Beer Tap Handle Fire Iron (And Other Wonderful Tools!)

As we continue to outfit and break in our new Teardrop Camp trailer it was glaringly obvious we were in need of a good fire pit tending tool. After a typical fruitless online and local search I arrived at the realization that perfection must be made, not procured - so my quest began for a design that would be functional, yet uniquely stylish.

Great ideas always seem to come while in quiet contemplation at the local watering hole - and there the answer presented itself - Beer Tap handles! A little web surfing revealed a plethora of possibilities and a worthy candidate was found and acquired.

While my design utilizes a welder, I don't see it as absolutely necessary - there are probably other ways to construct this design using only mechanical means.

For this project I used the following items:

• Beer Tap Handle (wood)
• 3/8" - 16 x 24" All Thread Rod
• Loctite "Red"
• 3/8" - 16 Nut (optional)
• Ikea Allen Wrench (From some far gone furniture build)

Tools:

• Welder
• x/x Wrench (optional)

American beer tap handles typically attach to the bar/kegerator/tap with a ferrule threaded to 3/8"-16. The ferrule is attached to the tap handle with a wood screw approx. 1" long. I make note of this because this is adequate for bumping coals and small logs around a cozy outdoor fire - but not for lifting giant logs out of the way. 3/8" all-thread is pretty stout at 24" long so for my situation this all adds up to a useful adequate tool.

I like a fire iron to have a poker as well as a drag hook so I used one of what seems like oodles of left over Ikea hex wrenches; it seemed just the right size and plenty stout enough to use.

These are the projects I'm thankful for my humble $90 HF flux core welder. I'm as novice a welder as they come but so many times I needed to just tack something together that epoxy or JB Weld just didn't seem enough for. A couple beads of weld and the all-thread and Ikea wrench are now one.

(If you are welder-less {as I was for so many years} possibly a product like JB Weld High Temp Putty might work.)

After cooling, I dribbled some Loctite Red onto the other end of the all-thread, then threaded the rod into the beer tap handle. Once fully inserted the Loctite should keep it secure. You could also use a 3/8" nut as a jam nut instead.

I don't see the need for a sharpened point so I left it blunt. You may feel differently and a couple minutes with an angle grinder should get you the shape you like.

So another piece of our camping puzzle is solved - now to win that auction for the 6-pack of tap handles so I can make a matching set of weenie / marshmallow roasters! I'll let you know how it goes...

EDIT 11-29-14: Just made a pair of burger flippers - these handles just have oodles of uses!!!