Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Winter barbecue removable cover

This project was to cover my grill (Napoleon Prestige Pro 500) during our harsh Canadian winters but still be able to use it on those perfect winter days. The tarp is held in place with bungee cords and rolls up to the back and rests on 2 hooks for storage. The top and front braces slide off and out of the way. Come spring time, un-screw from the deck, fold up and store till next fall.
All wood structure is standard wood strapping, 2-1/2" x 3/4". To fasten the wood joints, I used construction glue and 2-1/4" air gun nails to hold in place, then laid piece on concrete floor and applied small "gang nail strips" as you can see in the pics. I used 4 standard hinges to attache the sections together. To mount the removable top and front cross braces, I took a piece of 1-1/4" pipe about 2.5" long, split it in two, took one half, secured in the vise to bend the sides out a bit, then notched the center down about 2 inches, then drilled some screw holes on each side, grind the edges smooth, then screwed these mounts into position. On the brace ends, I just used 2" deck screw and left the head of the screw out a bit so that it slides into the notch of the galvanized mounts.
 For the tarp, I used an electric solder gun with the plastic cutting attachment to cut/melt the tarp to shape, then wrapped onto the wood strapping and stapled with 3/4" crown staples from air gun on low pressure (approx 60 psi). Don't forget to allow extra tarp for the folding of the sides. Then cut the top tarp to size, sewed a loop onto the bottom front to insert a piece of strapping (see pic). Installed grommets onto the sides of the tarp in proper locations, installed bungee cords using clothes line crimps. Install top tarp and permanently screw onto the back. Install screws on the side frame to hook the bungee cord onto.     


Youtube video of the project featuring the music of local fidler, Matt Hayes.

Happy Grilling.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Lost ring in Treasure Island Florida "Rob Arsenault" written inside.

A bit of a bummer on our trip to Florida this year. On our stop at the Best Western in Treasure Island, I lost my graduation ring. It is a white gold ring with class of 2001 written on the front and the name "Rob Arsenault" inside. This rig is very dear to me because my mother bought this for me when I graduated and my dear mum passed away this past Dec. In fact, she was suppose to come with us to Florida, I had her tickets purchased and ready to go. She fell ill with a severe MRSA infection an did not make it.
I would gladly give a reward for the return of my ring. If you happen to find it, please contact me: mani1147@hotmail.com

God bless you mum.
Robert