New Patio Build from Australia

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Long way of diamond pattern is 2"
Short way is 1"
.125" thick.
I've used this before lots and it seems to hold up. Great for smaller appatisers as well as nothing falls through.

Thanks heaps for the info Isaac! Quick question, is that mesh strong enough to support food across it or did you have to make a support in the middle?
 
Looks like Dave has you covered   I'm in   
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Gary
 
Made some progress on my FB


Got the steel all cut up. I went with 1/4 inch 


Managed to get some level edges which I was happy about!


Running low on magnets!


I tacked it all up then added some braces to try and prevent it warping from welding.


Well.......I'm not proud of them but they're functional  
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    still trying to get the hang of Arc after we sold the Mig


There we have it....14 x 14 x 17 in 1/4 inch. 

Just moving this thing around gives me an idea on just how much weight the 250 gallon plus monsters are. It's insane!

Hope to cut and weld my FB onto the CC in the next week or so. Slow going as work is full on at the moment.

Bazza 
 
I made two grates roughly about 19.5x19.5 with 1x1" tubing, and they support any food I would ever put on my smoker. It's a strong mesh.
FB looks great by the way.
Haha if I remember correctly you work as a welder? Still I will take the compliment on the FB! 
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Would you be able to put up a pic of your shelves? I'm curious of the gaps you left in their height from the BP and between both shelves. I would love a second shelf but being a 34 gallon I'm not sure I will get away with it. 

I have read everything from 2 inches from BP being the best to 6 inches...

Bazza
 
The dimention between the rf plate and the main cooking grate is dictated by your circle segment height.
ie, I have a dia of 20", my rf plate was set at 4.5".

I wanted my grates to be flush with my door cut out, so the math did its self for me and it worked out to 5.5" above rf plate which seems to work very well.
I tacked 1x1" angle 1.125" below my cut out so my grates would be flush.
 
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The dimention between the rf plate and the main cooking grate is dictated by your circle segment height.
ie, I have a dia of 20", my rf plate was set at 4.5".

I wanted my grates to be flush with my door cut out, so the math did its self for me and it worked out to 5.5" above rf plate which seems to work very well.
I tacked 1x1" angle 1.125" below my cut out so my grates would be flush.
Isaac, you're a legend! (it's weird for me to type that as its my name also). 

I worked out the math a while ago but never thought about how my door cut would play into it. Seeing your example makes perfect sense. Thanks heaps for that. I do like the look of your grates quite a lot. Makes me want to go the expanded metal route over the leftover 316 stainless mesh I have.....

Now to get some more time off work!!

Bazza
 
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I wouldn't say I'm a legend, I've just learned from my mistakes! Sometimes things can be over engineered and we just need to use the KISS rule.
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid
( not calling anyone stupid)
Often the answers we're looking for are right infront of us.
I'm really happy I can help out, metal working comes easy for me.
 
So I finally got some free time (have a new born so time off is rare!)

I decided to re-do the welds on my FB because they bugged me. Turned out better. Still not amazing but after some love from the flap disc and paint they should look alright.

Got my door cut out with hinges tacked in place. Also got the FB to CC cut too.

Managed to cut my tank and finally get a look inside. She is pretty nasty so I hit it with the pressure washer. I was planning on welding the FB to the tank before I cut my door out of it to try and avoid any warping but seeing how nasty it is inside I am going to cut the door to get access and clean it up. 

I decided to switch the FB back to the right side as boring out the existing fitting on the tank for my exhaust is going to be so much harder than cutting it out and patching it.

Well any thread is worthless without pics so here you go. Comments welcome!!










Happy the measurements worked out for my BP




Looking forward to stealing some more free time soon!!

Bazza  
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What kind of rods are you burning for the welding?
7014 would be my recommendation, they run very smooth and don't stick like the 7018
Thanks for the tip Isaac! Yeah stick is still new to me but I will definitely see what I'm using. I'm dying to get it finished and pump out some Q!

Bazza
 
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Yeah ur smashing it ... i got nothing to else to show yet. I will bite the bullet and order my steel this week i think. Once i have this then there will be no excuse
 
We're all waiting in the northern hemisphere. Lol
Haha I'm feeling the pressure coming from there!

Not much to report. Had an hour yesterday so I cut out all the fittings and sized up my patches. Hoping to get them welded in this afternoon (and maybe cut my door!).




I'm going to raise my tank cut ever so slightly so the FB acts as a bit of a lip going into the CC. I figure this will not impede airflow and can act as a bit of a dam for my FB. 



This is my HIGHLY technical method for getting the curve correct in my steel to match the tank 


Got a pretty good sized list of what else is left but I figure if I can scam an hour or so each night I should be done by 2017! Haha

Bazza
 
Managed to steal some time over the weekend and make a bit more head way.

First time I have patched anything so I was pretty happy with result. It's a long way from perfect but it doesn't look terrible!



Trying to get my door lines straight! Mind you I probably should have used the bar to guide my cut as I free handed it. Again didn't turn out terrible.


She did spring a bit on me but I'm hoping I can remedy this with my gaskets




Really happy to finally get a good look inside the tank. Thinking sand blasting is going to be the best option for me. 

Bazza
 
Dosnt look like it sprung much. Wonder how much sandblasting will cost. I will have to get mine done whens its finished
 
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