Before joining Tormach as a Machinist and CNC Workshop Instructor, Eric Andersen was injured on the job as a structural Iron Worker. While recovering and attending Madison Area Technical College to receive his machining certification, Andersen spent a lot of time grilling out in his backyard.
“One of my favorite meals is a shish kabob,” said Andersen. “One thing I noticed was the meat always sticks to the grill, the veggies always finish cooking before the meat, and when you try to flip or turn the skewer, pieces always fall off.”
Describing the moment as a “mind blowing” idea, Andersen decided to build an attachment for the rotisserie on his grill that constantly kept the shish kabobs rotating off the surface of the grill and in the process cooking the contents of the skewer intact.
Fast forward four years and add a Tormach PCNC 770 to Andersen’s home machine shop. Andersen now had a way to solve his grilling dilemma and make a little income on the nights and weekends.
Marketed as the Rotishkabob™, the device is an adjustable aluminum attachment used to for grilling shish kabobs on a standard BBQ grill in a rotisserie. Designed to hold up to 16 wooden shish kabob skewers at one time, the center plate can be easily adjusted to accommodate different sized skewers.
For grills without a rotisserie system, Andersen notes that the Rotishkabob fits aftermarket rotisserie kits available at big name retailers including Wal*Mart, Lowes, Menards, and Home Depot. “I used SprutCAM 8 exclusively to generate the toolpaths for all my parts and fixtures.
The most complicated fixture I have is really just a custom vise jaw that has three pockets that match the profile of the center hub,” Andersen explained.
“I then drill and tap the hubs using the tension compression tapping head. After each cycle I need to rotate the hubs until all three sides are drilled and tapped.”
Each Rotishkabob is machined by inventor Eric Andresen in De Forest, Wisconsin. The Rotishkabob™ is 100% made in the USA, retails for $75 and is currently only available for purchase on www.rotishkabob.net.
