question for you grill makers smoker makers

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When yall make your grills/smokers do you also make the grate that the food will be on or is that something you buy. I'm planning a surprise build for my brother that will slip into his receiver hitch and will swing out away from the truck for use. He's a die hard Virginia Tech fan, think mama dropped him on his head cause we were both born in Charlottesville, VA. Him at Martha Jefferson Hospital and me at the University of Va hospital I'm using some 2x1/8" square tubing and I have some 1/8" tread plate I'm gonna use to make the grill out of. The grill when finished is going to be 16 x 16. Gonna have to do some measuring for the depth of things, no body likes charred burgers before a game. build pics soon to come.93 Bobcat 225GMillerMatic 135HF Tig 91811
Reply:3/4 x 9 expanded metal.Make the frame out of 1/2 solid round or #4 or 5 weldable rebar.Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)
Reply:I prefer 3/8 hot rolled round spaced 3/8" apart. Works like a champ and won't warp and get all wanky like expanded metal will. If you're going with the 3/4 #9 get it flat rolled not raisedTeach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:or you shop at lowes and see what size replacement grates they sell and build your's to that size
Reply:I buy sheets of 4x8 expanded metal. I usually wrap my expanded metal in ½" or ¾" angle iron so I can slide them outSent from my DROID RAZR using TapatalkHome hobbiest:Build all sorts of BBQ pits & smokers (trailer & non)Lincoln 225 Cracker box (antique)O/P torchRedneck tools out the a$$.They get me by!
Reply:Ask at your local steel supplier if they have any s.s. expanded metal drops (leftovers from their shear).Thermal Arc  Power-Tech 10/270  stick welderLincoln buzz-boxPurox O/A setupNothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool
Reply:Most common for a smoker is expanded metal framed in angle.For a grill you may want to pattern it more like a grill surface like was already mentioned.GravelThe difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference.
Reply:The key to not burning the food is to have suitable distance between the coals, and bottom of food. I'm a big time BBQ'r, but most of what I do is smoking. Home hobbiest:Build all sorts of BBQ pits & smokers (trailer & non)Lincoln 225 Cracker box (antique)O/P torchRedneck tools out the a$$.They get me by!Home hobbiest:Build all sorts of BBQ pits & smokers (trailer & non)Lincoln 225 Cracker box (antique)O/P torchRedneck tools out the a$$.They get me by!
Reply:I went over board when I built my smoker, I used 1/4 309 SS rod. Spaced them about a 1in apart tig welded them together. They worked out great. Very sturdy, it cost me $8 per 12 feet of rod.good luck Attached Images
Reply:Originally Posted by Burpee3/4 x 9 expanded metal.Make the frame out of 1/2 solid round or #4 or 5 weldable rebar.
Reply:Originally Posted by Basicwelder54I went over board when I built my smoker, I used 1/4 309 SS rod. Spaced them about a 1in apart tig welded them together. They worked out great. Very sturdy, it cost me $8 per 12 feet of rod.good luck