How to Build a Steel BBQ Grill

Build a steel barbecue grill with two basic components: A firebox to hold wood or charcoal and a cooking chamber with a grill to hold meat and other foodstuffs; there must be a baffle or divider between these to block flame but allow smoke and heat to flow from the firebox into the cooking chamber. Examine smokers at a retail outlet to get ideas.

Cut sheet steel with an oxyacetylene welding torch into pieces to form a rectangular box, with long sides and shorter ends. Make this any size you wish. Fasten the sections together with pipe clamps and weld them into a box, with a center baffle that extends halfway up the sides of the box. Leave the top half of one end of the box open for access. Use a steel cylinder, like a 55-gallon drum or large compressed air tank as an alternative to sheet steel forming, which requires more metalworking skill.

Make a smoker frame of 2-inch angle iron. Lay out side and end pieces to fit the dimension of the steel box or drum. Miter the ends with a metal chop saw and weld them into a rectangular cradle, with a flat edge on the inside to support the cooker. Cut four angle irons 30 inches long and weld them inside the corners of the frame for legs. Cut four braces to fit horizontally between the legs on the ends and sides and weld them inside the angles.

Stand the frame upright, set the welded box or drum on it and "spot" weld it in place, with welds about 2 inches long along the sides and ends. Add short, mitered braces of angle iron at 45-degree angles on the corners of the frame if necessary to make it sturdier.

Create a lid by cutting and welding sheet steel to fit the box or by cutting the drum in half lengthwise with a cutting torch. Cut one side of a drum first and weld on metal hinges, then cut the other three sides loose. Set a box lid in place and weld on hinges. Use at least two hinges, more for a longer smoker. Weld a handle opposite the hinges on either style cover, preferably metal brackets to hold a wooden handle.

Form the smoker element in a drum by removing the lid or one end piece; this is done in a box by leaving one end open with a center baffle. Cut the drum lid in half with the torch; weld the top half to the end of the cooker lid to seal it, weld the other half to the bottom of the firebox element to block flame.

Install a grill on either a box or drum cooker by welding 2-inch sections of angle iron to the sides and ends of the cooking chamber, one support on each end and at least two on each side. Place these with the flat angle inside the cooker. Make a grill by cutting expanded steel flooring to fit inside the cooking chamber, resting on those supports.

Add a chimney to either box or drum style with an elbow. Cut a circle with a torch in the end away from the firebox, insert the elbow and weld it in place. Cut two notches on opposite sides of the elbow top with a torch or saw with a metal-cutting blade, to hold a piece of 3/8-inch steel reinforcing bar. Weld the cut-out metal circle on that bar to make a damper to adjust the flow of air.

Cut matching notches in the bottom of a chimney pipe, formed to fit inside the elbow. Slip the chimney in the elbow, over the damper control and tack it in place with short welds around the edges. Build a fire in the firebox, close the cooking chamber lid and test the flow of smoke through the cooker; air should flow easily from the open end of the firebox, over the baffle to the grill and out the chimney.