About Us
The Inventor
Hi, my name is Anthony Harton and I am the inventor of Jingles Wine Barrel Brackets. Retired after 40 years in sales I'm hating retirement and going nuts.
In the Sring of 2010, along with my good friend Bob Dierker, I joined the barrel club at Pearmund Cellars in Northern Virginia. The owner of the winery, Chris Pearmund, sold 60 gallon barrels to offset the cost of new barrels. When I bought my barrel, a personalized plaque with my name was affixed to the barrel and available for view in their aging room. We would receive the barrel and plaque once the barrels were retired.
Behind Every Good Man . . .
The barrels were filled with Pearmund Cellars wine. These barrels were aged for 5 years depending on the wine. After the wine was bottled the barrels retired, the barrels were given to their owners. In addition the barrel owner received five cases of wine, one each year while the barrel was in use, a good deal for everybody.
About a month after receiving my barrel, my wife asked me what was I going to do with it?
"Cool, now what?"
I happened to be straightening out some things down at my stables and my attention came upon an old horse drawn buckboard wagon that was left there by the previous owners.
The buckboard was in poor shape and the wheels were falling apart. One of the front wheels had most of the spokes and hub missing or loose, so I helped it along and dismantled the rest of the wagon wheel.
Now I had a 38" diameter steel tire, as it is called. I took the steel tire and fastened two bungee cords in a cross shape and centered the tire on top of the barrel. “Cool, now what?” With the help of my fried Dave Wright and his torch we fabricated a a couple of hoop braces out of some wrought iron. The braces fit over the top of the barrel and rested about a third of the way down about six inches apart.
We welded four rods to the hoops and rested the wagon tire (to simulate a glass top) on top of the rods.
About Us (continued)
Invention Process
The hoop braces were bulky, labor intensive, and too big for cost effective shipping. In discussion with a local fabricator I came up with a new design which would involve a set of four brackets to support the 38" tire. The new brackets worked perfectly.
The 38" table top on the barrel is great for standing at and using it as a cocktail table, or for display of items. I began to think of the 44" rear wagon wheel I also had down at the stables and how to make a table out of the barrel at which was better suited to sit as the 38" table top did not extend enough past the middle of the barrel and my knees would hit the barrel center while seated on a bar stool.
Make Room for the Legs
Next question...How to do this? Another friend (Les Thomas) suggested a slide with holes and a slot with wing nuts so the slide would will move in and out making the bracket adjustable. “VOILA” now the new bracket will handle table tops from 38" up to 48" in diameter (glass, wood or other).
With the larger diameter top, there is ample of room for legs and knees under the table so one can sit comfortably at the barrel table.
Note: In the image to the right, the varied tire sizes represent table tops of 38", 44" and 48" in diameter.
Strength of the Design
My neighbor Chris Gerow was a great help with the creation of CAD drawings to transition from prototype to production ready design.
As a result of the new design, steel slider brackets were fabricated to clamp over the top of barrel ridge and rest against the sides, just above the center of the barrel.
Since a lot of people prefer not to assemble things, these slider brackets are a perfect way to go, no muss or fuss. Some people suggested using only three brackets, but our safety tests found three brackets not sufficiently stable. The brackets are 10 gauge steel and are powder coated and easily support over 100 lbs each. Jingles Barrel Brackets are packaged in a set of four.
About Us (rounded out)
Onto Production
Next I focused on marketing, imagery and the web site (Thanks to neighbors Sam Rotolo and Pete Henderson, and the most current site by friend Les Thomas).
With everything in place I found the right manufacturer and was off to the races.
A Perfect Fit
Well kids, there you have it. These brackets will fit on full size barrels for a bar or patio tables, on half barrels for coffee tables or trough barrels (barrel vertically cut in 1/2 for placement against a wall).
I feel that the market will be the tasting rooms at the wineries for either display purposes or guest tables where barrel tables are a perfect fit in that atmosphere.
Additionally, for the wine enthusiast that have always wanted to add a barrel table to their home.
Contact Me
Do you have any questions? Send me an email or give me a call.
Thank you for your time and for visiting my web site.
Order Jingles Barrel Brackets today to turn your barrel into a functional table in your home, wine cellar or tasting room.
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