A buddy of mine brews his own beer (great beer btw) and mentioned that he was looking for some tap handles that he could write on to identify what brews he had on tap. I decided to help him out...
Wood type: Walnut and Fruit wood
Finish: Water based polyurethane
Hardware: chalk tape and wood insert lock nuts
Finish: Water based polyurethane
Hardware: chalk tape and wood insert lock nuts
I had some 2" walnut and fruit wood scraps from some previous projects. I ran the pieces through a planer so that they would be 1.5" in thickness.
I designed the handles so that they would be 7" in length and I wanted a square surface where I could stick a 3x3 piece of chalk paper. I drew out my design on my pieces and then cut them out on a band saw. The first photo below is a scrap piece with a large crack that I used as a test.
As you can see, the edges were significantly burnt. I had a lot of sanding ahead of me.
One of the pieces had a significant crack so I filled it with epoxy.
I then drilled the hole for the 3/8 - 16 thread. The whole had to be 1/2" in diameter, I started off with a small hole and then worked my way up to the 1/2". I wish I had a drill press, I think it would of made things a lot easier and it would ensure the hole would be perfectly straight. I just used a regular drill.
The last step was to thread the wood insert lock nut.
Project Complete!