Red's Santa Maria Build - A Custom Grill for JIMSMOKES!

[JIMSMOKES]

Well there ya go!

Red

Should there be a larger budget?

 

[seenred]

It’s modern day fire place cooking…….I know I’m a bad influence….lol

Yes. Yes you are...

 

[homebeerbrewer]

 

[JLeonard]

Jim has mentioned he's is in no big rush...which works great for me, because I'm slow!


Red

Yeah thats what I said also and got the same response. Until it got close to the end and you got excited about the build. Then it was a race on if I could get it paid off before the paint dried!!

Im in for the ride and Jim will be as impressed as I am over the quality build you produce!

Jim

 

[seenred]

Yeah thats what I said also and got the same response. Until it got close to the end and you got excited about the build. Then it was a race on if I could get it paid off before the paint dried!!

Im in for the ride and Jim will be as impressed as I am over the quality build you produce!

Jim

HaHa! Yep - I admit that the closer I get to finishing a build, the more excited I get to keep at it!

Red

 

[seenred]

A quick update! Things are progressing slowly but surely.


So I got the square tubing frame for the bottom of the main body all welded. Jim wants a trap door in the floor for ash removal, so I went ahead and got that cut into the floor panel.

Next it was time to start tacking the back and side panels together with the bottom.

Jim also wants to line the inner surface of the grill with fire bricks. So I fabricated a box frame around the trap door.

Wanted to make sure it was about the right height to match the height of a fire brick.

Next time I'm in the shop, I'll probably be working on the front panel. It'll have a hinged door in it that swings down to allow full easy access to the fire, for adding fuel, poking the fire, or moving coals around. I'll post another update when I get that done.

That's it for now - more to come!

Red

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

That door will be big and very heavy to swing down then back up. I would suggest split side swinging doors to make it easier. I know it's more work though.

 

[hoity toit]

Some of y'all saw the thread I posted a couple weeks back asking if anyone had any ideas for a new build...and if there was anyone here who wanted me to build them something. Well Jim @JIMSMOKES took me up on that! He has decided he wants a custom-built Santa Maria Grill. After talking back and forth for the last week or so, we've landed on a basic design. This will be a 24" x 48" Santa Maria grill on a rolling cart, with a brasero attached to one end.

So I went to the steel yard yesterday to make the first big materials purchase.

View attachment 726906


Not that it has a thing to do with this build, but I'm also showing off my new trailer. My old trailer had gotten in bad shape - it was pretty old. So I just recently traded for a new one. First time I've ever had a brand new one - always bought used in the past.

View attachment 726907


Spent most of the this morning offloading all the steel. Here's a nice big pile of angle, tubing, rods, flat bar, etc. If I've figured everything correctly, I can build the main body of this grill out of a 4x8 and a 4x4 sheet of 10 gauge smooth plate, framed out with 1" square tubing. The rolling cart will be framed out with 2" square tubing with and expanded metal storage shelf in the bottom. You can see the 4x4 sheet in this shot, behind the expanded metal.

View attachment 726908


The biggest - and most dangerous - challenge is always the full sheets of steel plate. They're too heavy for a man to lift by himself. So it took some time with my pick-up magnet and my chain hoist to get this heavy sucker off-loaded and up on sawhorses so I could prep it for cutting. I always take great care and plenty of time to do this, so I don't tear something up or hurt myself.

View attachment 726909

As I did with my last build, I'll be using my new laser to help lay out and mark the steel for plasma cutting into panels. Sure makes layout easier!

View attachment 726910

View attachment 726911

After getting all the steel offloaded, and the 4x8 panel up on sawhorses and ready for layout, I was about all in for today. Been battling lower back pain for over a week, and decided not to try to overdo it on the first day of a new build! Jim has mentioned he's is in no big rush...which works great for me, because I'm slow!

Anyway, that's all for now. But we're off and running! I'm excited about this one - something new and different for me, and I think it'll be a real fun build!

My next step will be to spend the time to lay out all the cuts on the big sheet. This is definitely a step where taking some extra time and having patience can save me some headaches later. Then I'll be ready to dust off the plasma cutter and cut some panels.

More updates to come...and thanks for checking it out!

Red

I'm in also, let the build begin.

HT

 

[civilsmoker]

That is going to be a party cooker!!! and I mean a PARTY (BIG) cooker

Q - are you going to wrap the sides, i.e. via a vertical brick or similar? Just wondering....

