Anything special about a tap shank?

I am going to need a few shanks for my kegerator conversion, and having never looked very closely at a tap, I am wondering what is so special about the shank, why are they so expensive, and can I DIY one with Home Depot pieces?

-J

I thought about the same thing but I couldn't figure out a way to get the ends of them to have the recess that is shown in this pic. You can't really see it but it is shaped like a bishop's hat. Also the through hole size is pretty critical I think that it is usually 3/16" to 1/4". I think that by the time you find, machine, and cut some stainless all thread you will have quite a bit of time and $$$ invested. And you still have to get the collars and the nut that fits the faucets. Shop around, I think that I got my 5" shanks at: http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/taps-faucets-cid-332.html it's the cheapest I was able to find.

I don't think you'll be able to do it reasonably. It's a thick chunk of stainless, with only a narrow hole through it (comparable to beer line), has the dimple at the faucet end, splines on the outside of the faucet end, the special nut that holds the faucet, plus the big washer, inside nut, and the hose barb...

For what they are, I don't think ~$15 is a terrible price.

The cheapest place I found for shanks and a few other pieces was http://www.servu-online.com/ I had received an email with a code to save like $5 on an order over 25 or 50, but I must have deleted the email.

A shank isn't a simple pipe. There are a few people here that have access to the materials and tools to make shanks, but you won't find what you need at HD. I suspect buying just 1" stainless steel rod in small quantities would be more expensive that a fabricated shank.

Just so I understand, is part of the issue that if the inner dimension isn't right (matching the beer line), you'll knock the CO2 out of suspension and end up with foaming?

Not to mention the fact that the faucet mates to the shanke with a special nut and it is also held from rotating with indexing splines. I cheaped out and got nickel plated brass shanks from www.superprod.com