What have you made/created today?

That would've made it SO much easier!

 

Made DIY High Lift Jack mounts using parts of the factory tie down knobs and a few parts from Lowes. Less than 15 bucks. So some I almost didn't want to to put it in here.

Edit: just realized I could have still kept the tie down part too and slipped the angle bracket through the middle.

 

Nothing fancy, just a quick "let's use some scrap" project. The cheap sheet metal charcoal basket for my grill rusted out after just about a year's worth of use. I anticipate this one lasting a lot longer, and it was a lot less expensive than buying another stamped sheet metal piece would have been.

 

coals still seem to burn away the metal...but the good thing is you can just cut and reweld a piece back in there

 

Made this for someone at work last month.









Then a buddy of mine wanted one of these.

 

For sure. And that expanded steel will take a lot longer to burn through than the crappy sheet metal pan did. It's probably better than 3x thicker.

 

it warps but still holds together...the factory sheetmetal around the coal trays usually seems to deteriorate in a year or two

 

So far so good; I've used it 4 times now and no warping yet. Might be because the angle iron I used is holding it tight, or it might just be that I haven't overheated it yet. But I had a 3 inch layer on there on Tuesday while I roasted a chicken, so I'm sure it got good and hot. Oh well. The old sheet metal one warped first use, so it can't be any worse than that.

 

it prob gets better airflow now...as well.

 

Definitely. I overcooked my burgers first time I used the new tray because the charcoal was burning so much hotter.
Had to adjust the air intakes.

Easier to clean the old ash out when I'm done, too. Just tap the tray and they fall apart and fall right through that mesh. With the old tray I had to shovel them out and it was a big pain.

 

I need to build one like that for my smoker...last time I smoked a brisket it was a combo of damp charcoal and low airflow that I barely got the brisket to 230degrees.

 

Damp charcoal's a pain. I've started keeping mine in a waterproof tote because I got sick of it taking forever to light and get up to temp. Also invested in a charcoal chimney for the same reason. Gets them going sooooo much faster, and you don't have to wait 30 minutes for the lighter fluid to burn off.

 

the last small bag of charcoal I had left started to light but then just fizzled out... The charcoal must have just absorbed some humidity or it was just crappy because it didnt burn worth a crap and never really caught fire enough to turn to ash. I always use the chimney to start.

 

..putting the "finishing" touches on this birthday gift... finally get one done ahead of schedule

 

Non-electric phone speaker?

 

what is it for?

 

guessing it's for a phone to amplify sound?

 

yep, ...this is the second one i've made, ...1st one worked pretty good, ..other than trying to soften the corners in the internal duct/channel and the orifice, no audio engineering went into it

 

i think generally one could call it a passive amplifier, for a smartphone or similar device... the slot on the top is designed for the phone to be inserted into the block, and the external speaker (sometimes at the bottom/rear of smartphones) emits the sound into the duct/channel, which empties into the resonator/orifice, ...the effect is an amplification of the sound w/out electrical power. ...kinda a novelty item, ...makes a great gift, ...customized to fit the phone, ...folks can use it for speakerphone, playing music, or simply a phone cradle...

...let me look around, i may have some photos of the other one i made last year, ...for that one i took photos that actually give an indication of the internals and how to make it...

 

yep, ...has an amplification effect and also imparts a different tone, ...i'm not a musician, but i'd imagine its somewhat similar to the wood body and cavity design for an acoustic guitar...