DIY Tap Handle?

mateo6891 said:

Tap Handle finished.

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Looks good. Would like something similar, maybe slightly bigger Texas with the aTm logo inside.

I'm sure it has been done before but here is one I finished a couple days ago.

blh3d said:

I'm sure it has been done before but here is one I finished a couple days ago.

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Awesome, as a trick you should tie the pin on to something so that when you pull the handle out comes the pin...

made this in less than an hour from a railing post. Just print out a label or custom label for the beer and slide it right in behind the piece of poly carbonate

here's my setup at the house. mostly motorcycle racing related, except for that .50 cal shell on the left. that one's the girlfriend's.

Made this one up today! Front leg from and eight point buck my father shot last year

stripper18 said:

Made this one up today! Front leg from and eight point buck my father shot last year

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That, is pretty sweet. Come to think of it, I've got a mounted Canadian goose that my wife won't let me display. I could cut its head off and make that into a tap handle! Why didn't Goose Island think of that?

heckels said:

That, is pretty sweet. Come to think of it, I've got a mounted Canadian goose that my wife won't let me display. I could cut its head off and make that into a tap handle! Why didn't Goose Island think of that?

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Perhaps because North Shore yuppies aren't down with taxidermy. I'm sure if the brewery was located 60 miles north, it would be on the tap handles already.

Without a doubt there's some really creative and extremely well done DIY tap handles in this thread. Unfortunately, I'm not as talented as some here, but inspiration did hit for a new tap handle to welcome a new Rye Ale I just brewed.

Really easy to build, just an old ski pole and a nut soldered into it.

I am a hunter, but i don't think i could get down with that tap handle every day.

Tap handle we came up with over the weekend while fixing another one that we thought was a dry erase version but was actually the chalkboard version. Decided to take a crack at making our own and it came out pretty good and unique.


Untitled by pannell77, on Flickr

pannell77 said:

Tap handle we came up with over the weekend while fixing another one that we thought was a dry erase version but was actually the chalkboard version. Decided to take a crack at making our own and it came out pretty good and unique.

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did you use chalkboard paint?

Yes, we used spray on chalkboard paint. What you see in that picture is just 1 coat. We applied 2 more coats and it came out really nice. We are going to also try out black dry erase paint, the white dry erase did not turn out so well on a test piece.

Incorporated my profession by using a cheap nightstick from the internet and added some old spare tap handle parts. It's the same height as the Smithwick's handle - the pic is just a little distorted.

Have wanted for some time to use some of my RR spikes that I pick up while running as tap handles. No welding ability or tools, though. How did you attach the nut?
I like the smaller, less chance of accidental opening style handle.

no welding required for a railroad spike. find a local machine shop and have them tap the proper hole right into the end of the RR spike. they just need to drill a hole and run a tap through it. shouldn't cost more than a couple bucks... or some homebrew.

Does anyone have problems with heavy metal tap handles? I have a large and heavy bolt that I thought would be cool to use, but it weighs a couple pounds. I think that I would get the head tapped so it wouldn't be so top heavy that the tap would open on its own. The bolt looks like this (A structural steel framing bolt from a building)

make sure the weight bias is backwards to avoid accidental openings and that your mounting to the tower/whatever is capable of handling the weight/leverage, and i think you'll be ok. might be a problem with a thin pvc tower but on a collar or a metal tower you should be fine.

First thing that came to my head when you said "Heavy Metal Tap Handle"......


A Spinal Tap-handle...

slakwhere said:

make sure the weight bias is backwards to avoid accidental openings and that your mounting to the tower/whatever is capable of handling the weight/leverage, and i think you'll be ok. might be a problem with a thin pvc tower but on a collar or a metal tower you should be fine.

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Thanks, I'll be mounting it to a collar so im not worried about support. The other big problem will be trying to drill into it. It's made from pretty high strength structural steel so it might be a bit difficult to work with.

I wouldn't even try drilling it, just weld a nut to the bottom.

Possibly solder/braze a nut to the bottom?

Here are my humble entries...