 

[seenred]

That door will be big and very heavy to swing down then back up. I would suggest split side swinging doors to make it easier. I know it's more work though.

Definitely something to consider - Thanks Chris!

I'm in also, let the build begin.

HT

Thank you sir!

That is going to be a party cooker!!! and I mean a PARTY (BIG) cooker

Q - are you going to wrap the sides, i.e. via a vertical brick or similar? Just wondering....

In a word...Yes. Jim wants to line both the floor and the walls with fire brick. Haven't gotten to that point yet, but I'll fabricate a "channel" (for lack of a better word) around the upper part of the vertical walls to retain the vertical bricks at the top. Hopefully it'll allow Jim to move it around some without the bricks tumbling like Jenga blocks.

Red

 

[Smoke-Chem BBQ]

I'm in for the ride Joel. but I would have thought you'd build your own trailer.

Chris

Based on the craftsmanship I’m seeing, I’d have thought he’d build his own tow vehicle!

 

[civilsmoker]

Just a couple pics on how I did the X-Fire Grill. I used angle to line the top and create a channel for the next row.

For the top, I inverted the top angle

Then just "tacked" 1/2 wide retainer "clip" under the angle.

This system works very well as I have rolled it all over and even put it on a moving truck for a move......Just food for thought

I did "model" it in my sketch up model for quantities work up.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

That is going to be a party cooker!!! and I mean a PARTY (BIG) cooker

Have you ever thought? I wish I'd got a smaller cooker!

 

[civilsmoker]

Have you ever thought? I wish I'd got a smaller cooker!

……….No….lol.

On the serious side you will be able to easily have 2-3 different cooking zones temp and space wise! You are gonna love it!

 

[JIMSMOKES]

……….No….lol.

On the serious side you will be able to easily have 2-3 different cooking zones temp and space wise! You are gonna love it!

Yea I think it'll be the most versatile cooker I'll have. I might even be able to thin the herd. LoL

 

[DRKsmoking]

Have you ever thought? I wish I'd got a smaller cooker!

Not likely,
That is like saying I made the sheds or garage to big for my stuff. lol

David

 

[schlotz]

Oh this equation has always been true ^^^ : Stuff Accumulation > storage space

 

[seenred]

Happy Weekend, Friends! Hope y'all's Thanksgiving was as enjoyable as ours was!

Time for a short update. I got in the shop a couple times, both before and after the holiday festivities. A lot of the work was stuff that doesn't show much progress - like welding out all the seams in those main-body panels.

I did get the front panel added, and it's all welded out too.

I'll be trimming out the top rim of the body with angle iron - it'll give the grill body a more finished and functional look.

As you can see, it's only clamped in place right now. Next step will be welding it in.

After that will be cutting the door out of the front panel and getting the holes cut into it for latches and vents. Then I'll probably be ready to get the whole thing mounted on a rolling cart.

We're having our first cold spell of the approaching winter - temps in the 30's here today and tomorrow...so it may be middle of the week before I venture back to the shop. (I may have mentioned a time or two - I'm a fair weather fabricator lol)

More to come!

Red

 

[seenred]

Made some progress today - enough for another short update...

So as I mentioned on Sunday, I got the top angle iron rail all measured, cut and clamped in place to fit. Before I welded this out, I needed to cut a 2-inch notch in the end pieces - directly in the center - to fit the vertical square tubing that'll go in there when I fabricate the lift mechanism assembly.

Then it was time to get that top rail all welded in...stitch welded on both top and bottom sides. I also ran a bead on all the outside corners of the main body of the grill, then grinded those corners smooth for a finished look. This step is purely cosmetic - the structural welds are the fillet welds on the inside corner joints.

Lastly, I got the door cut out of the front panel. I wanted to leave a lip all the way around the door - partly for structural reasons and partly for aesthetic reasons. I will fabricate door handles that will latch on both ends, and the bottom and side lips leave just the right amount of room to cover the edge of the fire bricks that will line the interior. Plus, the bottom lip leaves plenty of room for door hinges to swing down.

I have some honey-do's that I have to take care of tomorrow...so Thursday will be the soonest I'll get back in the shop. But next up will be fabricating a rolling cart, and getting this thing mounted to some casters.

As always, thanks for following along! More the come...

Red

 

[civilsmoker]

Looking good!