SmokerBuilder.com

And I Should mention, we just had a build that designed the exhaust exit in the middle of the end bell like you have pictured. He ended up having some troubles with consistent temps and ended up moving the stack to the top of the chamber to fix the issue. Also, your picture shows you decreasing the...

Wow...that was a lot of work just to cut out a door. #:-s #:-s #:-s Ya...it was a lot of work but I didn't trust myself to uniformly bend that door back to shape so thats the route I went. I honestly didn't think that the tank itself would spring out so i didn't account for that. I think that will ...

I don't recall seeing any folding stacks on the forum, there may have been 1 or 2 over the years but nothing comes to mind. I have seen quite a few on some of the FB pages and one of the commercial builders has done a few. Have you considered increasing the diameter of your stack to decrease the le...

Okay so I’m going to have to do a folding smoke stack because it’s going to be too tall to fit in my garage. Can y’all send me close up pictures of how you did the hinge on the stack?

My tank sprung on my last build. Used the jack and chain method to get it back true. I’ve seen guys use a turnbuckle welded on the inside of the tank that looked like it might be a good approach. I’ll see if I can track down the post. That’s a great idea. I think I’ll try either a turnbuckle or the...

I had a few hours this weekend and have another build update! If you will recall in my last few posts, I got the doors marked out and filled the valve holes with patches from the second tank I bought. At this point, the only hole in the tank is the hole I cut for the throat that the firebox will fit...

Dirtytires wrote: ↑

September 10th, 2020, 9:57 am

Looks like you have a good plan....definitely helps the build process be smoother.

Ya im new to 3D modeling but its a huge help. I really like being able to see what its going to look like before building it. It also helps me in seeing building conflicts before they happen.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, I am also early in my trailer design and feel like i have made a fair bit of progress. A few notes so far: -I know I want to design it as a fully wrapped tongue for the extra strength. -The frame material is 2" by 4" by 1/4" tube. -Right now I am thinking about a...

Hey guys so i have been playing with the design of my firebox door handle mechanism. Here are some pics from my model. The "T" bar with the horseshoe rotates about that bolt and slips into a catch adjacent to it. This pic is with the door locked. Screen Shot 2020-09-09 at 9.05.49 PM.png This pic is ...

hogaboomer wrote: ↑

September 8th, 2020, 9:18 pm

Buy a tap, drill your hole and make your own threads.

Thats what im leaning towards.

I then took a flap disk to it to make it more smooth. Ill probably hit it with a finer flap disk later on too. 594DC986-5971-4CAD-9D79-6C5B81CE6A94_1_105_c.jpeg Next I knew i needed to get the reinforcing bars on the inside of door 1. I want to weld these in place before cutting the door out to avoi...

Not a major update but i did have a little time this weekend and made some progress. Basically I got the doors measured and marked out and plugged the holes where the valves were. Marking out the doors When I modeled the smoker, I made the doors 26" wide leaving 3" on the outsides to the tank cap we...

I used to drill a hole in the door and mount them through the door with the washer and nut. My last couple of builds I bought a threaded pipe coupler that fit the threads on the thermometer from the hardware store, I blew a hole through the door and welded the coupler into the door. If you choose t...

Just picked up 3 TelTru 3" thermometers with 4" stem. How will I attach these to the smoker? Obviously i will drill a hole but do i need the installation kit that is separate from the thermometer? Just want to make sure I have the right parts for when Im ready for this.

I know I’m only a portion of the way through the build but wanted to say how much is appreciate the wisdom and advice y’all are giving me!

You got it....the main point here is do not attach hinges until the completed door is ready to attach back to the tank. Then it is easy. Simply place a shim that is half the thickness of your gasket (I tape small flat-washers to the tank) and place the door on top. Hold it with a ratchet strap or t...

:yth: shim the door half the thickness of the gasket that you plan to use. Okay so just to be clear, the door will sit such that its slightly above the rest of the tank? I made this quick drawing showing the cross-section of what I think it will look like according to your posts. Im thinking of usi...

Okay actually i get it. You are saying that I should 'float' the door by the gasket thickness and that would effect my hinge design. In understand now. Ill have to find the rope you were talking about in this thread https://smokerbuilder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=7615&p=114273&hilit=gasket#p11...

To add further to my previous post here is a picture of the door form my 3d model. The straps sit on top of the door.

Door warpage is everyone’s fear. I am a believer that a tank/pipe is pre-disposed to springing based on how it was built. Remember that a certain amount of energy is stored in the metal and it will try to return to the shape it wants to. Try not to let your cutting heat build up in the door is abou...

My 2nd build was a trailer on a single axle. My build was a 80 gallon tank w/ a warming chamber and a 33 gallon charcoal grill on the back side. I built it offset from center, which is part of the reason I built the grill on the back side. My suggestion is if you are going to build it offset of cen...

So i laid out my 2 CC doors yesterday and have started making the hinges with my bender and some 1/2" rod I bought. I am trying to do what I can to prevent warpage of the doors so my plan is to: 1. Weld supports on the inside of door 1 (closest to firebox, firebox is NOT attached at this point) 2. M...

I don't think that a tandem axle is a must have for a smoker of this size as long as you don't start adding a lot of things to the trailer. There have been plenty of them built on single axle trailers over the years without any issues. If you were going to be pulling it long distances on a regular ...

Hey Guys, I am starting the process of designing the trailer for this smoker and am looking for some advice from those of you that have built trailers for their smokers. However i design it I am going to use 2" by 4" by 1/4" steel tubing. This should be plenty strong enough for my applications. My s...

Thanks guys I appreciate the compliments. My goal is for this thread to become somewhat of a resource for guys starting their first build especially since its from the perspective of someone just getting into metal working and building their first smoker!