Homemade grates

[cheesegenie]

I was going to make some grates out of rebar, but my uncle gave me
an old BBQ. The cooking grill is kind of heavy and just the right size
for grates. The grill is kind of flat ,seems like a casting.Do you think
it would take the heat and last a while at least? It is made for cooking.

[Dave Y]

Chessegenie,
you can always try your bbq rack for a grate, I don't think it will hold up.
Have a back up plan in place. Please note i turned 1'" rebar into pretzels last year. I made a new set of grates for this season. What I made them out of is 2" pipe. drilled air holes in them and laid them in crossways, as i have along fire box. they seem to work quite well. I am, concerned about them lasting more than one season. Hope this helps.

[brookledge]

Rebar is a soft iron and will not hold up to heat.
Try to find something that is made out of cast iron to use.
Nothing is more frustrating when the grates drop to the ground when you have a good boil going. I remember that I had one of my grates fail and tried to use heavy angle iron but that didn't hold up.
One thing that may help is if you have a forced draft and keep the ashes cleaned out.
Keith

[cheesegenie]

I think I will start with the backup plan. Pipes. I do have some real grates
from an old evaporator (cast). They are too long and I don't know if I could cut them, hate to ruin them too. But I suppose I could try ,instead
of leaving them in the shed forever.I hate to waste stuff.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Guys,

Here is a great grating system that will last several years. You can go to Lowes or Home Depot or a stove place and they have the fireplace grates that have legs on them. They are about 18 to 24 inches long and about 16 inches wide. Buy however many you need to go across your arch and you may have to cut one to fill in the space fully. Then make a frame out of angle iron and sit the grates down in the angle iron frame. The grates do curve up on each side and you will have hills and valleys in the grating system, but it won't hurt a thing. I used this type of system for years and it works AWESOME. Be sure and get cast grates with small holes in the and not just the welded bar grates. I built a system for my 5' wide homemade evaporator I had for around $ 75 a few years ago! If you have a really wide evaporator, you can put firebrick or regular brick in the middle of the angle iron frame on both ends to help prevent sag. I also supported the sides of the angle iron frame with bricks. The angle iron was about 2 inches wide, so the brick sticking out an extra inch didn't hurt a thing.

Talk about a fire and draft!!!!! Awesome! :wink:

[Splashdam]

Regarding grates, Is 2" stainless steel angle good material?

[powerdub]

When the railroad fixed up the track around here a few years back they gave me a bunch of those thick angle brackets they use to hold the track in place. They are about 30" long and really rugged. I used those for three years without warping them until I got a new arch. I was using forced draft on them too.

[digman_41]

Cheesegenie,

Go to a scrap metal yard and buy a square cast iron storm sewer cover.
You can cut cast iron with a cut-off blade on an angle grinder easily and make it fit your specifications. I got some awesome grates for 20 cents per pound took one and a half for my 3x8 about 30 dollars worth.

Mark

[junkyard]

I went to my township garage and bought a bunch of old snow plow cutting edges. I set them on edge with a spacer between each oneand a piece of allthread to hold them together. the edges are about 6 inches wide by 5/8 ths
of an inch thick and 5 feet to 10 feet long depending on what plow or wing they fit. Real heavy but last a looong time, and cheap what ever old iron is going for. Often times they have other truck and heavy equipment parts in the iron pile that may have a use.
Jack

[ibby458]

I've used 4x4x1/2 angle iron. Cut to length with a torch and blow 3/4" holes all over it. I put them in the arch with the V pointing up, spaced 3/4 inch apart. THe gaps and holes let in plenty of air from the blower. At the end of the season, they looked like they did the day I put them in.

Wish I could get some of that SS angle at a reasonable price!