Made a portable barbecue for the van...Wanna see?

[Happystamps]

Thought you chaps might find this interesting... I wanted a neat way of cooking some barbecue'd steak etc for when my camper finally fits the road. The portable barbecues are just rubbish, and a big'un would take up too much space.

So, bought myself one of these-



This is 9" x 9" x 25" approximately. More than enough for a few steaks.

Then I bought 50cm of 30mm OD, 1mm WT stainless steel tube,
2m of 26.9mm OD galvanised tube,
a stainless steel 1" welded mesh sheet offcut,
1m of m8 threaded stainless rod,
and 4 wingnuts.

First off, I cut the 30mm OD tube into 4 equal sections, and welded big penny washers flat on one end. Then I arranged those inside the ammunition tin, one in each corner, open side down. Weld them in place.

Next, turn the tin over, drill a hole big enough to accept some tin snips in each corner, and cut out the inside of the tube. (I don't have a good hole cutter, and couldn't be arsed to work out exactly where the tubes where)

Now cut the 2m galv tube into 4 50cm sections. These are your legs, and they slot into the bottom of the ammunition tin. I chose galv for these as it's cheap- everything in the flames is stainless as it doesn't rust, and I don't like the idea of having galv right in the flames with food on it.

So, you've got the basis of the barbecue. I drilled 12 holes in the long sides of it (8 per side) in two rows, that gives me holes for 4 supports at 2 different heights. Next took the threaded rod, cut it into 4, and welded a nut on one end of each piece. The other ends got dressed with a file and a die to restore the threads.

Now just cut your mesh to the right shape, fill the bugger with charcoal and you're off! Total cost was about £25. It cooks great, and once you're done it makes a suprisingly good heated bench (haven't burned my bum yet!). It sits at a great height for plopping yourself down and tending with a beer, and when you pull the legs out you can chuck them in the tin. In fact, you can also fit a whole bag of charcoal, firelighters, and all your cooking utensils in there too, and they stay nice and dry.

Here are some photos...













Oh, and it also fits perfectly on my roof rack. Happy days.

 

[mike202]

Ingenious. Is the explosive sign for the 'bangers' :lol:

Now just got to wait for this rain to stop!

 

[Fortunate Son]

Like!!

 

[Happystamps]

Cheers chaps might have to get the existing paint off at some point and re-do it in high temp barbecue stuff, but it doesn't seem to affect the taste as it is!

 

[CHILDSEY]

Great idea
Where did you get the metal tin from?
Cheers Paul

 

[Happystamps]

Great idea
Where did you get the metal tin from?
Cheers Paul

eBay,private seller not a shop or anything. If you search "ammunition tin" on ebay it normally comes up with a few.
things like this- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/army-ammunition-shell-metal-box-case-/301244527170?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item462392b242" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I got a great one last year that i used to make a sound system, I'm very proud of that:

 

[Happystamps]

Ingenious. Is the explosive sign for the 'bangers' :lol:

Now just got to wait for this rain to stop!

It was actually put on by the PO, a builder I think. I was disappointed when it started melting. PO had a dymo label on the top that said "Caution: HILTI DX450 CHARGES"
I think by that he was referring to the nails for his nail gun.

 

[CHILDSEY]

Great idea
Where did you get the metal tin from?
Cheers Paul

eBay,private seller not a shop or anything. If you search "ammunition tin" on ebay it normally comes up with a few.
things like this- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/army-ammunition-shell-metal-box-case-/301244527170?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item462392b242" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I got a great one last year that i used to make a sound system, I'm very proud of that:

Cool, i'll have a look.
Cheers Paul

 

[magoo]

Cool, how safe is the melting paint though?

Or wait....

http://ammoboxcreations.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=59" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Happystamps]

Probably pretty safe- what do you know about lead?




I do wonder, to be honest. Plan is to strip the existing stuff off it and buy some proper barbeque paint, or in the time being just burn the existing stuff off by chucking some logs etc in there and lighting it.