probably too late to correct, but these are usually made so the cove cut is always facing down on each side of the barrel, means you have to have a double cove piece at the very top and a double ball piece at the very bottom. this is so your timber doesn't collect water in the coves that face upwards.
I have never seen that before but that is excellent advice thank you. Might make the final piece easier to fit as well since it would be a double-cove. Would also need a double-bead on the starter piece
Thanks for the video! I'm gonna make one of my own now. Would be nice to hear more about the process like the tools you use for the tongue and grooves etc.
man, lotta work, well done! I'm in phoenix and I'm just thinking about the "sauna" I would be outside working in just to build the SAUNA! That snow looks awesome to work in when its 110 here. Thanks for video
Thank you so much for this video and the guide you linked in the description. I couldn't find many other guides and this has given me the confidence to try a project like this so thanks mate :)
Want to thank you for helping me with my project i made something similar using this video as a guide instead of a barrel sauna i made a barrel truck camper if i ever make a youtube vid ill be sure to include you in my credits
Hi Michael, just starting the sourcing part of my Barrel project. I bought your plans to build from. Just making sure - you quote stock sheets in the package. This is just to give folks an alternate building material than studs right?
Hey. Were you not using a bead (rounding over), a round nose bit, and a nose bit (with the bearing at the top)? Only reason I’m asking is you only listed a rounding over and a nose bit (cove)? I thought I saw you pass the board over top the round nose bit, and then later along the nose bit with the bearing at the top!
Hey there Michael, great video! I’m about to set up all my staves and I’m looking at where to get the straps instead of the cables. Is there a site that has some cheap strapping options? Thanks for your guidance, Alex
I've viewed most DIY sauna videos, and this might be the best. Buying a barrel sauna is EXPENSIVE and feels wrong if an averagely handy person could build one. Thanks for making this video. (How far north are you? I'm in MN, USA)
Curious how you feel about the barrel design considering it isn't insulated. We want to do a barrel for cast and it's a lot easier to build out... but I am concerned it will just loose it's heat quickly in the winter. How has it been for you?
Hey Michael - this is awesome man. Thanks for sharing! Question: You went for a 4' depth (makes sense and considering the same things.. mainly used by 2 people) but what diameter barrel did you make? 6 foot? And then any thoughts on overhang of the 2x6's? I saw some companies make a bench in the front.
Actually, curious if your outside dimensions (depth) is 4' or if that is what you aimed to have inside. I'm guessing if they were 4' boards, that would leave you with an internal depth closer to 3'. If so do you think that is sufficient for 2 people sitting across from each other?
Hey Jarrett, appreciate it. The staves only overhang a couple inches so it is just under 4’ inside which is definitely comfortable for two people. Also makes it easier and cheaper to heat.The diameter is 6’.
I bought 50 2x6x8 which was pretty spot on. You can also use 2x4 for the staves but I wanted to save time on the routing. I think sometimes people use 1-inch thickness for the walls, but I wanted it to be more solid.
Thanks so much for the video and write up! The router bit update is great to know too. Does it leak? I see some designs add a roofing material on top. I prefer the look without the extra roofing.
It does leak but there are sauna caulks out there than can be used to prevent it! Also, a tighter seal from the staves through better routing and addition of jointing would make minimal leakage.
That is so cool and Well done - do you have drawings ? - how much materials did you use ? - and the router bits what are they called I would Love to make one just like it - any help would be much appreciated :)
Hey Michael, thanks so much for not only the video but even more importantly the fantastic doc! Question Re: instructions With respect to the dado router bit, did you use 1 3/8ths because you couldn't find a 1 1/2" blade? or was it because you wanted a tighter fit? I wasn't sure because you mentioned in your instructions that the blade wasn't big enough "My bit was just short of the exact width I needed so I had to do two cuts on each side."
Hey Patrick, it was because I couldn't find a 1 1/2in blade and I figured I could try for a tighter fit. But that kind of back fired. Definitely recommend a diameter that matches your wood thickness.
Nice outcome but man that’s a lot of wasted cedar on those off cuts when you did the circle cut with the jigsaw. Also.... gloves and routers.. well glad it worked out for you.
Yeah luckily I was able to salvage a lot of that wood for the benches! I also made a removable bench that lays across the two benches to stretch out. If you have any suggestions on how I could save that wood better without having to patch pieces together please let me know. Good to know about the gloves.
Michael Sounart making the benches is great. You could cut each piece near the door opening to just over the expected length needed, then after trimming you end up with very short trimmed pieces and in the process preserve the full length boards. But not having built this, it might not work as well as when doing that with building decks for example. As for the router...please no gloves ever. Lathes, table saws, drill presses etc, all the same rule for me, no gloves. At best you loose a nail or a finger tip, at worst it’s the use of your hand. Nice project, I really do like it!
One really interesting fact about working in the snow. The sawdust that falls and is left overnight will actually turn into snow fairies who then go and populate bare fields with acorns. Isn’t that beautiful.
Annoying editing. So much coverage of wood grooving but without showing us exactly what was being done. The video really does not show us how to make this sauna.
