Made A Rotisserie – 04/28/2011

I was looking at rotisserie plans on the web and it seemed like a good idea. I found 2 or 3 different ones that looked reasonable. I decided on the plans from Red Wing Steel Works (http://redwingsteelworks.com). For $17.95 you get the Rotisserie plans, trailer plans and the body lift & roller plans. Payable through paypal I had the plans (pdf format) in a few minutes.

They are very well done. Based on using 3/16 inch wall 3×3 square and 2.5 x 2.5 square. I priced it out using steel available on the web and it was somewhat expensive. Then I looked around my area and priced it there. Better, but still a bit on the high side. But I think with the economy the way it is steel isn’t cheap anywhere. Then I had to stop over at our local scrap steel place and they had some 3×3 square in the scrap bin. They were from 4 feet to 5 feet long – just the size I needed.

So now it’s in a reasonable range. The only thing I needed would be the four round pieces (two at each end) that formed the rotating point. In the plans I think it was a 3” round with a 2.5” round inside it, each about 12” long. The price for these was out of site – one place had them at over $200 for the for pieces. That put this whole thing away for me.

Then I stopped over at the scrip steel place for something else and while looking around found some 6” and 6.5” round! Great – it was in the scrip pile. Along with the 3×3 square it got me into the just over $0.60 a pound price range – beautiful.

I called over to Kozel Steel and got the pricing on the pieces I couldn’t get from the scrap place (Rochester steel, lyell ave). Ordered what I needed and headed over to Rochester Steel to pick up the rest. Sometimes it just falls into place.

I got it finished, my welding ability has grown a whole lot. I did a bunch of practicing before starting the project – went through a couple small tanks of gas and at first wasn’t using a long sleeve shirt – got a touch of sun (welders) burn on my left arm above the glove.

Too lift the body off the frame I saw a web site where they used the engine hoist through the window – worked like a champ! Here’s Tim Warner taking a picture and Jim Newell observing.