So about a year ago when I was just starting to get the feel for the X-Carve, I made a custom light up beer tap for a friends bar ( Beer Tap Progress - #19 by BrianSaban ). It came out really nice but I didn’t know much about different species of wood and was really just on the new side to CNC machines coming from a background of 3-D printing. In any case it’s been about a year and they broke the beer tap after many many wonderful glasses of beer being poured ( quite a few for myself I must say ) in the meantime I worked up some basic ones out of red Oak and just basically v-carved them (pictured below). Anyway I want to do something really cool I wanted to see if anybody had any suggestions there’s so many out there but I really want it to stand out much like the little one did, but I want to do something different and more advances this time. Any cool ideas?
Brian
2 Likes
Makore is a wonderful wood to work with. It machines easily and has a great color. So does Padauk. Black Walnut and Spanish Rosewood and Mahogany are my personal favorites.
1 Like
I LOVE beer tap handles (mostly because I love beer). In fact, while at a brew pub, I convinced my wife that this was a viable revenue stream to pay for the XC1000 and actually sold some that night to the brewer. The market for 2D handles is great. Have you thought about 2 or 4-sided carving to create a 3D handle? We’ve all seen very cool spoons and stuff created with stock software (e.g. Phil’s recent post), but what about taking it up a notch? All it takes is a bit of registration and you’re off the the races. Plus, it’s easy because at least 2 of the four sides are probably just mirror images of each other.
1 Like
The bottom cracked where it connects to the tap, tried epoxy put wasn’t strong enough
Brian,
Here is one I made last weekend for a buddy made out of an old banister we took out of his house.
5 Likes
Well I came up with a design I like
I started with milling the circuit board on the Xcarve and thought I’d share a little tip when having to solder tiny traces for the leds. I make a low tech solder mask. I spray the finished pcb with high heat spray paint, then scratch off the pads that need to be soldered. Here is the start in the pic below.
And here is the finished board, with a resistor added so I don’t blind customers in the bar.
Now to make the tap itself, stay tuned
3 Likes
hmmm I wonder if you could hide a little solar panel (like from a garden light) to help charge the battery and make it last longer. like on the back side of the tap to catch reflected light… I dun know… might work
Kind of a dark bar, would kind of be redundant lol
Final setup for the benzle I think 
! I went with maple.
1 Like
The 3 compartments are complete and test fitted. Now onto milling the post!
2 Likes
Getting close, just a little sanding and some paint to finish bringing her to life!
The back sports a on/off switch and battery access
5 Likes
At long last, the finished LED beer tap!!!
11 Likes
Love it! Great work on this one! Definitely inspires… thanks for the share…
1 Like
Not the best photo, but she sure stands out and says drink me in her new home on the line
2 Likes
ok one more cool pic and i’m done (only cause it looks so cool) 
3 Likes
I have also been requested to make tap handles and I like MidnightMaker’s ideas. (Phil’s 2 sided spoon)
I’ve been struggling with this one.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
2 Likes
Looks great. Maybe move the “ipa” down a little, I would change the font to a more standard font that’s easier to read (but that’s just a personal preference) and maybe fillet the edges on the sides of the tap. If you’re going to be paint filling the letters, give advance thought to the sanding as the CCC has a raised lip around it and the golf club handle is close to it as well, which will make it hard to sand excess paint off. Has a really nice regal look though, I like it.
