basswood as a beer tap handle?

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

I'm intending to try carving and/or turning a few tap handles for my brother's kegerator.

How would basswood hold up to use as a tap handle?

thanks

[Frank Drew]

Shawn,

Basswood is easy to work, both by hand and machine, and you should be able to find the thickness you'll need for tap handles, but it's very soft, doesn't have much moisture resistance (if that will be a factor), and its appearance is very bland, to put it mildly, in case you're thinking of a clear finish.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

it won't be left plain.

it's going to be carved into an axe shape that is embedded into a pig's head (because the beer name is "Pig Slayer") - so I'll end up coloring it, then probably a lacquer finish on it.

[Frank Drew]

It's one of the best woods for carving, as I guess you know. If possible, post pictures when you're done.

[Karl Andersson]

An axe embedded in a pig's head.. nice! if this is going to be in the round, with small details like an axe head protruding out where it will get a lot of wear or occasionally dinged up, I'd use something harder than basswood (although sometimes you do find some pretty hard pieces). You don't want details rubbed off or split off and glued back on over the course of this tap's lifetime. Soft maple carves nicely and is hard (just not as hard as rock maple). Depending on how you'll attach it to the valve, maple would handle the forces of most methods better (tapped insert especially). If you're doing a through-bolt, the bass would be OK, but I'd still worry about someone catching a sleeve on a detail and popping it off. If you go for the maple, get everything sharpo and keep stropping. It will shave and cut well, especially at a diagonal to the grain vs. with the grain.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

I'm a turner - not a carver, so I was thinking basswood would be easier to work but still durable enough to stand up to use. I thought about maple, but I'm afraid it would be hard to work for someone with no experience.

this won't be a small thing - the pig head a bit larger than a golfball, and the axe about 8" in length.

the tap hardware attaches to the handle by means of a hanger bolt screwed into the wood, then a chrome ferrule: http://www.rockler.com/beer-tap-component-hardware-beer-tap-ferrule screws on to the machine threads of the hanger bolt. The whole thing then screws on to the beer tap.

I could strengthen the basswood around the hanger bolt with some CA or epoxy


maybe I should use maple.