Hi All,
Got into the shop early this morning and finished the grate basket. I lined up and clamped one of the basket side pieces to the propane tank form. Note angle iron “legs”. This was quite a stable platform. Then I heated a section until it wrapped around with just hand pressure. I started at the back edge and worked forward always keeping the flame pointed on the entire heated portion. If you go the other way, you are continually backing up to reheat the spot you moved away from wasting time and gas. Continue working around the full length. I have a 3+ minute real time vid of bending screen section. I’ll post it soon. It’s a MOV file and I’ve never used youtube editor, so it’s bound to be slow, but it will get posted.
Pepe
Update-video as promised:
Place the wall section on the grate floor and line it up keeping the wall just inside the grate edge. Tack weld however many line up at the start.
Heat the section until you can line up a few more points. Tack weld them and continue around to the end of the section.
Start the next wall section. When you get near the end you can cut it for length. Too long, cut more. Too short, fill it with weld. Add lengths of 1/4" round stock to fill in any gaps in screen.
Install grate basket in char base. Update- The diameter is 13 1/2". I used a 3" wall. The original wall was 2" so this increased the char volume of the “basket” from 286 cubic inches to 429 cubic inches or 50%. That’s good, but what I think is significant is the surface area exposed to penetration by the gas. The solid wall had no flow through. The basket wall has 127 square inches, 85 square inches (the area of the solid wall) of which is now available for flow through. I’m convinced that will make a positive difference on the reduction side.
