Homemade Grill - Fabulous Food & Marvelous Memories!

Several years ago we bought an old (built in 1890) Pioneer farm home in the mountains as a family retreat.  The home was classic and the two acres delightful, but it needed a LOT of work.  For the house we tore out layers of flooring, painted the walls, replaced all the windows, replaced the roof etc.  The acreage was covered with trash and we spent a couple of months cleaning it up and hauling it to the dump.  One piece of junk we found was a rusty old metal barrel riddled with bullet-holes.  I was about to take it to the dump when I suddenly saw it with new eyes.  What if it were cut in half, hinged, and put on a stand?  We could make a grill!  As the ideas evolved, I thought it could be adapted to a portable fire pit, and even to a rotisserie.  I thought of this DIY project again during our Memorial Day celebration when we gathered our family around it and roasted marshmallows, watched the stars, and sang together around its welcoming warmth.

When I found it I had just bought a couple of tools from a discount tool store called Harbor Freight which included a small electric welder (cost me about $120) and helmet (cost me about $40), as well as an angle grinder (cost me about $20).  These were perfect for pursuing the project.

Here's how I converted an old rusty barrel to a great grill, rotisserie, and fire pit

Materials:

• 55 Gallon Barrel - with fixed lids on both sides
• Expanded Metal Mesh (for the grill) flattened 3/4 inch diamond 9 gauge - you can buy this online but it's usually cheaper to find a local metals dealer
• Steel Structural Square Tube (for the stand) 3/4 X 3/4 X 11 gauge - you can buy this online but it's usually cheaper to find a local metals dealer
• Steel Angle Iron ("L" shaped lengths of steel to make a frame for the grill-top and the fire-shelf) 3/4 X 3/4 X 1/8  - you can buy this online but it's usually cheaper to find a local metals dealer
• Rotisserie Kit - ensure that the shaft of the rotisserie is long enough to run across the grill
• Metal Chain (to hold up the lid)
• 2 5-inch Corner Braces (to hold the wooden handle)
• 3 Metal Door Hinges
• Nuts and Bolts (to attach hinges and chains)
• Thick Dry Branch (for the handle)

Tools:

• Electric Welder - I used a MIG-100 Amp Flux Wire Welder but any amperage should work for this job
• Welder Helmet 
• Angle Grinder - I used both the metal cutting disc and the sanding disc
• Safety Glasses
• Drill and Bits for drilling through metal

Cut The Barrel:

Draw a line up one side, across the top, down the other side, and across the bottom in such a way as to divide the barrel in half long-ways.  Put on safety glasses (I suggest wearing long-sleeves and gloves as well) and use the angle grinder with the metal cutting disc to cut all along that line and chop the barrel in half.  Use the angle grinder with the metal sanding disc to sand down any sharp edges.

Install The Fire-Shelf And The Grill-Top:

First make the grill-top frame by measuring out a length of steel angle iron equal to a sum of the dimensions of the opening in the barrel where the grill will go (width + length + width + length).  Add another 1/2 inch to accommodate the bends at the corners.  Using the angle grinder cut a V-shaped 90-degree notch in the bottom edge of the angle iron where each corner will go (45-degree notch at each end).  Bend the angle iron at each notch to make a large rectangular frame.  It should fit nicely in the top of the barrel opening.  Weld each corner shut.  For the frame of the fire-shelf measure the rectangular dimensions of a shelf that will sit in the barrel 5 inches below the grill-top (this is where you will put your coals or wood).  Follow the same process as detailed above to notch, bend, and weld the rectangular frame for the fire-shelf.  Weld the fire-shelf fram in place 5 inches below where the grill-top will go, and then weld in the grill-top frame around the opening in the bottom part of the barrel.  Using the angle grinder cut out pieces of the expanded metal mesh to fit within the frames of the fire-shelf and the grill-top.  Insert these into their frames.  If your barrel doesn't have a bung-hole in the center of the lid like mine to use as a chimney you'll need to cut some sort of vent hole.

Make And AttachThe Stand:

The stand that holds the barrel off the ground consists of two "A-Frames" connected in front and in back with two cross pieces (see photos above).  Begin by making each of the "A-Frames" out of a continuous 8-foot piece of steel structural square tubing.  Make an 75-degree V-notch (leaving just the top edge intact) at 3' 9" and another at 4' 3".  The idea is to bend the tubing together at the notches into the shape of a capital "A" with a 6-inch flat top.  It should angle out from the top on both sides in the shape of a capital "A".  Make the one for the other side and ensure that their shapes match.  Now weld them together at the notches.  Lay the "A-Frames" on either side of the barrel and cut two cross-pieces wide enough to go to the outer edge of the two "A-Frames" (see the lower left photo in the collage above).  Weld the front cross-piece on the front, the back cross-piece on the back, and then weld the bottom half of the barrel onto the stand at various points until it is solid.

Attach The Hinges:

Place the top half of the barrel on the bottom half of the barrel and align the three door hinges along the back seam of the base and the lid.  Mark the holes, remove the hinges and drill the holes.  Attach the hinges with small nuts and bolts.

Attach The Chains:

Prop open the lid of the grill so it's straight up.  Measure and cut two lengths of chain to screw onto the base and the lid about 6 inches in from the hinged seam.  Drill holes in base and the lid on each side and attach the chains with bolts and nuts.

Attach The Handle:

Bolt or weld the two corner braces on the front center of the lid such that there are two parallel bars to hold the handle sticking out perpendicular to the barrel's surface.   Cut the thick dry branch into a handle that will fit snugly between the ends of the two bars and attach with screws (see photo on the center right in the collage above).

Attach The Rotisserie Kit (optional):

Attach the motor bracket from the rotisserie kit to the side of the grill (how you position everything will depend on the kit).  I screwed mine onto the frame of the stand on the upper left side, then I welded a small plate on the right side with a circular notch in which the shaft turns (see photo on upper left in the collage above).

Now it's time to throw a party!   Call together friends and family for a nice barbecue, to roast tender meat on a spit,  or to roast marshmallows / hotdogs and sing around the "campfire".  We have used ours for years and made fabulous food and marvelous memories.