Tom Sawyer WSM charcoal ring.

[John Ford]

In transporting my 14 y/o WSM lost the charcoal ring
Most Weber replacement parts are reasonable but they want $50 for a ring, only paid $100 for the WSM used?
I've built a number of charcoal baskets from expanded metal , however the last time ended up in ER when I cut my leg open before I smoothed the sharp points.
Well we has a crawfish boil @ hunt camp & I asked Butch to bring his Sawzall & Jimbo to bring his grinder.
I marked the cuts & while I was cooking crawfish they cut, smoothed , bent the pieces
Made a 13 in diameter X 4 in high ring & a 10in X 10 in X 5 in high basket for smoker.

 

[Brian Moriarty]

I don't think you will find any difference between the stock ring and your expanded metal rings. All they really do is contain the fuel source.

 

[Jerry N.]

While it's often possible to do things yourself, sometimes it's nice to have Butch and Jimbo (who presumably know what they're doing) to do the work. I made one of those baskets once and it was difficult because I did not have the right tools.