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My vote - Build It!

I truly dig the paint scheme. I don't know that I would have thought to use tan with red, but WOW is it awesome!

There's a guy that cooked some over a flip flop grill at my place once. People liked them, I thought they were kind of tough but they did have good flavor. He did have quite a few rubs that he layered them with. The 1st couple times I cooked ribs it was on a gas grill, of course I wouldn't be caught...

It was a dumb pose to send to his wife...look close and you'll see he has a mig gun in one hand and a plasma torch in the other.

There's no dumbness going on in this shot either!

dacolson wrote:
You giving him the hard lesson on short sleeves in an enclosed space

He sleved up shortly afterward with a little encouragement. I offered boots to him but he had to learn that lesson the hard way. I know a good drop of slag between the toes did it for me!

We clamped up the firebox and I tacked it in place. Anyone that says you can have enough clamps is sorely mistaken. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200711/386981c534dc218e74b8cdebec938cac.jpg I might have melted a clamp pad...I guess it wasn't important anyway! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20...

My buddy is coming out this weekend to work on his smoker. I've been focusing on getting things close so he can do some of the fun stuff...like welding the firebox together and fitting it to the tank. I had filled the tank with water just to be on the safe side and cut a smaller opening for the door...

So I gather your gravity fed did fluctuate temp some with the ball valve. I would believe it would do better than my stick burner. It didn't fluctuate so much as it just reacted slowly, so dialing it it wasn't a quick ordeal. Then factor in lump charcoal that doesn't always burn consistently so you...

That's a neat idea!

You are a true craftsman!

Looks cool! A couple thoughts... 1) consider swinging your cook chamber door opposite of how it is shown so it doesn't hit your valve. 2) consider skipping the ball valve and design it for a temp controller with a fan. I ran mine with the ball valve only for a while. It's ok if you keep a close eye ...

Glad you joined in...I know I want to see your build for sure!

AWESOMENESS for sure!

I want your sauce recipe please!

ditto on the angle grinder - it is versatile, relatively inexpensive and once you learn how to use it, decent in putting out a quality product. As for torches, I've had the little sets before and they're handy because of how portable they are. Refill the tanks a few times though and the savings will...

SheffSmoker wrote: Going to try and make some door hinges today out of the odd shaped U channel, hours of cutting and grinding for a few inches of metal!

Been there, done that...doing my best to not do it again!

I wouldn't take the chance...

I had the firebox metal sheared last week and fitted thing up. I went with 1/4" for everything except for the door that I went 3/8". https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200630/3af4cefd9aac35ec71723bf9b06965b2.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200630/2f6b2d0a40ca6cac2d67697d98d1e8ad.jpg Today I c...

Starting my 1st fuel barrel build for a buddy. He wants to learn to weld some, so I'm doing some prep work so he can do some assembly welding when he gets a chance to come out. Here is the tank upside down to fill with water. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200630/5dfd0fb805adc61ed8bf8b364dd3e5c7...

breavis wrote:One question about firebox size-I see where it's not recommended to make the firebox over 115% but what percent would be minimum I.e. 95%?

Generally 110% is the target. Just guessing, 100% is probably as small as I would ideally go.

dacolson wrote:

Dirtytires wrote: ↑

June 23rd, 2020, 7:54 pm

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Those look solid. You remember where you got them?

They sell them at Menards in my neighborhood.

They are the same with size with this calculator.

No shielding gas. I do have access to a welder that does shielding gas though. Does it give that much better of a weld? Remember I am a beginner, so far welds are pretty ugly.... Beginners need all the help they can get. If you have easy access to a good welder I would start with that one to learn ...

Are you planning on using shielding gas? Many cheap mig welders don't come set up with a regulator and gas valve so you'll need a flux core wire that the machine is designed around. If you are going to have shielding gas I would suggest. 030 wire.