Here is a similar tool. Each of these came from the Amish who used them to drill holes for wooden pegs in the construction of barns or homes. I would expect a tapered peg would stay tight better even as the wood expanded and contracted with moisture. Assuming that is true, why is the tool below much more common than the tapered style? Maybe because tapered pegs take more effort to make accurately? I don't know that is just a guess but I can say with certainty the tapered tools are seen less often.

Moving on to the beer/whiskey keg idea. I doubt if the first tool pictured would be used for kegs but a similar tool may have been. Here is why: How thick are keg walls? An inch? For something relatively thin like that, why build the tool with such a long taper? A much, much shorter taper would still get the job done. Here's another thought about using a taper for a beer/whiskey keg. Why bother with the taper at all? Going back to my previous assumption about tapers staying tight better as the moisture content of the wood changes, this would not apply to kegs. Once the kegs were filled, all of the wood would expand. Even if a peg was initially a little bit loose, the expansion would soon have it rock solid in the hole.


Tool3.jpg