This year marked the 8th annual BeerBQ swap. As always, there was a good turnout and a fun bunch of guys participating. Big thanks to all who played and an open invite to all who didn't to keep any eye out for the 2025 event next summer!
This year I was really pressed for time so I had to find a way to "cheat" so I could make something decent for my recipient, Dan B. I have a folder on my computer for "beer swap ideas" so when I run across a picture or product throughout the year that sparks an idea I save it there as a reminder when the swap rolls around. I also keep designs that I noodled on in past years but never actually pursued. So that's where I found my shortcut this year 😁
Several years ago I saw a rubber band gun made from wood that I thought was cool and wondered if I could make one to shoot bottle caps. So I worked with it in CAD and got what I thought would be a working design but it was going to be a lot more time intensive than I originally thought so I shelved it before ever making any sawdust. When I was looking through my folder this year, I realized that since designing it, I have gotten a 3D printer. So I started thinking through how to convert my CAD model to be print-friendly. Before reinventing the wheel though, I did a quick search and found this on Thingiverse. My design didn't open the bottle so I found a shortcut for my shortcut. I printed the posted design and it turned out pretty good. I assembled it and tweeked a few things and found it would open a bottle and shoot the cap nicely so it went into my swap package 😎
I still felt like just printing something was cheating a bit and wanted to make something as well. So I went back to my shelved designs and found a meat tenderizer mallet I had sketched up. I know from the forums that Dan is a carnivore and cooks a lot on his Big Green Egg. So I thought it would be a useful project for him. I designed it with Oak in mind because Oak takes a lickin' well, is fairly heavy, and is a common wood for smoking and food prep.
So I started making saw dust. I had a nice piece of Oak I had set aside for a new mallet so I decided to use it. I cut the head to size and put it on my mill and cut the teeth into one face. But then I gave it a few test whacks and noted the tips of the teeth weren't handling it well. I believe it was a combination of two factors - the open grain of the Oak didn't like the sharp points on the short grain and I made the teeth too "pointy". So I scrapped the Oak head and found a piece of Shedua instead. Shedua is a nice, tight-grained dense wood and I searched online and didn't find any allergy or food contact concerns. I also made the angle of the teeth a little shallower and left small flats on top to make them a little less fragile.
I was happy with how the teeth shaped up and I liked the size and weight of the Shedua so I decided to move forward. I made the opposite face flat so it can be used to pound out things like chicken breasts to a uniform thickness for even grilling. I put a chamfer around the edges of both faces to (hopefully) avoid any chipped corners or crack initiations.
Then I chopped mortise through the head for a handle. I had a piece of wood that I thought looked nice with the Shedua that I selected for the handle. I had the wood labeled as Bubinga but I really think it was mislabeled and is actually Paduak. So I cut it to size and cut a slight shoulder for it to go through the mortise in the head. I just shaped it with some sandpaper until it felt good in my hand and drove it through the mortise. I wedged it from the top to retain it (don't have any pictures of the top) and finished the whole thing with a couple coats of Tung Oil to make sure it was completely food safe.
I apologize for the lack of photos. I completely forgot to take pictures of the mallet and had to steal the ones I have from Dan. All in all I was happy with how the project turned out. I would have liked to do more but have been travelling a lot for work the past few months so I hope Dan doesn't feel slighted! I know he's used the mallet at least once: So I'm hopeful he'll continue to get good use out of it!
As always, the star of a BeerBQ Package is the main event:
I tried to send Dan a good variety of beer this year because I got the impression he enjoys trying different styles. The Shotgun Betty and Dirtbag Ale were two I found on vacation in NC earlier this summer that I thought were swap worthy so I picked up some extras for Dan. And I found the Suburban Housewife on a work trip to Pittsburgh and thought it was really unique so I picked up one of those for him too. The other three are all local VA beers that I regularly buy so I wanted to showcase some local talent for him.
The swap was a load of fun as always and I hope Dan enjoyed the package half as much as I am enjoying the one I received from RyanGi!
cool cap gun, even though it's not wood 🤔 love the mallet too, i should make one for the wife maybe. as always it was a great swap and i just wanna thank kenny for running it. if youve never done one and just watch every year think about joining us next year. you wont regret it. and you get beer !!!!
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
That mallet is fantastic. I originally thought that the cap gun was made out of some sort of red cedar because of the color. I am going to have to look at the Thingiverse design and see if I can adapt it for milling on CNC machine.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
Somebody's gonna get hurt. Beer, a dirtbag, a mullet, a beer cap gun, and a mallet with teeth. Yep, I can see a trip to the ER. This has all the makings of a great Redneck Story. It starts out with Dan telling the Suburban Housewife, "Hold my beer, watch this...." Only thing that's missing is a dawg.
Two great ideas Kenny! I'm surprised that someone had not made a meat mallet in a previous swap. The Suburban Housewife blackberry cucumber sounds good.
"Duck and Bob would be out doin some farming with funny hats on." chrisstef
As Mom, Ms Shields, and Santa, all tell Ralphie.... “You’ll shoot your eye out!”
I figured that would resonate well with you, Not a Red Ryder BB Gun, but it would play hell with Ralphie if his glasses fell off.
Love the cap shooter, the whammer is a good un, and that pointy meat tenderizer will get er dun. You get the prize for best names of beers, even if some of them are way outside my norm. Nice mix of fun, beer, and BBQ.
