Film documenting the making of an alpine milk bucket by the last traditionally trained Swiss cooper, Ruedi Kohler, 87 years old at the time (1992). Produced by Drew Langsner and shot and edited by Rick Mastelli.
This is so impressive! I had always wondered how the wooden bands were actually made & installed, since all I have ever seen were still photos.. It is so sad that the schools here in the U.S. fail to teach the children here any "real life crafts" or shop arts anymore. He is a true craftsman. In Japan they revere such master craftsmen as National Treasures.
WOW To think this video was made in 1992 and he was 87 chances are he has passed away, and if this video had not been made this great skill and knowledge could have also passed away. Thank you for your great videos!
something that is "pure" and "real" and "true"... these words have meaning today... thank you for giving this to the world...if not, something so precious would have surely been lost...
If any of you read Fine Woodworking, you may have noticed the back cover of the August 2015 issue which features the coopering work of the gifted craftsman Carl Swensson, who learned the technique from Drew Langsner, who passed it on from Ruedi Kohler.
I'm American by birth but lived in Switzerland as a child (I know there's a milk bucket of this sort somewhere in my parents' house). I now do woodworking as a hobby and absolutely loved this video! Thank you for sharing this.
Wow. Stupendous display of skill here. Somehow I have a lump in my throat, which doesn't usually happen watching woodworking videos, but it is tremendous to watch this man work so surehandedly at his age. Thank you for the video
A video like that makes me feel like the simple bowl turning I've been doing for fifteen years is but child's play compared to work like that...! Wow, thanks for posting Drew, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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I applaud your craftsmanship sir. Minimal electricity. Majority of work is truly handcrafted. I especially noted no fine sawdust particles to pollute your lungs, just a beautiful pile of wood shavings. Bravo. I very much enjoyed watching you. Also liked the horn at the beginning of your video. What a beautiful valley in which you live! Thank you for sharing.
This is an amazing video of incredible value about an almost extinct form of craftsmanship! Some additional info from the Country Workshops site: "[...]Ruedi was the last master of this particular form of coopering. It also happened that the style is among the most evolved, elaborate and challenging form of what is technically known as ‘single bottom’ coopering, the making of various tubs, buckets and other open end staved containers." A written coverage of this work can be found in "Fine Wood Working" #40 I do hope that this knowledge and art have will still be passed on!
I had to watch over and over. It shows how little we know how make something useful for our neighbors today. Thanks for sharing. It’s an inspiration to learn something similar
Show this to a middle school wood shop class on their 1st day. Take note of who's attention is wrapped and who's is wandering. Those who's interest is captured; there's your future craftspeople! ^_^ Everyone else's grade is capped at a B- ^_~
This was copied from VHS, so there were real limitations to the video quality. Perhaps the audio quality was subject to less degradation in the dub - Rick Mastelli gets credit for anything good about the quality.
Well in my experience capturing high-definition video is really easy. All you need a good high definition camera. When it comes to capturing audio it's not that easy there's always an wanted background noises, so in this video you guys did a great job keep this up!
Awesome video. I realize he was elderly and had probably done this process thousands of times at the point this was filmed. I just wish there was a bit of commentary or some explanation as to the names of the tools and techniques he is using. I would imagine to most people watching this are probably savvy in woodworking. I am just starting out, but watching videos such as this makes my jaw drop. To see someone who has absolutely mastered their craft... wow. I may be a millennial, but I want to learn old techniques and niche practices such as this. If anyone has any resources to learn more about this old, seemingly time forgotten trade, I would be very appreciative . Again, thank you for uploading this. I am definitely going to be watching more of your content.
Ritchie, these days there are loads of resources on the Internet. Look for "green woodworking" or "sloyd" groups on Facebook. Maine Coast Craft School picked up where Country Workshops left off in terms of classroom instruction. Carl Swensson has also taught this specific type of white cooperage.
BRAVO MAESTRO! What great video work as well. Thank you for presenting such a treasure of skilled workmanship of a tread that is still to this day being done but at a very low number of skilled journeymen. It is so good to see such skilled work still being done. And what a view from his workshop. Thank you once again for such an memorable time spent watching a master at work. Surely this is great viewing for everyone. I too am a traditional woodworker and an all-around journeyman of the carpenter triad in my four years of apprenticeship I was trained in all phases of construction including cabinetmaking and fine woodworking. My the job working with my German craftsmen was the key factor to my education due to their reputation of quality of work. I especially favor traditional fine woodworking, a trade I fear is getting harder and harder to find in men with these skills these days. They're many fine men and women these days doing woodworking and that I do applaud but to find the truly Skilled tradesmen, well, they are truly a dwindling number indeed.
God bless Ruedi Kohler.Fantastic perseverance patience and observance to details.Out of this World .Reminds me of Jesus Christ who was a carpenter.It is the same amazing grace. See you in Heaven.Take care and God bless you and all your people.
absolutely a masterful work of art of bygone days lost to the ages. you can rest in peace that your skillful knowledge in the work you put in this gorgeous bucket will be cherished by it's owner. offspring of the Koher family be proud.
Quit fetishizing this man because he uses hand tools. Its creepy as fuck and we hate when people do it. Like what we make, sure but fuck off with pretending we are super human. It only is going to make you feel like you can't make a decent bucket... you can, its not hard.
Wow!!! Would feel so fortunate to be gifted with half that much skill. Especially at that age. Such control over those draw knives and all the other hand tools !!! A real shame that our society has lost all appreciation for this kind of skill in favor of overcomplicated technical devices that work wonderfully one day and are unexplainably "dead" the next. Most of them only providing a tiny "convenience" that everyone already knew how to do without them.
Thanks again for all the kind comments and apologies for being slow to answer questions. I'll try to catch-up on a few of the more recent ones. Thanks, Erik
