A few questions on welding up a BBQ

ggarner · Posted: Mon Mar 22 10 10:26 am Post subject: A few questions on welding up a BBQ

Ok first of all I would like to say these forums are awesome! See so many cool ideas and builds... very impressive!!!

So my friend really wants me to help him make a grill, and he is getting married in a couple months so I thought it would be a cool idea to suprize them with a new hand made BBQ for their house.

So after playing 20 questions with him i have found out that he wants a "Santa Maria" style cooker... pretty popular out here on the west coast. So my bugdet is pretty limited @ the moment... So here is what I am thinking... and hoping to get some suggestions on. (I know this is mostly a smoker website but figured you welding folks would be able to answer these questions... ultimately i want to weld myself a smoker)

So here is a pic of a "santa maria" style grill for those who have not hear of it

I am going to be using a 50gal drum and cutting it in half and using that. I plan on welding up a support to keep the coals off the drum with expanded metal and some angle iron... making the stand for the grill etc out of angle iron with the shelf on from and the sides and then wheels on 1 side and handles on the other side to move it around.

My real question is i need some input on how to make the apparatus so the grill can be raised and lowered. I was thinking maybe using some C channel to make the uprights, and then finding square tubing that fit snugly around it that i could attach the grill frame to it. Then having a piece of rod bend to make a handle attached to some chain or braided steel cable that will raise and lover the grill.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

SoEzzy · Posted: Mon Mar 22 10 11:17 am Post subject:

You could go old school and use a cog and ratchet to hold it in place.

If you use chain from each corner on the end to a central chain over the top bar this would restrict the height you could crank it up to.

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k.a.m. · Posted: Mon Mar 22 10 11:25 am Post subject:

Welcome to the ring ggarner, looking forward to seeing some pics of your cooks. Smile

And following your cooker build. Smile

I like the channel iron idea, that will make for some sturdy uprights. You can heat and bend some 2'' x 1/4'' flat bar to fit around the channel then weld those to the top of the grate. I would opt for the cable instead of chain, I believe the up and down movement will be much smoother.
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killswitch505 · Posted: Mon Mar 22 10 12:18 pm Post subject:

+ 1 SoEzzy & K.A.M. I've built or helped build a few Santa Maria over the years and the cog and ratchet is the only good way to do it IMHO and cable is way smother then chain if you have a harbor freight near you buy two of the cheapest come-a-longs you can find they will have the cogs and spools you will need and if you buy a heavy duty come-a-long the cable will be to big (thick) and wont want to wrap around the spools correctly every time. If you PM me I�ll help you all I can
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ggarner · Posted: Mon Mar 22 10 2:43 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the welcomes! I should be getting the tank this week so I can start cutting it apart etc.

Thats a great idea on getting the cogs from HF. I think we have a few around in San Diego so once i get the project started I will take pics and try to keep you guys updated.

Eventually I want to do a smoker, and have been skimming Craigs List in my area for old propane tanks but have not found any yet.

Wreckless · Posted: Mon Mar 22 10 7:15 pm Post subject:

I have never seen the official name for those cookers, nice to know and it has been years since I have seen one. They are nice looking. Just having finished attempting to fix a garage door system, the system on it may work. Might look to the spring assist system used on one of those, using opposing reverse winding cable spools at each end and the ratchet system our ingenious fellow forumites mentioned previously. Welcome to the Ring Smile

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ggarner · Posted: Sun Apr 04 10 2:34 pm Post subject:

Ok well i got the tank and got it cut!

It was a tank I got from a friend who uses isopropanol at work.

First I emptied out the remaining alcohol, then rinsed it with 5 gal of water 4x and then filled it fully and emptied it out. Then ran a fan in it to blow out and remaining fumes.

Here it is after cutting in half

Tomorrow I hope to start working on the frame etc. Went to the metal supply on friday and picked up 60' of 1.25" angle iron and 10' of C channel, and a 4x8' piece of expanded metal. Also stopped by harbor freight and thanks to the suggestion from killswitch505 I picked up a cheap come a long that I plan on parting out to used for the grill stop. Bought 4 steel wagon wheels on ebay so I can use one of them for the wheel to roll the grill up and down.

