Jersey Cyclone Brewing Company, a new brewery in Somerset, New Jersey opened in May. Jan, the owner of Jersey Cyclone, wanted a cyclone tap handle to promote his Jersey Cyclone Brews. The metal cyclone is 3D-printed in black steel. It is strong enough to withstand thousands of pulls from the bartenders serving Jersey Cyclone beer and intricate enough to look like a twister. Jan came up with the idea for the two-color plastic, 3D-printed logo, which creates an aesthetic ‘pop.’ The design and printing team at Knockout Designs really enjoyed working with Jan on this unique tap handle. Many of Jersey Cyclone’s new customers comment on the great beer and “cool” tap handles.
Metal 3D printing is a great way to make a challenging metal design without using a mold. We can program a computer to build any tap handle. The layering process can take hours but the printer does not need supervision. We 3D print both metal and plastic. Knockout Designs creates beer tap handles as well as many other types of custom cabinet and door hardware. 3D printing is useful for manufacturing small quantities of many items which usually require expensive molds. For example, the swirl of the metal rods on the cyclone could not have been built with just one mold.
When we, at Knockout Designs, work with new clients, we make sure they understand our process. Anytime a client of ours wants to order tap handles, we first check if they have a specific idea and if they need a tap handle for the tap room or distribution. Our modelers work with wood, metal and plastic to create some options for new customers. Once a general design is settled on, we work with our clients to personalize the tap handle further. We pick out colors, materials, and other details together. In this case, our client knew he wanted a cyclone tap handle. We worked with our designers and Jan to select colors, black metal, and the intricate cyclone design.
