My DIY Tap Handle Build Thread (Steel)

Hi gang.
So I decided it was high time I made my own tap handles instead of using my boring, generic black ones with a gold plate for labels. I wanted them to be the same length as a standard handle and have the ability to quickly and easily change the labels out depending on what I have on tap. Now I'm not much of a woodworker, Steel is generally my medium of choice and i'm a decent welder. So I took some measurements and headed off to my local steel supplier (IMS, Industrial Metal Supply) to find what I wanted. As usual IMS did not dissapoint.

I bought
10 feet of 1/2" square twisted steel
10 feet of 3" x 1/8" flat plate (didnt need that much but I know i'll use the extra at some point)
and 12 Half Inch "Spears"
I also swung by the local comic shop and bought a pack of 25 hard plastic top loading baseball card protector sleeves.
I already have a healthy supply of 3/8" Nuts on hand as I use 3/8" hardware all the time on my Jeep (32 bolt beadlocks on each wheel alone)

So when I got my supplies home, first thing I did was cut my bars down to length. I cut the twisted bar to 10"s and the flat plate to 4"s (The card holders are 3" wide by 4" long)





I made 12 handles total. 8 for my Keezer and 4 for my Jockey box.

The next step was to weld the spears onto the top of each bar



Then I welded the card holder backing plates to the speared bars





The next step was the hard part. welding the 3/8" nuts to the bases of my handles



After that, I got the grinder out with a flap disc and went thru each one and smoothed and blended the welds in as well as the nuts so it looks like one solid piece of steel.


Finally, I laid them all out and primed them






Thats as far as I have gotten so far. Now I need to decide what color to paint them. I am thinking Rustoleums Hammered finish spray paint in silver would look pretty killer. What do you guys think?
After I get them painted I am going to glue the card holders to the backing plates.

Comments? Suggestions?

Those are awesome! I think chalkboard paint would look cleaner than the baseball card holders though.

smellysell said:

Those are awesome! I think chalkboard paint would look cleaner than the baseball card holders though.

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I would agree except that my handwriting sucks and any writing I did on it would look like crap.

wow those are rad. I like the idea of the hammered metallic finish. I actually thought they looked pretty kickass before you primed them!! Maybe a two-tone paint scheme would be cool. You planning on selling them in the future?

I would have left them rough and beat up and just put clear on them.

strat_thru_marshall said:

wow those are rad. I like the idea of the hammered metallic finish. I actually thought they looked pretty kickass before you primed them!! Maybe a two-tone paint scheme would be cool. You planning on selling them in the future?

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No plans to sell any no. Just made em for me. In fact IMS doesn't even stock that twisted bar anymore. I got that piece from their cut rack.

I kinda liked them rough too, but it wouldn't really go with my bar area. I think the Hammered Silver will look pretty killer, but Im not totally settled on that yet. Gonna see what Home Depot has in a day or two. Maybe like a hammered copper or something would look pretty cool.

Very nice, and unique.

92greenyj said:

No plans to sell any no. Just made em for me. In fact IMS doesn't even stock that twisted bar anymore. I got that piece from their cut rack.

I kinda liked them rough too, but it wouldn't really go with my bar area. I think the Hammered Silver will look pretty killer, but Im not totally settled on that yet. Gonna see what Home Depot has in a day or two. Maybe like a hammered copper or something would look pretty cool.

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Well I think if you ever decided to sell them you'd do well.

I'm thinking hammered silver on the spear, and hammered copper on the rest. Have you tested one out to make sure it's not too heavy for your faucet?

All for you? How many taps you running??? Awesome job!

strat_thru_marshall said:

Well I think if you ever decided to sell them you'd do well.

I'm thinking hammered silver on the spear, and hammered copper on the rest. Have you tested one out to make sure it's not too heavy for your faucet?

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thats a cool idea. And yeah I threw one on my Keeezer. Not too heavy and it looked pretty sweet.

akthor, 8 handles for my Keezer (8 taps) and 4 for my 4 tap Jockey Box. so 12 in total. Though the Jockey Box only sees use on camping/desert trips

How did the welds on the spear heads hold? Welding cast can be tricky.

