IB Grille/Grate Opinions

[Otto]

Hi everyone,

OK. This is pretty much an identical post that I put up at AVS, so if you saw it there, yeah, you saw it there, too. Pretty much cut-n-pasted with the exception of the paragraph that you are currently reading. Also, I'm sure many of you already saw these pics in my other thread, but read on...

I recently did an IB install in my living room floor. It hangs into the crawlspace using a manifold that holds four of the Mach5 MJ-18 18" drivers. Overall, I'm very pleased with it, but that's not why I'm posting tonight.

The reason I'm posting is to discuss the grille that a friend and I made to cover the IB's opening. I looked around for a solution at the local home improvement shops (Home D, Lowe's, etc.), as well as grille and grate vendors both locally and online. The problem was that they either didn't have what I wanted, they didn't have what I liked, or what they did have was too expensive. To make a long story short, I'm friends with a guy that owns a machine shop, and he helped me make a grille to cover the opening for my IB (OK, he didn't "help" me, he pretty much did everything while I sat around lookin' pretty). Anyway, I think it turned out pretty sweet. It's made of 3/8" aircraft aluminum with some rather simple holes cut into it, a chamfer around the outside and a simple rotating/random orbit sand job for the finish. It can easily hold 200 lbs standing on it.

Aside from just chatting about it, I'm curious to what someone would be willing to pay for such a thing. I told him that there may be a little market for these things, and I thought that I might also be able to help out the IB community by offering a simple, strong, attractive grille/grate to cover IB openings. Please note that I'm not really trying to sell these at this time. I'm just trying to display what we made, to see if there's a market, and to see what opinions on price might be. Note that the holes that are actually cut into the material can be pretty much whatever you like -- squares, circles, paisleys, a silhouette of your girl (WAF!!!), whatever! Also, if you have an opening in a wall or ceiling, the material used can be much lighter than 3/8", so don't think of floor installs only.

Anyway, there are three pictures attached of serial number 000000, so let me know what you think!

Thanks!

IBGrilleCloseup.jpg
IBGrilleCorner.jpg
IBGrilleFinished.jpg

[Sonnie]

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.

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

How big can you make them?

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

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.

[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!

[SteveCallas]

I guess he knows another shop that can powder coat, so that would be an added cost -- but I bet it would look awesome

Yeah, a black powder coated finish would look very nice.

[kano32]

So how much would it cost for a vent cover that was the same size as yours?

[Otto]

Hey kano32,

kano32 wrote:

So how much would it cost for a vent cover that was the same size as yours?

Well, that's what I'm askin' you! What would you pay for it?

I mean, I know how much I paid (it's in my other "IB" thread), and I know how much the material cost is, and I know his hourly rate. I think when you add it all up, it will get to be too expensive for the DIYer.

So, let me know how much you'd give... I think there's a little market here, and I'd like to help out the DIY crowd and my buddy at the same time. But I can't sell 'em if they're $500, right? At least not to most people.

Have a good night.

[zacjones]

I'll be resuming my IB build here pretty soon, and I'll be needing two floor grates for approximately 21" x 21" openings if I remember right. These look sweet! Are you and your friend still making them? I'd be interested in buying a pair. $300 for the pair seem alright? If this isn't an option then I'll probably make my own out of matching hardwood floor scraps. This will be the final touch on eight IXL18.4's going into the floor. Anyway let me know. Thanks. Zac.