Tap Handle Project

Got pretty bored with the standard black tap handles so I undertook a new project to carve some tap handles.  I have the luxury of having a DIY woodworking shop in town and got to use a wood lathe.  Had a lot of fun doing this.

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Raw Materials- did away with the hockey puck idea after splitting 3 or 4 of them

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Lathe work- lucky enough to have the shop guy show me a thing or two but surprisingly easy to do

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Pre Stain

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Post Stain- added a little polyurethane for a finish

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Top-less handles- drilling the holes in the top of these was probably the hardest thing about all this, not perfect but it will do

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New handle top idea was much more simple and in the end far better.  I cut out 4 equal planks of wood, drilled a hole in the bases; rounded out the sharp corners with sand paper and stained them after mounting them on some wood dowels.  I then used some magnetic primer on the fronts to allow for switchable labels to be made- I recommend taping off a square to limit the area for the primer and use at least 3 coats of this stuff, even after 4 coats the magnetic force is still a little weak but will do.  Covered it all in polyurethane and glued them down to the handles.

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Finished product turned out well.  The magnetic labels switch out easily.  Got all this stuff at a local craft store.  I used Adobe Illustrator for my first effort at label design- insanely expensive software but you can sign up for a free trial month (I am going to have to find numerous other uses for the software prior to justifying the expense of buying a copy).  Added bonus for the magnetic labels - when not in use the labels can just stick to the front of the keezer.
Let me know what you guys think

nice work.  i like the exchangable labels

The magnets on the labels are definately a smart idea.  As far as label making software you should be able to find a cheap option if you search the internet a bit.

I like the magnetic primer idea, I didn’t know it existed.  Nice looking handles.

Try Adobe Photoshop Elements, which also has a trial.  I use photoshop (full version) for my labels, but elements is $79. I’m not sure what it is missing.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements/features._sl_id-contentfilter_sl_solution_sl_Explore%2Bwhat%2Byou%2Bcan%2Bdo.html

Sweet tap handles!  I wish I was crafty like that.

Fabulous work!

I need to replace my standard black tap handles someday. I often forget which tap is which when I’m pouring.

2 alternative paints exist for the top part…besides the magnetic:

Chalkboard: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=110
Dry-erase: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=128

The store where I work carries both, should be available at most larger Rustoleum vendors…Benjamin Moore and Valspar make similar products.

Good to know about the magnetic paint. Nice work BTW.

Great looking tap handles!  Love the custom labels for each beer as well.  Really nice touch!  I just finished using the Adobe Illustrator trial version myself to design a brewhouse logo and labels.  Yes, there are cheaper tools out there for making labels, but AI is an awesome graphic design tool if you want to get carried away.

How did you do the threads on the bottom to screw onto the tap? Drill a hole and glue a nut in? Or something else.

You can buy inserts, but they are very big for 3/8-16. My handles are made from oak, so I just tapped the wood. Been that way for a couple of years now and no problems.

I drilled a hole in the base and dropped in an insert with threads- in retrospect the hardest part was centering the hole and making sure it went in the right direction.  Not perfect but works out ok.

Very nice work!

There is a free version of a photoshop type software called GIMP, it works the same and can do all the cool things photoshop does but it takes a little work to understand it, you can find it here: http://www.gimp.org/

The tap handles look great and I love the idea of magnetic labels, makes swapping things out a breeze!

Nice job man!  :wink: