How do I build a charcoal grill out of a 55 gallon drum?

[Phlosphr]

I have a friend who works on the docks near where I live. Every once in a while he calls me and says he's got something I may be interested in. This weekend I got such a call, and when I saw what he brought I immediately got excited, and visions of large BBQ's flooded my mind, and the smells of savory charcoal grilled pork and beef ribs resonated in my mind

My dilema is this: How do I go about making the charcoal grill out of this 55 gallon drum. I have a torch to cut it with, so no problem there...And the drum is brand new, so I have no clean up of rust....

However, how do I need to sterilize it before use? Do I need to sterilize it if the coals are not going to go directly on the bottom of the drum? How about an exhaust pipe? Will I need one of those? Also, can I make the frame out of wood? I would not think it will get hot enough to ignite the wood....It will also make it much lighter, and easier to manuever. I'll probably put wheels on one end.

Any Ideas?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Rule # 1--

Be certain the contents were non-toxic.

Never use a drum that was used to store pesticides--they don't always wash away.

Aw Hell! Just go buy a goddam grill. It's safer.

[Philster]

Originally Posted by Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor

Rule # 1--


Aw Hell! Just go buy a goddam grill. It's safer.

No! This is Phlsphr we're dealing with.

Phlsphr, you can use wood, but it should not be in direct contact with primary parts of the grill/drum. If you used wood handles, if they had some metal mount between them and the drum, you'd be fine.

Like the grill in the link, the wood has a metal banding around it. High temp paint can be found in auto parts stores.

For the frame, again, make sure you have some buffer between the wood frame and the drum. I think you could get away with direct contact, but heat can loosen up joints. Use a good exterior glue on any joint, even screwed joints.

[MikeS]

Is this the kind of thing you're looking for? This set of instructions involves welding, though.

On preview, yeah, make sure that you won't be eating meat infused with malathion or worse.

[Phlosphr]

Yep, that's the exact thing I am looking to do Mike. The Barrel is brand new, meaning it has not been treated with anything, quite literally, it's off the factory floor. It was overstock, to be shipped to factories or what have you, to use for whatever.....I asked that Q, first. Apparently, there were several guys working that day who got one.

[astro]

Why not make it into a time capsule for future generations?

[Ethilrist]

Shop around at garage sales and see if you can find a couple dead barbecues so you can scavenge the legs/handles/wheels off of them.

I would recommend not using wooden legs. You're right, it might never get hot enough to burn them, but when are you going to find out if you're wrong? When it's full of burning hot coals, hot enough to set wood on fire, and falling over, that's when.

[silenus]

Our auto shop teacher built me one of those out of an old malt-extract barrel. The frame needs to be steel. You also need to cut a smaller piece of grating for the bottom of the barrel to keep the hot coal up off the drum. This gives you some ventilation and helps prevent burn-thru. Mine has an exhaust-pipe off of one end made out of a piece of 5" tubing. If you put a vent hole and damper at the bottom of one end, and the exhaust pipe at the top of the other end, you get a very nice draft.

Paint the sucker with high-temp. grill paint, and you are all set.

[Phlosphr]

I agree with painting it with the high temp grill paint. I will go price it out at Lowes when I leave here...

And Phil - I really like your idea of creating a metal bracket around the wood. It will offer the aesthetics of the wood, and the durability from the metal. And I won't find out the hard way that pressure treated wood can spontaneously combust whilst grilling massive amounts of back ribs.

I just spoke with my wife on the phone and she says she wants to do the welding... Jeez, you teach them once how to weld and they want to build you a grill frame and take all the fun from YOUR projects!!