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UDS charcoal basket "how I built it" video

Rodney

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Hey everyone-

Using an upside down clamp light on a 55-gallon drum as a tripod for my iPhone 3GS, I recorded the process of building my charcoal basket. Notice I said "how i built it" and not "how-to", because I'm sure there are better ways of doing it. Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCyKypslPhs (480p resolution! Sweet.)

First off, sorry for the low volume level... Gonna have to turn your speakers up a bit to hear what I'm saying.

Some thoughts:

- The last 4" or so of the expanded sheet is difficult to bend when holding it down with your own weight. It was difficult for me, and I weigh 255! Finding a different way to clamp it down would be best, or just use the hammer method all the way around (although it won't come out as smooth unless you're good with a hammer). Using the thinner stuff from Home Depot would be much easier, but may not last as long.

- I think it was easier starting with a 2' square sheet, cutting it into 8" x 24" pieces, and bending the wall of the basket in two halves. Bending by this method with a 48" piece would've been a major pain in the butt.

Other comments are welcome!

-Rodney
 
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Cool video. I did mine by bolting the two pieces together and laying them flat on the floor. I then stood the grate on it's side right in the middle at one end and just rolled it by hand. Your way would have probably been easier.
 
Great video wish I knew how to weld

I'm really not good at it, and this was great practice. It's nice when something doesn't have to be pretty... ;-) That said, this thing could be built with wire just as easily (I imagine some 304 stainless TIG welding rods, .050" diameter or so, would probably be decent wire to use)... Just gotta twist the wire nice and tight with pliers so it's not rickety!
 
I left you a comment over at the youtube Bro' Great Video...Did that Dog stay out the way?!! LOL...Peppa

Thanks! Yeah, she stayed out of the way... at first, she wanted to hang out with me, until I started the cutoff saw. You might notice that when I was cutting the second piece, she was way off in the background. I put her in her kennel before I welded so I wouldn't burn her eyes.

I'm getting more and more southern... My dog is a Catahoula Leopard Dog mix (a hog-hunting breed native to Louisiana, her name is Roux... get it? :wink:) and now I have a smoker and am gonna be making fatties and ABT's, neither of which I'd heard of before joining this forum. My friends and family will be very familiar with BOTH very soon. :thumb::becky:

-r
 
I loe the fact that you left in the parts where you had to rethink what you were doing. That is really helpful! Good job.
 
Great video!
I've built a number of UDS's and baskets and have found that if you cut the expanded metal the other direction (diamond pattern up and down rather than horizontal) it is much easier to form/roll...and if you're building a number of them and get a 4'x8' sheet of expanded metal, you can get 8 pieces 12" in height out of it and I use the charcoal grate for the 18 1/2" Weber rather than the grate for the 22 1/2" Weber...I built my first couple of baskets using the 22 1/2" charcoal grate, but felt it was too wide in diameter wasting fuel and space and always ended up using a piece of expanded metal to block 1/2 of it off.
IMG_9651.jpg



This was my first basket that I built back in 08 using the charcoal grate for the 22 1/2" Weber...and it shows the expanded metal piece I inserted to make it's capacity smaller
I don't have any pron of my new style baskets with the vertical diamond pattern or the charcoal grate for the 18 1/2" Weber... but will get some up soon.
 
Now I feel stupid. ;-) I did so much thinking ahead of time about how I wanted to build my UDS, but didn't even THINK about cutting the expando one way or the other... I just started marking and cutting. Of COURSE it's easier to bend in the other direction! How much easier? Well, I just happen to have the tools in front of me to figure it out... LOL...

So, here I go with a major egghead move:

picture.php


This model shows two pieces of expando with one edge magically glued to a wall and 20 pounds hanging off of the other end of the piece, and the displacement numbers show how far the end of the piece sags under load. It turns out that expando is 5.2 times stiffer (and therefore stronger) if you try to bend it the way that I did. In other words, BEND IT THE OTHER WAY!

I knew it shouldn't be as hard as it was, but I didn't know I was doing 5 times as much work as I had to!!! :rolleyes::crazy::doh:

So, now that you all have seen me wrestle with that expando, you know what NOT to do. :thumb: Glad I could help.

-r
 
I cut it the other way, and use a 48" piece as well, and just bend it over my knee. The first one, I made the bottom out of the same stuff, but on the next two, I got lazy and just bought a charcoal grate out of an 18-1/2" Weber. I overlap it, and weld it. I also put a piece of 1/8" X 3/4" flat bar around the top, and 3 brackets so I can mount the basket on the U-bolts that hold the grates up for direct grilling.
IMGP4836.jpg
 
Don't feel stupid...I built 2 before I figured it out:doh:...

Well, I probably would've done it again had you not mentioned it! :laugh: Thanks! Eh, it's okay... I needed the workout. :thumb: Just think... my method of bending the expando will work 5 times as well with the "grain" of the material turned the right way.
 
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