Fireproofing Plastic BBQ Table Top With Woven Beverage Cans

Having a BBQ on your balcony is a great thing to do in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Your BBQ setup doesn't need to be expensive, I enjoy a simple charcoal burning one placed on a portable plastic table.

There's only one possible drawback with this and that's plastic can melt if a hot ember was to land on top of it.

This instructable will make the table top fire proof by covering it with a layer of woven aluminum made from beverage cans.

Beverage cans

Dowel

Tacks

Make some aluminum strips from beverage cans by cutting the tops off and cutting a long spiral with some scissors. As the table I wanted to cover was 100cm by 50 cm, the strips were made about 110cm long.

The strips of aluminum were then straightened by pulling them through a couple of wooden paint stirrers. I chose to wear some cotton gloves when working with the strips as there can be some little burs on the cut strips which may nick your skin.

A wooden frame (or loom) is made with some lengths of 12.5 mm dowel. The 45 degree corners were cut in a little miter box made from some scrap wood. Corners were fixed using PVA glue and a screw. The inside measurements allowed the frame to just fit over the plastic table top.

Fix the lengths of aluminum strips to the frame using tacks. You may find it easier to press a tack through the aluminum before attaching it to the dowel.

Make the strips neat by bending them around the dowel and tacking at the back.

At this stage the strips have formed into what could be used as a privacy screen. Allowing you see out but people not to see in. But that's for another project...

Beverage cans had previously been turned into sheets. This was done by removing their tops and bottoms using a box cutter and scissors and cut length wise. They were then formed into flattened sheets by bending them along an edge.

Weave in the sheets of beverage cans between the aluminum strips.

Small gaps may exist where the the sheets of aluminum have been woven. To remove these gaps, a backing strip of aluminum is fixed along then.

Tack the end aluminum sheets with tacks to fix them in place.

That's it. The fireproof table top is complete and can be placed over the plastic table.

Next step is the best: Crank up the Barbie and cook some prawns.