the splitting is not only spectacular, it’s essential.    The staves which make up the body of the barrels are made from stave-grade oak from the finest forests in France. They must […]

In 1928, after eight generations of forestry activity, Eugène Charlois established a splitting workshop in Murlin: Maison Charlois.   After the selection of oak trees in the forest by Charlois buyers, the most crucial step in the crafting of stave-grade oak is the splitting of the wood. This is an ancestral skill, a traditional technique […]

Cubing logs* is the first step in the stave mill process. This is where future barrels are shaped.   Logs are trucked directly from the forest to the Group’s staveyards. In Murlin, in Varzy (Nièvre Merrain), in Saint-Martin-du-Puy (Ateliers du chêne) or at Tonnelleries Merranderies Réunies in Charente… One by one, the logging truck places […]

Through this new series on the professions of cooperage, we will guide you through each step and skill of the trade, covering the roles of scaler, crosscutter, splitter, sawyer, edger, sorter, quality controller, and stacker of staves.   After the Charlois buyers select the oaks in the forest, the most important task in working oak […]