DIY Barbecue Table

The philosophy of this table is that anyone can bake whatever he wants and for as long as he needs to make his food. However, a few problems arose creating it such as the overheat, the weight and the decay due to external factors like the weather conditions.

The capacity of the table should be for 12 people, so the large length of our manufacture (250cm x 120cm) needed a metallic frame from the inside in order to prevent any deformations because of the excessive weight of this table.

We made a metallic frame using a square hollow section known as square tubes 60mm x 60mm, 220cm length and 100cm width with four legs 73cm tall. At the central point of this frame, it was made a socket to place the barbecue. Then, the whole top surface of the frame was lined with cement board which is used for fire safety. Regarding the final surface of the table, we used marine plywood which is water resistant as well as to the rest frame, we used the same kind of wood. At the central point under the table, a wooden box was made that covers the barbecue in order to protect the user from the high temperatures that are being increased. Thus, to increase the performance of our structure and to protect this wooden box, we lined the internal side of the box with Rockwool, which is heat insulating material and then we also placed cement board for fire safety.

The barbecue has the potential to be removed and put back to its place in order to be able to be easily, cleaned. The edge of the top surface remained to the natural colour of the wood while the rest of it became black. Then, the whole table became clear varnished. Additionally, we should mention that on the days, when the table won’t be used as a barbecue, we made a wooden cover to be put on it in order to make it seem as a common table.

After completing our manufacture and testing it, we remained satisfied from the outcome as there was no increase of the temperature in spots where we needed to be heat insulated. We were pleased realizing that with a very few coals, we could bake our food on our barbecue table for three hours or may be more. The only expected problem that we faced was the smoke that was caused by the baking. Although, this may lead us to another manufacture, which will be an extractor fan to collect the smoke that will be gathered by the table.

Finally, we would like to thank all the make it extreme friends for their help and support and for the great company!