[Otto]

Sonnie wrote:

I think it's one of the best looking and probably one of the most durable grilles I've seen. Should be a hot seller.

Hi Sonnie,

Thanks. I wanted to make sure that there was no way a kid would fall into it and get hurt. It's pretty stout.

Does it come in colors? Or is there some way to paint aluminum?

Well, when I started the project, I told my friend that I would need to be able to paint it, as that was my first inclination. He said there would be no problem painting the aluminum with spray paint and clear coats. Turns out that I like the unfinished look, and I'm not planning on painting it, at least for now. I guess he knows another shop that can powder coat, so that would be an added cost -- but I bet it would look awesome.

How big can you make them?

Hmmm. Not sure on max size, but pretty big, I'm sure. We were using the "small machine" and we had to flip the piece over for the machine to be able to go all the way around the outside. The "big machine" would have done it all in one shot. Considering that, and then add flipping into the equation on the "big machine" would mean we could easily double (and considerably more) the size of the one I have, which is 16.5" x 21" or so.

Could I have one made to use on my cooking grill? Obviously no rust and it should withstand the heat right?

I suppose you could. But I think the aluminum transfers heat too quickly -- you might not get the searing effect. Or maybe it would be better. Lemme know...

Obviously you'd have to charge by the size/thickness. Have you priced any other grills anywhere? My thoughts would be they should be worth more than a regular metal grill and the fact you could customize the size might be worth a little more.

Yeah, the size of the material is certainly a factor. Also, the type of the material. Stainless steel and steel are options, but would probably add to cost because they are much harder to cut and therefore take more time on the machine. I think they also wear the bits more quickly. In the end, I would hope cost wouldn't vary too much.

I did price a few grilles at other places. Here's a normal old floor return grille. Something like this was going to be about $120 or so. Downside is that it has to be ordered in pre-determined sizes. IIRC, I was going to have to shim out my opening to get this to fit. It also just "sits there" so that a kid could pull it off and get into the IB. Finally, if it's anything like the one we had in our previous house, it would rattle like crazy in the throat of an IB. I'm glad I didn't go this way.

NormalFloorGrille.jpg

I also looked at stuff like this:

StampedMetalGrilles.jpg

I got a little further in the negotiation process with the distributor, and it was really the impetus for the design that we ultimately built. The holes were similar to what I have now, but more square. Also, it was going to be built of 12 gauge stainless with a satin finish. The holes would have been smaller to maintain rigidity across the span, which mean it's less open to breathe. The quote I got for this one was $310, shipped to my house within 3 or 4 weeks. It got to be too expensive for this project (more than my Behringer EP2500), so I didn't get it either.

Have a good day!