Handle For The Big Green Egg

I have not posted much in awhile, been busy with some projects around the house. For one I am in the middle of resurfacing my kitchen cabinets. Hope to have that done in 2 weeks.

So in my down time waiting for stain to dry I made a new handle for my Egg.

The tree is an Acacia, come to find out it is an Exotic type of tree. I had to do a little pruning, 1st thing I made was a hiking stick, it came out so good I knew it would look good as a handle. The wood is very hard similar to Mesquite, not sure how it would do a wood for Smoking meat.

First the tree, it actually leaned over last year during a big wind storm, we thought it was gone but it seems to be happy.



Started with a limb as straight as I could find.



I had a buddy cut it in half with a Band Saw and then secured it with some metal straps. I used the old handle as a template for drilling the holes and cut to length.





The bark is so hard a 40 Grit orbital sander just bounced around on it. Took the Makita grinder and smoothed it down.



Preparing to finish sanding and ready for stain and exterior Spar coating, I used 5 coats. I have some concerns about how it will hold up in the Arizona summers, I try to keep the Egg under the patio most times.



So it came out pretty good for a 1st time try. Fits my hand better and has a nice beefy look.



After it was done I thought Dowel pins may have worked better. The screws are Stainless Steel so they will last a lifetime.



Thanks for checking it out. Let me know what you all think.

Thanks All! I have to ask, where all the old timers, have ye all abandoned me...?