Door banding

[Bjobrien]

G'day all, I'm new to the forum and have trawled through almost every RF post in the last week. I have a one track mind at the moment, I'm a fabricator here in Australia and I'm about to be made redundant from the construction project I'm on. All I can think about is moving home and building smokers, can't wait. I'm going to build myself one first, then knock up a few more for mates/paying customers. I understand there are many ways to build these pits, but can someone please explain why most of the CC doors have external banding welded to them as a seal, I think an internal lip would look much better and do the same job. Is it simply to cover uneven gaps and less than perfect cuts? Or is there some other advantage I'm missing? I look forward to sharing my first build with you all, there's some excellent experience to be gained on the site.

[ajfoxy]

Good to see another Aussie on the site. Definitely build one for yourself first, test it, tweak it and then build a better one, tweak it etc. There are a few fellers building in Aus at the mo. But always room for more. This whole low and slow is a fascinating subject.

[Bjobrien]

Thanks mate, yeah that's my plan. If my brother and my mates pay for material and throw a few beers around while they help out we'll be able to test a few ideas between us. You're right about it being fascinating, and it seems like a great community of idea sharing with the added benefit of good tucker!

[Pete Mazz]

[Rodcrafter]

Welcome to the crew!

Make sure you check out the pit calculator(s) while putting together your design(s). This will insure the correct draft and air movement. As for the question you asked, I put the seal on the outside of the door because 1. It does cover the not so perfect cuts. 2. I find it keeps water out and it is easy to gasket the door.


Making memories!

[Big T]

Welcome aboard!!

[bluecatfish]

Welcome to the fun and games! RC answered your question spot on with the two best reasons. It does make it easier to seal a slightly wrapped door, which it is very hard to get a perfect fitting door.

[temurf]

[The Czar]

I'd say another reason is who amongst us fat people can fit inside that tiny box?


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[temurf]

The PITA factor.

[Bjobrien]

Thanks for the responses, I hadn't considered the weatherproofing aspect. RC I've run the numbers in the calculator, I had no idea before I started looking into this how much science is involved as well as art. Now to wait for the tap on the shoulder so I can have some time to get started.

[Rodcrafter]

I would like to say that on the weather concept I believe that if you cut the door 1" past top dead center (12:00) the water will drip off the flange onto the back of the CC. I also cut about 1" below (3:00) so that my main or bottom rack will the occupy the center or widest possible space and still slide in and out of the CC.

jm2cw


Making memories!

[Squiggle]

g'day mate, good to see more Aussies round here. Just be careful with what you say here too cause most of the lingo we use confuses the crap out of these guys. Talkin about servos, sunnies, sambos & arvos just makes us look weirder than we already, hahaha.

Can't wait to follow your build, should be a cracker!!

[Rodcrafter]

[Bjobrien]

Cheers Squiggle, after a couple of trips to the states I'm realising how strange we really must sound. I'm still tossing up between the door seals, I won't be cooking in the rain or anything but it is a spot for moisture to accumulate. Maybe if I plug weld them on, then seal the internal corner with decent high temp silicone?
It won't stop water ingress but it should prevent/delay the rusting process.

[Squiggle]

Adhesive Nomex is the way to go, cheap & easy to use.