New stainless grate for my stove

One of the little things that has bugged me on the boat from day 1 is the rust from the cooktop grates.  These are the original grates - last year I took them home and Richard sand-blasted them for me to remove all the rust.  I painted them with high-temp grill paint hoping that would help for a while.  But no....the paint burned away and the rust came back quickly.   (Duane had told me this would not work but I wanted to try it anyway....)  So this is what they look like now.  The rust/paint flakes off constantly so the stove looks dirty a LOT. 

I searched for replacement grates - but the company no longer is in business.  There are replacements out there, but they are the same coated steel.  For about $175 I could get new ones.  Seemed extremely expensive and the problem would return in a few years. 

A later, similar model stove from the same manufacturer had a one-piece grill that was made of stainless steel.  Although it appears that grill/grate would fit our stove - it is not available.  (This stove is 20 years old). 

Duane said that he could make one of stainless rod.   And of course, he did!  After very careful measurement, he got 1/4" stainless rod.  Here are the pieces before final bending and welding.

He built a jig to hold it all straight.  Bent the rods and welded it all together. So it will fit exactly on top of the stainless cooktop and will be held in place by the surrounding stove components.  It will will be super to be able to slide the pots all around on the cooktop instead of just on the individual rings. And no more rust!!  Super excited, Duane's so talented in so many ways.  Will post a final picture when we get back to the boat.