I think Doug's prep work was the best I've seen on this side of the Atlantic. I suspect the quality of his finished product was because of that and the constant adjustments he made to his solution and technique. For the average barrel finisher the ultra smooth finish he achieved in prep work might double the number of rust and carding steps. He was only concerned with getting as perfect a job as possible, not doing a good job quickly so he could make a few dollars. I know he did one set of barrels twice, three times I suspected, and wanted to do them again if I was not absolutely satisfied. After long examination I could not even detect the slightest short coming in the job. His standards were much higher than mine I guess but no one who has looked at that barrel sees anything but a superb job.
Sad to say he left us too soon.