RegionalChaos said:

How did the welds on the spear heads hold? Welding cast can be tricky.

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I didn't have any trouble welding them on. Its a slip fit so some of the twisted bar is inside the base of the spear. Left me with a perfect gap to just weld it up.

smellysell said:

Those are awesome! I think chalkboard paint would look cleaner than the baseball card holders though.

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I like the card holders. I'm in the same boat handwriting-wise and now you can design label cards to just stick in there. Genius!

Those are sweet!! I like that look, and think the hammered finish would be perfect!

Have you considered magnetic business card backs? Get them and stick whatever label you want onto it, then stick it to the handle (assuming the magnet will hold). Put the extras on the side of your fridge/keezer

SenorWanderer said:

I like the card holders. I'm in the same boat handwriting-wise and now you can design label cards to just stick in there. Genius!

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Thats my plan. just photoshop my labels up and print them on photo paper. then I can just swap them out depending whats on tap. Hope to get the paint tonight after work. I'll post more pics when I get em painted up

If you can't find the twisted iron bar, try the black iron balusters at Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Well despite being sick as hell today I dragged my butt to Home Depot for paint and some 2 part epoxy. I wound up going with the 2 tone color scheme. Painted the spears Hammered Silver and the rest Hammered Copper. Then tossed a few cotas of clear on and epoxied my card holders to their backs. The epoxy is setting up now. I'll post some finished pictures tomorow. They came out fantastic!

You could also paint them different colors for different beers.

I like them.

Eagerly awaiting the final pics.

92greenyj said:

Well despite being sick as hell today I dragged my butt to Home Depot for paint and some 2 part epoxy. I wound up going with the 2 tone color scheme. Painted the spears Hammered Silver and the rest Hammered Copper. Then tossed a few cotas of clear on and epoxied my card holders to their backs. The epoxy is setting up now. I'll post some finished pictures tomorow. They came out fantastic!

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Was going to suggest these two colors myself. Can't wait to see them. How heavy are they?

Well I threw one on my hops scale and it maxed it out at a lb and a half, so probably around 2 lbs or so. The labels are just printed on regular paper at the moment. Turns out I am out of photo paper so I just did this to get an idea of the finished look. Oh and theres no labels on the last two as I dont have anything on those at the moment.

So, without further ado, Here is the finished pictures!









Well? What does everyone think?

Nice work!

thanks. I need to replace my number 7 faucet i think. I thought that handle was bent but when I swapped another one on it looked the same so something is wrong with the faucet itself

Wow those look sharp!

Most excellent idea! I just hope that nobody passes out face first into your kegerator!

92greenyj said:

thanks. I need to replace my number 7 faucet i think. I thought that handle was bent but when I swapped another one on it looked the same so something is wrong with the faucet itself

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Might just be this part that is bent. In a lot of faucets it is brass and fairly easy to bend (or even break), the one I linked is stainless.

Edit: The one I linked was simply the first I found, shop around for the best price.

Edit2: OH, and I think the handles turned out great!

camiller,
thanks. I am probably just gonna take one off my Jockey box and swap them.

Looks pretty sweet! I was just thinking about busting out the welder and some scrap steel wire and coming up with some crazy welded sculptures for tap handles. Maybe some helix or something. This is right up that alley.

They look AWESOME!!! Seriously, if you decide to make some more and sell them, definitely keep me in mind. I am a huge New Orleans Saints fan and would LOVE to have them on my taps!

Those turned out REALLY nice!

Freakin' awesome. I just did my first ten welds making an outdoor movie screen. I'm way far from ready for prime time and doing a project like this. Beautiful.

thanks for the kudos guys. I'm really happy with the way they came out. Not bad for something I didn't even really plan. I just kinda picked up the pieces as I was walking around IMS looking at the steel they had and thats what I ended up with

Great Taps

I would love to buy one off you

PM me

Wow those look great! Always nice to have something custom to cater to your needs. I'm still using a Heineken and other random commercial taps. Im thinking I might fire up the lathe and make my own custom taps. Thanks for the insiration.