Making a barrel charcoal grill

[Pandemonium]

[Slanted88]

Man...I had me one of them long time ago....it was a chicken grillen machine! Ya doin it nice!

[Texas-Hunter]

OK, So far so good.... Keep bringing it..

[dwayne]

Looking Goooo ooooddd ....

Stop teasing us and get-r-dun!

[Pandemonium]

almost done need air holes and figuring how to do the legs so it will be portable like separate peice from drum, but probably just gonna do them regular way

[SMOKE FREAK]

Looks like a good piece of work...hope that rebar handle dont get too hot...

[Pandemonium]

Looks like a good piece of work...hope that rebar handle dont get too hot...

yea i had a piece already so thought, why not?

[smokemania]

Keep it going looks like it is going to be a grilling machine

[supervman]

That's a HECK of a fine job there Bud.

[aczeller]

not bad at all man. if I could, I'd like to throw in some ideas, based on my experience with these kinds of grills:

here's one of the first ones I made for my parents. 55 gallon drum, completely stainless steel, flattened expanded metal for the grates and shelves, and 1x1x16ga square tube for the frame.



overall, I am very happy with it. However, based on what I've seen with yours so far, I am very impressed. I wish I had put "lip reinforcement" on theirs, and had some other way to hinge it, but it is what it is at this point.

I would highly recommend that you put some silica sand in the bottom of your grill. it is something like $3.50 for a 40 or 50 lb bag of it at home depot. it's just a very fine sand that people usually use for sand blasting. that, coupled with the fact that you are keeping your coals elevated with a lower rack, should help the lifespan of your grill a LOT. I have seen grills rust/rot out within 2 or 3 years, even though the owner cleaned out the coals after every use. the ash, mixed with the water gets pretty corrosive, pretty quick.

also, I would remember to use a glove or rag to lift the lid. the handle, although it is pretty heavy-duty, will get hot, quick. I used 5/16 or 1/4" solid bar on the one in the pic, and that thing gets hot by the time the burgers are ready to flip.

other than that, where do you plan on putting the flue? many-a-small-child have been thumped in the head while the grill has been opened because they weren't watching where they were running or the "grill operator" wasn't paying attention to who was behind them. if you can, I would recommend placing it on the lower half.

anyway, it looks great thus far. I can't wait to see what kind of frame you are putting it on.

Later,
Andy

[Pandemonium]

not bad at all man. if I could, I'd like to throw in some ideas, based on my experience with these kinds of grills:

here's one of the first ones I made for my parents. 55 gallon drum, completely stainless steel, flattened expanded metal for the grates and shelves, and 1x1x16ga square tube for the frame.



overall, I am very happy with it. However, based on what I've seen with yours so far, I am very impressed. I wish I had put "lip reinforcement" on theirs, and had some other way to hinge it, but it is what it is at this point.

I would highly recommend that you put some silica sand in the bottom of your grill. it is something like $3.50 for a 40 or 50 lb bag of it at home depot. it's just a very fine sand that people usually use for sand blasting. that, coupled with the fact that you are keeping your coals elevated with a lower rack, should help the lifespan of your grill a LOT. I have seen grills rust/rot out within 2 or 3 years, even though the owner cleaned out the coals after every use. the ash, mixed with the water gets pretty corrosive, pretty quick.

also, I would remember to use a glove or rag to lift the lid. the handle, although it is pretty heavy-duty, will get hot, quick. I used 5/16 or 1/4" solid bar on the one in the pic, and that thing gets hot by the time the burgers are ready to flip.

other than that, where do you plan on putting the flue? many-a-small-child have been thumped in the head while the grill has been opened because they weren't watching where they were running or the "grill operator" wasn't paying attention to who was behind them. if you can, I would recommend placing it on the lower half.

anyway, it looks great thus far. I can't wait to see what kind of frame you are putting it on.

Later,
Andy

Ive never heard of putting the sand in there, do you just put a thin layer? and how do you not lose it when you clean the ashes out?
I was hoping the heat wouldn't transfer that good to the handle but yes it probably will si yes ill have a glove ready.
I am still thinking on the flume and air intake holes, should i put intakes on each side down low? Do you really think it needs a flume? I can do it just wasn't sure for grilling if it would be needed?
Thanks for the ideas there and im trying to make the legs separate for hauling it places but that's just proving to be more work, so i might just do it like you did.

[aczeller]

Ive never heard of putting the sand in there, do you just put a thin layer? and how do you not lose it when you clean the ashes out?
I was hoping the heat wouldn't transfer that good to the handle but yes it probably will si yes ill have a glove ready.
I am still thinking on the flume and air intake holes, should i put intakes on each side down low? Do you really think it needs a flume? I can do it just wasn't sure for grilling if it would be needed?
Thanks for the ideas there and im trying to make the legs separate for hauling it places but that's just proving to be more work, so i might just do it like you did.

sand = we put about an inch or so along the bottom and just let it sit in there. we put the coals on the bottom rack and just dump the big chunks after each use. the small ashes/dust, we just let that sit in there until it starts to be a problem with air flow against the bottom of the lower rack. once there is a significant amount, you can either scoop off the top layer (which should only be dust and ash anyway) until you start to get down to the sand, or just use a shop vac and take the whole works out and replace the sand with new. since it's so cheap, it's hardly worth the effort to sift it out or rinse it to keep it. one bag should last at least 2 or 3 "rounds" of replacing the sand. My grandfather has been doing the same thing (that's where i learned about it) in his grill since the day it was purchased, and I can remember him using that grill for at least 20 years. there is a little surface rust on it, but the interior is still rust free.

as far as the intakes, put one on each side, like you said... low enough to be below the coals. the only reason I would worry about the flue being there would be to keep the smoke from building up in the grill, making a small mushroom cloud in your face when you go to open the grill. I would at least put a hole or two with a damper on the back side. I have seen guys actually use their flue stacks as a back-stop for the top before. I'm not sure if I like that idea, since it's only a thin-gauge barrel, but to each his own.

as far as the legs go, yeah, it will probably be a pain to do it. however, you may be able to modify some of these bad boys to suit your needs. I have them for my welding, and they are invaluable, and stronger than you would believe.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardw...atalogId=10053

they are all-metal, so you can weld to them, and are rated for something stupid, like 2,500 lbs per pair. that should do it. actually, thinking about it now, i can see a very easy way to do it,but i'll let you think about it first. :)

Later,
Andy

[Pandemonium]

I guess i should have mentioned that im trying to do this cheap as i can because im laid off right now so im really just making this for something to do but i dont want to go buy the square metal to do the legs right. I have about 50 bucks into it so far so not too bad yet. i can get a 20 foot stick of metal for twenty four bucks or so but am holding out for free metal or maybe use rebar if i can find that cheap. plus i have a gass grill that i use so really this is gonna be for taking to the park or a party grill when you need room to cook a lot of food.

[aczeller]

http://weldfabzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=35.0

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php...&highlight=BBQ

there's a couple links to my build on it.

Later,
Andy

[Pandemonium]

Thanks i am on weldingweb already too