Instructables
loading
Create an Instructable

With Instructables you can share what you make with the world, and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.

How it Works »
I decided to try my hand at making an Altoids tin grill after reading about the eBq.  This one is powered by a standard-sized charcoal briquette and is capable of cooking a full-size hot dog (cut down to size) or smaller hamburger patties with ease.  It gets mighty hot after it's fired up so use plenty of caution and keep a large glass of water handy.

If you decide to make one of your own please post a picture in the comments!  I'd love to see what you guys are coming up with.  The propane version is coming soon! :D

Step 1: Materials

Materials
1 Altoids sours tin
4x 1.5" sheet metal screws with wide heads (or 4x washers to match)
8x nuts to thread on screws
70mm metal computer fan guard (similar style to the one shown)
92mm metal computer fan guard (similar style to the one shown)

* I scavenged my fan guards from an old computer power supply.  They just happened to be the correct size

** I think these are the same fan guards that I'm using: 70mm and 92mm

Tools
Dremel tool with cutting wheel
Drill with bit slightly bigger than screws
Tin snips
Pliers/Needle nose pliers
Screwdriver
Safety goggles and gloves

I was really impressed by your altoids BBQ grill. I wanted to do the same but couldn't find any altoid sours anywhere. I had some metal food containers laying around and decided to use those. Here's what I came up with.<br><br>It's a bit bigger. Holds 4 charcoal briquettes.<br><br>I also made a lid and used a drawer handle on top.<br><br>I grilled up some salmon today. It was ok. I think it needs to be hotter to get that delicious seared flesh thing going.<br><br>Thanks.
<p>I think i'm going to do yours. really cool i love the handle</p>
Wow, that one turned out great! Thanks for sharing your project with us =)
yours looks awesome! what tin did u use?
I really don't know. It was part of a $99, 90-piece kitchen set from Fingerhut.
Love the idea here. I just finished making my own, albeit a tad bit bigger. I made it out of a 1 cp measuring cup, some fan grills, and screws. Great job on the grill. I call mine the &quot;No-Frills-Hill-Grill&quot;
I love it! Looks like you did a great job putting this together. Did you make the upper grill yourself?
No the top grill part was cut out of another type of fan grill. Its a 120mm aluminum generic type, just a bit different from your typical circular fan grill.
i live in england an no way near me sells altoids sours, any ideas of other tins?<br><br>Joe
<p>You might be able to find a tin with chocolates or cookies that might work</p>
<p>sooooo cool</p>
<p>Looks more like a Barbie Q....anyway...why cut most of the bottom out...what does the charcoal sit on? Wouldn't you tend to lose a lot of the heat that way? </p>
<p>This is my BBQ and I am 10 years old. I made this BBQ. We don't have Altoids Sours in Cloncurry, so I used Simpkins Travel Sweets.</p>
<p>Hello,</p><p>I am the editor for American Miniaturist Magazine and was wondering if you would like to feature your amazing tutorial in an upcoming issue. I would love to share your work with our readers if you would be interested. It's a great way to reach many people who have a passion for miniatures. You can email me at auralea@ashdown.co.uk if you are interested.</p><p>Thanks and have a lovely day,</p><p>~Auralea</p>
<p>i'm going to make that </p>
Nice grill but I was wondering what was the bottom fan part of the grill is for?
<p>If you look in the actual instruction part for putting together the bottom fan part of the grill, it states that is where to put the charcoal briquette, since it is too thick to be inside the tin, beneath the cooking grill. The bottom of the top part of the box is cut out, so the heat from the briquette on the bottom grill goes through to the top grill.</p>
to put little tools to clean the grill with
I love the mini weber but is the coolest ever... but are the fan grills safe to cook on?? I know that some metal surfaces are unsafe once you heat them?? Just a question as I will be making one of these for my son and he WILL use it!!!!!! <br>
<p>Some metals will leach into food etc in contact with them after heating. A public health official told me a fascinating story about a family with symptoms that looked a lot like food borne illness, but turned out to be heavy metal poisoning. They'd been using an old metal refrigerator shelf on top of a barrel as a charcoal grill..it was leaching heavy metals into the food as it cooked and built up in them over time. I dont remember which of the metal(s) were involved.</p>
good question
<p>Kudos to you for re purposing the fan guards!</p>
Good news, Valentines day and Easter is putting out metal containers of M&amp;M's<br>you can use instead of the Altoids tin. Made one today and it turned out great!
Great job!!
what size fan fan guards did you use?
I used three and four inch, just cut down to the size that fits and away you go!<br>
nice pics
Thanks for the compliment, I used a canvas paper as a backround. worked great!<br>
How did you attach the handle to the top? <br> <br>I have one of those tins, and I made one, but with shorter feet. <br> <br>I just need to know...
I used a brass nail, it even had a slight twist to it's body so It looks special. I used JB weld underneath. holds great! good luck and pls post your pics, thanks!
Can you buy the containers online anywhere? If so please send me a link.
I haven't looked on line, just had some from Christmas, Easter, and Valentines day from Walgreens, target.
I have a few of these kicking around- I just may have to make one or two of these.
Looks good. Nice work.
<p>a one brickette BBQ cool , love idea , great for a cupper,lol boil water or heat a can of stew ,cool </p>
<p>I see there haven't been comments in quite awhile, but had to comment! Made this for my son and son-in-law and packaged it in an &quot;apocalypse&quot; designed painted can (yes - they both watch that show) with other small survival items and it was a HUGE hit!!! I'll try to post a pic if they ever let them out of their sight!!</p>
<p>Amazing project. Thank you very much</p>
im gonna make this
That is so cool!!
what kind of grill could you make form a square one?
Works great. I love it. Cooks hotdogs well.
Maybe if you used shorter screws this could be collapsible!
I am soooo gonna make this before next weekend, so I can show it off at the camping trip with the other Boy Scouts in my troop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's exactly what I'm gonna' do!
Hi. I apologize for the lack of knowledge which led me to ask this question in the first place (thanks for the great gift idea btw!) but where does one find a fan guard in a computer (which computer part?) and do they need to be those particular sizes? thank you for any help!
If you are trying to salvage them from an old computer that's about to go to the dump, you can usually find them on the back of the case and inside on the power supply. The thing is they are not always the same style and size, and what you find may not work for something like this. This website sells what looks to be the same ones I used, but I didn't purchase them so I can't say for sure. Mine came off a dead computer power supply and just happened to be the right size. 70mm http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9406/ffg-21/70mm_Fan_Grill.html?tl=g47c221s996 92mm http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2615/ffg-05/92mm_Fan_Grill.html?tl=g47c221s542 If all else fails, improvise! =)
Whoops, looks like instructables removed my formatting.&nbsp; Here are the links to the fan gills<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9406/ffg-21/70mm_Fan_Grill.html?tl=g47c221s996" rel="nofollow">http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9406/ffg-21/70mm_Fan_Grill.html?tl=g47c221s996</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2615/ffg-05/92mm_Fan_Grill.html?tl=g47c221s542" rel="nofollow">http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2615/ffg-05/92mm_Fan_Grill.html?tl=g47c221s542</a><br />
any disscount codes?
K. Thanks

About This Instructable

317,892views

1,105favorites

License:

More by vmspionage:Altoids Sours BBQ Grill 
Add instructable to:
Contest Group

Related