Easy solar furnance with Grid Beam

My dad has a pretty good collection of scrap and devices he's bought on sale or at the thrift shop. He is a first rate scavenger. I came to visit my parents for a two week vacation. Looking at his collection I just knew I had to Make something.

After a quick look around I decided on one of the projects he would have certainly vetoed when I was a kid. A solar furnace built from the lens of an overhead projector.

Having recently been to a Maker Faire and greatly impressed with the open source building system called Grid Beam I decided to incorporate it into this project.

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Step 1: Gather Materials

You won't need much for this project and only one item is at all hard to find.

A sunny day. I found mine in Southern Colorado in June. 100F in the shade. Plenty of sun.
The Fresnel lens out of an overhead projector or back of an RV or other source.
Some wood. 4 to 6 feet of 1.5" or 2.0" square stock is ideal. (In reality mine was 1 2/8ths square)
A drill or drill press with a 5/8ths bit.
Six to Ten 1/4" carriage bolts and nuts. The bolts should be 1/4"-1/2" longer than twice the width of the square stock.
A socket or wrench for the bolts.
Some bricks are nice to have. Firebricks if you have them.