Tap Handle Idea - Need some help

I was wondering if anyone knew of any type of epoxy that could be used to look like beer, kind of like the picture.


My idea was for a beer BMC drinkers would like is to turn a light bulb into a tap handle, fill it with a yellow coloured, carbonated looking epoxy with a fake head. (looks like beer in a light bulb, epoxy would give it strength)

"Light Beer".

Any help would be appreciated.



Here's a photoshopped version of what I'm thinking of that I found on the internet.

Food coloring?

You will have to experiment. And, that will take a LOT of epoxy.

Love the idea.

I'm thinking they used to make like dioramas kid's toys were you made an underwater scene by pouring in some kind of stuff and then you placed the sharks and other fish and then the stuff hardened. not sure what it was but it might work for this. probably not that much to go off of though.

You can easily color epoxy with powdered tempra paints. Go to a hobby store they will have the epoxy cheapest and powder paints you can get at a craft store. Get a 50% off coupon out of newspaper add.
Let us know how it turns out.

http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html

I've used this epoxy three times. Once to coat my kegerator, once for a table, and once for a coffee table with little figurines. Works great. I think you could easily color it, but the bubbles are the hard part. Maybe if you did a layr of white epoxy and percolated air bubbles through it then did another layer with yellow. Awesome idea but good luck

Gorilla glue turns frothy when it cures - you might be able to use that for the foam part.

cjb said:

Gorilla glue turns frothy when it cures - you might be able to use that for the foam part.

Click to expand...

I was just going to say that...it also expands as it dries so it will give a cool natural look too.

I have worked with epoxy a bit in tap handle and other things so I will try and help you out.
First off epoxy is not cheap, the stuff at Michaels is a polyurethane resin that uses catalyst. It is brittle when cured. It can be turned on a lathe and cut with power tools but it chips and cracks easy so sharp tools are a must. Powdered pigments will work as will Trans tint dyes and some paint but curing times will vary with some of these additions. This resin also takes longer to cure and stays tacky for quite a while. There are ways to speed up the curing process.

I would recommend using Alumilite, I am pretty sure they have an amber colored resin. You will have to order this through their website though. It is a two part epoxy mixed by WEIGHT, it cures extremely fast and generates quite a bit of heat. It is not brittle so it you drop it its not going to shatter or crack, think of a slightly flexible plastic. To get the carbonation bubbles suspended you would need to really mix it fast to trap some of the air into it. I would experiment with small batches until you get the right color and consistency.

What you want is acrylic water, which is available at hobby shops to make things like artificial flower arrangements with fake 'water' in the base, and for dioramas with water features - brands include Liquid Illusion and Quick Water, but there are others. Mix food coloring with it to get 'beer'. Stir it while it is setting to introduce bubbles. Use expanding foam sealant like Great Stuff to make the head, and paint it with acrylic gloss if you need shine.

Now...how are you going to cut the top off that lightbulb?

it is not so hard to make it.
when you are little kid, you had played the liquid toy. there are two kind of liquid. one is water, another is oil. There is oil always up on the water.
same idea as your designing....yellow liquid could be water. the white object is oil. you only can inject some little foam ball. Then keep them in the airproof mug.
at the bottle of the mug stick the LED and screw the hole for fitting the draft tap.
Then it is done.

it is not so hard to make it.
when you are little kid, you had played the liquid toy. there are two kind of liquid. one is water, another is oil. There is oil always up on the water.
same idea as your designing....yellow liquid could be water. the white object is oil. you only can inject some little foam ball. Then keep them in the airproof mug.
at the bottle of the mug stick the LED and screw the hole for fitting the draft tap.
Then it is done.

Cool Idea, let us know if you figure it out.