Over the summer, a big family-fun activity is to grill out. You always want to proudly wear your nerd badge, but with a normal grill, you may feel that you’re just competing with the Jones’.  If you have access to a 55-gallon drum, you may be able to make your own grill in the image of R2-D2.

This is known in the barbequing community as an Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) but with a good paint job you can make sure you are well-known as the local nerd on your block. This is also likely a lot cheaper than a giant gas grill that you would purchase anywhere else. If you were looking for a good summer project, here it is! The end product also results in steak and grilled goodies, so you’ll probably want to hop on this pretty quickly.