Right is my first lathe work in 10 years (it got scuffed when I was threading the insert) and the left one is my second time in 10 years. Both are cherrywood.

They may not be the best looking, but I'm proud of them.

Wow some real beautiful work here!! These are just a few I made up...out of maple...turned the spindles . Chalk board marquee.

patthebrewer said:

Wow some real beautiful work here!! These are just a few I made up...out of maple...turned the spindles . Chalk board marquee.

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Those look awesome! Where did you find the ferrules?

originalben said:

Have wanted for some time to use some of my RR spikes that I pick up while running as tap handles. No welding ability or tools, though. How did you attach the nut?
I like the smaller, less chance of accidental opening style handle.

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Here's my RR spike. It was surprisingly easy to work with. I used an air grinder, cut- off wheel, drill, and tap. It polished up real nice, but it is already siding some surface rust. I need to hit it again, then seal it somehow.

I'm sure just about any shop would do this for you fairly cheaply...

Here is my meager attempt -

Tap handles made from Ukrainian bulavas (and table legs)

Xtant said:

Here's my RR spike. It was surprisingly easy to work with. I used an air grinder, cut- off wheel, drill, and tap. It polished up real nice, but it is already siding some surface rust. I need to hit it again, then seal it somehow.

I'm sure just about any shop would do this for you fairly cheaply...

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I love it!

milepore said:

Those look awesome! Where did you find the ferrules?

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Thanks! A local supplier here in NJ, But you can get them I think from Northerbrewer, or Midwest.

f0xtr0t said:

Here is the link for the inserts.

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Please forgive my ignorance, but I know nothing about "threads" or woodworking. Which type of helical insert and which internal thread would be appropriate for a homemade wooden tap handle. (I am looking to drill a hole in the bottom of wood and place an insert that would work with the thread on the tap)

Thanks for your guidance.

twalte said:

Please forgive my ignorance, but I know nothing about "threads" or woodworking. Which type of helical insert and which internal thread would be appropriate for a homemade wooden tap handle. (I am looking to drill a hole in the bottom of wood and place an insert that would work with the thread on the tap)

Thanks for your guidance.

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Cheapest and most easily found (at any hardware store) is the "T-Nut."



I located the center of the base and drilled a 3/8” hole about 1/2” into the base. The I screwed the “T-Nut” onto the beer tap, and marked where the front of the nut fell. That way it would be in the right position when the tap was screwed back on.

I used some Gorilla Glue to mount it and tapped the nut in place. (If using the foaming kind of Gorilla Glue, keep and eye on it to make sure that the foaming glue doesn’t get up into the threaded area. I found that if it does, a Q-tip with some mineral spirits worked great to clean the glue out.

Xtant said:

Here's my RR spike. It was surprisingly easy to work with. I used an air grinder, cut- off wheel, drill, and tap. It polished up real nice, but it is already siding some surface rust. I need to hit it again, then seal it somehow.

I'm sure just about any shop would do this for you fairly cheaply...

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clear coat spray paint will be plenty. that turned out REALLY nice!!

Sorry, I was trying to link to the page that has, External threaded, tapping insert for wood. Although Mcmaster-carr has made my angry. They won't ship to me because I live on the border and they say they don't wan't to mess with U.S. export law.

Great thread guys. Lots of really cool designs in here. Provides a wealth of knowledge, and gave me a lot of good ideas. Not to start to acquire parts and get rid of those plain 'ol black handles.

Just got these mounted last night:

Aren't you concerned with losing an arm?


;^)

originalben said:

Aren't you concerned with losing an arm?

;^)

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I didn't even realize what they were until I saw your comment.

Didn't know there was an official DIY Tap Handle thread. I made this a few months ago and since then have added some of those adapters that make the tap handle stand more straight up so the handles don't touch each other.

Sippin37 said:

Didn't know there was an official DIY Tap Handle thread. I made this a few months ago and since then have added some of those adapters that make the tap handle stand more straight up so the handles don't touch each other.

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I would expect everything coming out of the one on the right leaves a bad taste in your mouth...