3 Simple Ways to
Share What You Make

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

PhotosPhotos

Share one or more photos of a project, recipe, or whatever you've made, quickly and easily.

Step by StepStep-By-Step

Share your step-by-step photos with text instructions of what you made so others can do it too!

VideoVideo

Share your how-to video. You'll need your embed code from a video site such as YouTube.

How to weld a barbecue.

How to weld a barbecue.
«
  • IMG_2967.JPG
  • IMG_2964.JPG
  • IMG_2975.JPG
  • IMG_2976.JPG

This Instructable is dedicated to the generosity of Steveastrouk, who taught us (Perryscope and I) the rudiments of welding, as well as lending us the equipment and materials to achieve this project.

He even brought the meat.
 
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up
 

Step 1When welding, first learn how to weld.

When welding, first learn how to weld.

Before we could put the barbecue together, we needed the skills and equipment to be able to do so.

Steveastrouk put together a nice TIG welding kit, along with masks and gloves, some lumps of scrap and a huge cast-iron bench to work at.

We learned:

  • Take it steady.
  • TIG welding gives you sun burn.
  • Make sure you have a good ground.
  • Keep the Amps as low as you can.
  • Moving the tip further from the work-piece increases the temperature.
  • Don't let the working end of the welding rod touch the welding tip while the far end is touching "ground".  The current earths through the rod and makes it very hot far too quickly to let go.

« Previous StepDownload PDFView All StepsNext Step »
33 comments
Jul 26, 2010. 4:46 AMMig Welder says:
Man! More than a "well equipped" workshop! Is that a lathe in the background?! And those humongous piles of stock?! I have shop envy ;D Anyway, good 'ible. Very detailed and in an easy to understand format.
Mar 21, 2012. 4:40 AMabstracted says:
nice job...i made mine in february. ran outta propane and a well pump pressure tank to fire bowl upcycle project that was on the back burner becam nessessary. it was to be nut n bolted together, but after getting a sweet lil wire feed welder for xmass, the portable pyro was born. took 3 min to make.
Mar 21, 2012. 4:54 PMabstracted says:
shoulda read 30 minutes...even i`m not that good lol
Aug 18, 2010. 3:24 PMkibukun says:
especially the laser. everybody loves lasers right?
Aug 10, 2010. 4:55 PMRokko8652 says:
I am extremely envious of that.
Jul 24, 2010. 5:34 PMEmmettO says:
Sheet metal is hard to weld without blowing holes in it. The thinner the metal the harder it is. As a rule of thumb your arc length should be at MOST the thickness of the metal you are welding. This keeps the heat down and reduces the number of times you melt through the sheet.
Mar 21, 2012. 4:47 AMabstracted says:
hold or clamp a heatsink behind where u weld...a block of brass or copper works great when welding thin sheet to thicker stock and provides gr8 penetration on both parts without blowing holes in the sheet stock.
Mar 21, 2012. 5:54 AMEmmettO says:
Interesting, I'll have to try that. Maybe I'll melt down some copper into a block and make my own sink.
Apr 2, 2011. 3:36 AMamnos says:
You should always try to set the amps as high as possible and increase your welding speed. But it is of course the speed of which you weld which set the amp-range you can work with, so you'll really need to work that out for yourself.

Keeping the arc as small as possible will reduce the area where heat is applied, however keeping it longer will result in a slightly lower working temprature, if spread over a larger area. What method to use kind of depends on what you are welding. But like previously said, when welding sheetmetal you should try for a shorter arc rather than a long one.
Jul 26, 2010. 10:58 PMco2wms7whcc says:
Why on earth would you use bolts to attach the legs if you had a TIG unit at your disposal? And on page 2, you suggested keeping the amperage low, you will have terrible penetration.
Jul 25, 2010. 11:31 AMDr_Stupid says:
Not the smartest of designs. 1. Highly inefficient - No way to control the burn rate or the temprature 2. DANGEROUS - A gust of wind and you've got flames or sparks shooting out the other side. 3. Possible poisoning hazard. - Face it, some yutz is going to get ahold of galvanized metal and try to use it, and end up poisoning or killing themselves. . It's a nice proof of concept, but it really needs to be refined.
Jul 26, 2010. 12:08 PMsteveastrouk says:
...and you have entirely missed the point of the build..... The temperature seemed to be remarkably stable actually, which given the design we found very odd. I think that's because it was basically burning flat out, which of course minimises CO production.
Jul 25, 2010. 3:41 PMkoecke says:
Not to mention attaching metal to metal with fire is dangerous. As is cooking meat with fire. Fire bad. Face it, some yutz is gonna grill his face on a design like this of weld the whole project to a moving car. It's a nice proof of concept, but it really needs to be snap together and cook over a lightbulb (fluorescent naturally for the environment and the safety of no heat) and have a bunch of disclaimer stickers attached. The people who read this site are pretty stupid and can't be trusted to use their heads.
Jul 26, 2010. 12:05 PMsteveastrouk says:
Fluorescent ? Think of the mercury !
Jul 26, 2010. 7:29 AMbiffula says:
While this might be a fun project, it's definitely not going to save you any money. That and, (sorry, time for some constructive criticism) it's not the best design in the world.
Jul 26, 2010. 11:42 AMlizzyastro says:
It easily coped with cooking salmon burgers, beef burgers, sausages, prawns and chicken thighs for 15 of us using 3 small bags of "self lighting" charcoal, and would have done more, if we hadn't all been stuffed after that lot! It gave good heat where we needed it, everything was properly cooked, not charred on the outside and raw on the inside.

It wasn't about saving money, it was about learning while also building something functional, besides cheap barbeques barely last a season and expensive ones are not worth the investment in the UK climate.
Jul 24, 2010. 5:29 PMEmmettO says:
He "put together" a tig welding kit? That's some nice kit! All I can hope for is my 300 amp hobart stick and my hybrid stick wire feed. Be VERY thankful to Steveastrouk!
Jul 24, 2010. 2:37 AMgmjhowe says:
And boy, was that a good BBQ, it was aigret burner, and the food was excellent!
Jul 24, 2010. 1:50 AMNutandBolt says:
Great instructable, you did great job on it. I love welding stuff and welding projects and I always wanted to weld my own BBQ but eventually bought a cheap one. The only small thing I would change is weld close both bbq sides and drill vent holes with sliding door. Great job :-)
Jul 24, 2010. 12:14 AMlemonie says:
Ah super, I've been waiting for this. You neglected to mention the use of welding rods on the food-rack though - an image note would do it (e.g. DSCF9030)

L
Jul 23, 2010. 8:18 PMSinAmos says:
Welding has been on my list for a long time. Thanks for sharing.
Jul 23, 2010. 3:30 PMDevrimm says:
Ooohhh!! Veeery nice and delicious instructable!! It is very teachfull about how to welding. For some years, I am welding too. But, I was welding with high Amps. Tomorrow, I make a box under the light of this instructable!! Thank you!!!
Jul 23, 2010. 2:47 PMrachel says:
Mmmmmm barbecue!
Jul 23, 2010. 2:43 PMcaitlinsdad says:
Hmm, at first it looked like the tool-hanging attachment was some sort of trouser-zipper hook or something.

Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

All Steps Viewing
View all steps of an Instructable on the same page when you're a Pro Member.

Upgrade to Pro today!
832
Followers
142
Author:Kiteman(The Complete Kiteman Shop)
"Happiness is a shed full of power tools." If you need help around the site, or with a project, feel free to contact me.