Here is a mock up of what it will look like when its done.

hatfam · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 9

I am wanting to build an offset smoker/grill that will be on wheels so I can move it between the garage, deck- patio and trailer. I was planing on using a car scissor jack to raise and lower the charcaol basket/frame. The handle would be removable. Do you think it will work?

ggarner · Posted: Mon Apr 05 10 4:15 am Post subject:

I would think so. Only problem I see is that those are designed to lift so much weight that just to get a 3" lift of your coals you would probably have to spin the handle around 30 times?

k.a.m. · Posted: Mon Apr 05 10 8:47 am Post subject:

ggarner, very nice cuts on the barrel. I like your design and will be watching for more pics. This should be a fun build. Very Happy

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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

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bordurlin · Joined: 06 Apr 2010 Posts: 7 Location: Alabama

Just a thought, but you might use a windlass type apparatus to raise the rack, similar to an old well bucket retrieval system. Use 1/8" stainless cable on each end and secure it either to, or through the pipe that makes up the "winding axle". For the mechanical part that you wind it up with, I would get a boat trailer winch. These actually have the gear with a "stop". So, you can raise the rack without fear of it dropping. There's a release to let it back down, but you'll have to hold on to the handle because there's no "clicker" to catch it if you let go. If you can, you could use tube steel for the guides on the ends of the grill, and weld a little larger tube steel to each end of the rack to slip over the guides. This would keep the rack from tilting as it was raised, as long as you didn't have much slop in the fit. Just an idea.
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ggarner · Posted: Wed Apr 07 10 2:48 pm Post subject:

Thanks K.A.M.!!!!

I am pretty anal about doing stuff as close to perfect as I can HAHA. But as this progresses people will probably see that.

I had some time today so I built the main frame that goes around the drum and supports it. Here are some pics of it going together.

I measured the width of the drum and then made the width of the frame 1/2" smaller. Cut the 45's on the angle iron then fit it up and tacked it together. This is the top side after welding it up.

Another corner

This is what the bottom side of the frame looks like.

And here is the whole thing.

I ended up deciding I didnt want the gaps in the top of the frame to rust so I put a bead over it and then ground it off. I will take some pics of the final frame tomorrow.

Hoping that tomorrow I can get the legs put on it and then I plan on bolting the drum to the frame so it wont ever move around on me.

Took me quite some time to make sure this was perfectly square, but all the other parts will be welded onto this so I wanted to make sure I had something square to start with!

k.a.m. · Posted: Wed Apr 07 10 7:52 pm Post subject:

ggarner, that is some nice work right there. Very Happy

When I build my grates and just about any square made from angle I always cope the ends. It takes a bit longer but the fit up is more accurate and easier to square up. At least for me it is,just a tip that might help down the road. keep up the fine work, I will be looking for more updates.
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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

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killswitch505 · Posted: Wed Apr 07 10 10:06 pm Post subject:

really nice fitting man I cant wait for more updates I cant show my dad this post or he will want to build on which means I�ll end up building it lol
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ggarner · Posted: Thu Apr 08 10 3:29 am Post subject:

bordurlin · Joined: 06 Apr 2010 Posts: 7 Location: Alabama

I think that cutting them on a 45 deg. will be better because there will be less welding required. Just two lines on each side. If you make a "lap" joing, you'll have more cut to cut surfaces that will need to be welded up, one vertical and two horizontal per side. And, as good a job as you're doing with those mitred ends, I wouldn't change anything.
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If you don't use your head, you might as well have two butts. If you have two butts, make sure that one of them is a Boston Butt, and smoke it!!!!

k.a.m. · Posted: Thu Apr 08 10 10:52 am Post subject:

ggarner, I am not aware of an easier way for the cuts. I also cut my perpendicular first then cut the linear and clean up the left overs from the tab. I always cut my longest pieces and cope them, then I just adjust my widths to the thickness of my material.
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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

ggarner · Posted: Thu Apr 08 10 2:56 pm Post subject:

Thanks k.a.m.! I may give that a try when I do the lower shelf.

Here is what I did today, got the legs cut and attached. I am pretty tall so I went with a 32" tall leg

Here is what the corners look like after I ground off the welds. You can see the heat marks from when I welded the legs on.

This is what it looks like with the drum sitting in the frame.

Tomorrow I plan on putting the side and front shelves on as well as the shelf on the bottom for holding firewood.

k.a.m. · Posted: Thu Apr 08 10 7:38 pm Post subject:

ggarner, very nice looking. Very Happy

I will be watching for more pics and updates, she is starting to take shape. Smile

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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

ggarner · Posted: Fri Apr 09 10 3:13 pm Post subject:

I got the side shelf cut and welded in place this evening but had a bunch of other stuff come up so I did not get a chance to take any pics. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the front and lower shelves done, but that may have to wait until this weekend.

I tried out doing the cope cut for the side shelf and it worked well so thanks for the info k.a.m.

I have a question for you... I only have an 220A AC stick welder, what rods do you use for this sort of stuff? Right now I am using 7014 1/8" but i am wondering if i could get some better results with a 3/32" rod. Biggest problem I am having is when I try to do the inner corners where the 2 pieces of angle come together I have a hard time getting the weld puddle to stick on all 3 faces (the 2 uprights at the 90 and the flat piece under them) Any suggestions? Is this because I am using the larger rod, should I try and weave the rod a little? I have only been stick welding for about a month or 2 now so I am trying to learn all that I can.