Santa Maria...It's a grill!

[Wreckless]

A fellow stops by Wrecklessville..." Can you build me a Santa Maria style grill?" Wreckless replies "Well...Sure! No problem". Nevermind the fact that the furthest I have ventured into that world was a few peeks at "ggarners" fine build and a handful of other pics. I opened the door for Murphy and his strange set of laws with the thought "How hard can it be?"
The grill would be 4' x 3' with 16" sides. For the legs and tie in bracing underneath, 1 1/2' x 1/8" square tubing was used. The legs were going to attach to the bottom of the 1/4" plate. While out purchasing the tubing, I gave a buzz to k.a.m. - da man, mostly for kicks and a second opinion on the tubing size. "What size tubing are you using for the sub-frame?" " he asks. "I'm not" I replied. "Ok, good luck with that" he says. The legs would now be tied into a subframe. I was worried about twist over time, not anymore.
The subframe and legs...


a 2" drain, steel casters mounted to 1/4" plate foot pads

to be continued...
_________________

[k.a.m.]

Like Mike say's "sometimes you gotta ignore Kevin"
But most of the time not.
Looking good my Friend I cant wait to see the outcome say in about 30 min. or so or are you going to break your own record today.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Reverse Flow
Hybrid Cooker

[GF]

Wreckless, looks good, very solid.
"How hard can it be?"...you should know better than to say that. Even thinking that makes a Murphy visit mandatory.

[TrailerBuilder]

k.a.m. wrote:

[Logtrucker]

Looking good just like troy i have one of these to do also cant wait to see it finished

[Wreckless]

Kevin... it goes just like that...thanks
GF...thanks, yeah, I know, I don't need to be inviting Murphy, I believe he has his own key to the place
Troy...glad to do it. It should free up time for some cool TrailerBuilder spin on yours
Logtrucker...thanks, I'm expecting some cool sh!t on yours as well
To backtrack just a bit, I used an open joint design for the sub frame and bracing frame, sometimes I listen to kevin. I had planned on attaching the bracing frame after the legs were in place, instead, this design kept the legs from pulling out of square.


The sides in place

This being a 5 sided cube (sans the 6'th side) I did not want anything pulling the open side. A 1 1/2" x 1/4" flat frame was put in place while still in the spot tack stage of the game.

The entire build to this point was welded out, the side joints and top frame were ground smooth for a seamless effect, typical Wreckless style. With it all welded out, the uprights could now go into place without the afore mentioned pulling, the box was strong and sound. 2" x 1" x 3/16" c-channel was used for the uprights. The uprights were notched and plates to hold the crank mecho were welded in

To be continued...
_________________

[TrailerBuilder]

So how long did it take for the light bulb to go off in your head on the open joint design

Seriously Mike, that is an awesome build bro, A great job as always One question I do have though, what is your cooking grate height? I only ask because Im gathering information for when I start mine
_________________
Trailers By Troy

X2 Finished Build
Disco Time

[Wreckless]

[Wreckless]

With the uprights in place, time to start figuring the crank mechanism. I had considered drilling and pinning the cable attachment to the crank shaft much like ggarners fine build ( which was indeed the inspiration and standard for this build) and letting it roll up along the shaft. The spacing, timing, etc. looked like more than I wanted to do to get it all in sync. I went with a straight pull design via some store bought pulleys mounted to a 5/8" CR crankshaft. To guide the crankshaft smoothly, I purchased some off the shelf sleeves / collars with set screws.
The pulleys attached and the inside sleeves welded in place

Next step on the list was attaching the cable to the pulleys. I was considering a drill hole in the pulley with a crimp on the end. While I was pondering and figuring the point of attachment to the pulleys, my tool and die maker bud stopped by. He had other ideas. The first order of business was to spot and countersink the shaft for set screw pockets to eliminate any slippage.

Too be continued...
_________________

[Wreckless]

Not satisfied with the drill hole and crimp, the pulleys were mounted on a 30 degree and a thru hole was drilled, passing thru just at the inside radius of the pulley and just above the shaft bore. The pulley came with a 1/4-20 set screw on one side with an identical blank pocket located on the 180 degree side. We used the blank pocket for the thru hole. The top side of the pocket was drilled and tapped for an additional 1/4-20 set screw. The 1/16" SS cable passes thru the 1/4" set screw hole and locks down for a nice secure attachment.

To be continued...
_________________

[Wreckless]

The finished pulley

The cooking grate was notched for clearance and a 7" leftover piece of 1 1/2" tubing was welded to the grate as a guide thru the c-channel. Cable attachment on the grate...I needed a straight pull design. A loop thru the tubing unprotected would eat the the SS cable in short order. A block was machined for each side, the cable passes thru and is restrained by a 1/4-20 set screw

A new $10 ratchet strap was hacked for theratchet gear for the crank mecho, welded to the crank and a locking lever was raided from a old fubar comealong


Fire grate fabbed using 1/4" x 1 1/2" flat bar and 1/2" rebar on 1/2" centers for either charcoal or splits. Instead of floating a grate suspended on side rails, I figured some sag over time, legs were welded to the 4 corners and one leg in the middle, 1/8" shorter than the outside legs for an inward bow for whatever bow developed over time.


Inlet damper on the front for draft

Steel casters

Painted Rusto Satin Black


_________________

[k.a.m.]

Mike, very nice work my Friend. You turned out an awesome grill right there.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Reverse Flow
Hybrid Cooker

[GF]

Wreckless, The grill looks great.
Nice work on the crank setup and cable, I'm guessing that could be a real PITA.
I'm sure the new owner is gonna be real happy with it.

[Wreckless]

GF...Thank you for the kind comments, approval here from my fellow ringers means a lot. Forgot to mention earlier...ggarner...Thanks for posting your build. I used more than one idea to make this work, Hope you don't mind. I posted mine in keeping it going. Thanks k.a.m. for the support, nothing better than some expert know-how when the fabbers block rears it's head. And...Thanks to my tool and die maker bud Jimbo, that was some pretty cool sh!t you thought up.
_________________

[TrailerBuilder]

Mike, that thing is beyond kick a$$! Another outstanding job my friend. Ive had a few different ideas in my head of my future build and you just added a ton more. Very nicely done man
_________________
Trailers By Troy

X2 Finished Build
Disco Time

[Chuck]

Wreckless the grill came out looking great
One of the best ones I have seen.
What is that big thing in your shop on the stands

Chuck

[seattlepitboss]

Love it!

If you built one of those for Seattle you'd have to build in a roof to keep the rain out. Then you could grill in the rain!

seattlepitboss

[J.O.]

Man, that is a sweet looking grill! You did it again.
More pictures and close ups please . Bookmarked and ready to copy.
_________________

[Logtrucker]

Way to go that turned out awesome i will tell you up front i am going to use some of your ideas great job as usual

[smootz]

Nice looking grill. The mechanicals look like they will work smooth and hold up for a long time.

You don't waste much time do you? What was that, three days to build?
_________________
SCOTTIE

150 gallon vertical
propane pig
180 RF
www.mootzwelding.com