Building a decorative floor grate...

[ThomasW]

I looked and looked for a premade floor grate for my small IB. Unfortunately there was nothing that would fit the long rectangular shape (29"X8") dictated by the odd joist spacing at the end of the room.



Sooo, I decided to custom build one. First stop was to my not so local metal supply shop for a pre-made decorative insert. These are sold by the supply houses that stock parts for building steel security doors. Some of these are steel/iron, other are cast aluminum, all are inexpensive.

Since my decor is modern, I wanted some simple and not too ornate. This is what I found. These were about $6.00ea



This is a cast aluminum unit with embedded steel tabs for welding purposes.



Since I wasn't interested in the steel supplier's 22' minimum for bar stock, I planned to buy a 36" piece of 1/2" or 7/16" bar stock at one of the big box stores. (note unfortunately they don't sell the second most commonly used piece of steel on the planet!). So off to my local surplus store where I found a piece of galvanized 7/16" bar. (note, those that are unfamiliar with welding, the fumes from welding galvanized materials are toxic!)

Here's a mock-up of how the decorative elements of the grate will look once assembled.



Since the RMAF starts tomorrow, and is 1 mile from my house, I won't be working on this for a while. So as they say, to be continued.......

[chriso]

Those look cool. Looking forward to seeing the finished pictures. I think you should paint the inside of your manifold though

[jagman]

I fully agree on both points. Painting the inside of the enclosure black would really make the grate pop. Likewise, it would also not detract from the grate nor would the drivers stand out. Very nice

[ThomasW]

It would be a real pain to paint it now (some of us are old and have bad backs)... so the plan is to put grill cloth under the grate...

[REK]

admin said:

It would be a real pain to paint it now (some of us are old and have bad backs)... so the plan is to put grill cloth under the grate...

There used to be available at McMaster-Carr Supply Company, Bar Grating with expanded serrated steel mesh that would prevent small children's toys from falling through. The cost today for the P/N 6867T14, similar to what I used, is $9.29 per square foot, but without the mesh top cover. They still may be able to special order it from their supplier. Horizontal cloth covers collect dust and floor crud. I put an access door on the bottom of my plenum in the basement to retrieve any small objects that fell through the expanded mesh.