Per KJ's design, I started & finished my no welds charcoal basket tonite, and I am very pleased with it. Its 9" wide x 12" long x 7 1/2" inches deep, with a 22ga steel arched baffle that peaks at 9". My firebox is a 15" cylinder, and this fits very nicely (I roughed it out of chipboard first)
I followed KJ's design, with a few changes. To increase the spread of the basket I angled the side walls out slightly at 10 degrees (like a keystone), at which point the top opening is now 11" wide. This was mainly to provide more baffle coverage over the far edges of the firebox opening. The arched peak just crests above the top of the firebox opening to prevent direct heat flow from the embers.
I also added 4 legs via 1 1/2" bolts to increase air flow all around (especially underneath) the basket. As it is now it has a 3" clearance directly above, below & laterally, and about 2" of clearance at the corners.
The base & sides are 1 solid piece of 12" x 24" 18ga stretched steel folded at 7 1/2" in from the edges. I cut a 9" x 7 1/2" piece of stretched steel for the back, and a 9" x 7 1/2" arched piece of 22ga steel for the baffle wall. This was the only piece that required drilling (5 holes total). The whole thing is held together with 1/4" bolts, with washers inside the nuts on the inside for extra grab. The strength/reinforcement comes from a piece of 36" long 18ga pre-drilled angle brace that I cut into 4 7 1/2" long corner pieces. Those pre-drilled holes & the stretched steel openings matched up great for the bolts, 4 at each corner, top & bottom. I then took the remaining 6" piece of angle brace and cut it in half to use as 2 3" reinforcements on the base connections to the front & back walls.
