i'd been told that the best way to plug said orafice is from the inside...
in my case ( hand me down, leaky in general, with spigot hole, gifted
barrel) , it took almost 6 months for the staves to dry & shrink enough for
the hoops to loosen to open the other end to get *in* to the damn thing. A
PITA of monumental proportion! If you have or know someone who has cooperage
skills, then by all means try to plug from the inside; in hindsight, i wish
i'd have just accepted the leakage at the spigot hole as part of the cost
of doing bidness & saved the aggro. I ended up selling the damn thing as
planter material 'cause it weeped from the cracks after that. No good deed
goes unpunished, I guess...
Suggestion: If there's a Vocational School in your area & it has a metal
fab program, check with the instructor(s) and see if they'll make for you a
galvanized drip tray ( length x width x 1 inch tall) to fit under the
barrel. Then buy a quality bung plug & a wooden mallet to finesse the hole
.... hope this helps, regards, bob



> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Whether it is "safe or not" to use the spigot is one question, but the
> first question would be why use a spigot? We have several barrels
> with chrome spigots on them and keep them shut. The only time we use
> them is to rinse them. Since using a siphon is the better option for
> racking, it seems like you should just not risk the spigot and go
> ahead and plug it. If you ask me, plug it with a rubber bung if you
> can. The corks weep and grow mold. I should say that I've never
> plugged it with a rubber bung so I can;t tell you how hard it is, or
> isn't. I'm sure someone else on this board could comment on that.
>
>
>
> On Oct 28, 5:55 pm, Jumbalaya > wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I received a 20L wine barrel as a gift & plan to use it soon. It's
>> just like this one:
>
>
>>
>> http://morewinemaking.com/view_produ...SESSID=e3690d9...
>>
>> It came with a wooden spigot and spigot hole pre-drilled. Has anyone
>> used one of these wooden spigots?
>>
>> Is it safe or could I come home to find a big ol' puddle of wine?
>>
>> Seems like you have to hammer it in but I wouldn't know how hard etc.
>> Am I better off plugging the spigot hole with a cork and just
>> siphoning out of the bung hole? Any advice would be appreciated.
>>
>> Thx,
>>
>> Ange
>
>