RC.
After some thought I see what you are talking about, I can get scrap 3/16 cut to fit the one side and slide the big piece to any position I want to. I have 4" on either side to play with. That being said I will get a 14" * 4" of 3/16 and see how that works as well. Also get a 14" * 6" of the same stuff and then I will have 4 options to play with. I like your idea of tuning plates too, as you can see I have set the plates up in a 2" increments to test the smoker. that way if I have a spot that gets it done, I will have only one more plate to build. I see that I will have 1" increments to play with with 3 plates on either side and quite possibly may just buy some angle iron and weld from bell to bell and use a sliding baffle plate system. And since I have a shadow plate that would allow me access to get to it in case I may need to adjust that as well.
Having read that last post, you will need to put a damn around your throat opening to keep drippings from getting into the fire, it could cause a grease fire. Those can be a real pain.
jm2cw
Current Smokers: Backyard RF Offset and Hybrid RF Offset trailer rig with Cowboy cooker and fish fryer, always room for more........
I really like the concept of the center feed reverse flow.
Looking forward to the finished product.
Can't wait till you fire this baby up to see how well she works.
Ok, I haven't worked on the smoker for awhile, Dentists, Doctors, sub zero weather etc etc. Yesterday I went and continued to work on my fire box and framed around the door so I can insulate the door later on. I started to build a charcoal basket and got it framed out and the bottom grate in. I am going to place it up high from the floor so I can build an ash basket to collect the ash and try to keep it clean and allow the intake air a direct flow to the charcoal basket. I welded rods onto my intake plates and tried to weld horseshoes onto the rods but they didn't look like I wanted them to so I cut them off. Now to find something that will look good for the handles. If any of you have any suggestions feel free to chime in. I have a couple of ideas floating around in my head. So here are some pics.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
Well got quite a bit done on my build today, 1) got the firebox door attached to the firebox, I designed the hinges and had them cut, opens up the door real wide, which I like. 2) I got the firebox welded to the Cooking Chamber, that was an Interesting feat for a rookie welder. 3) I got the wheels welded to the bottom half of the frame. 4) Started to frame the doors for the cooking chamber. It was a good day.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
Yesterday kind of bummed me out a bit, I forgot my drill bits at home and wasn't about to drive 26 miles just to get them. So I had my exhaust inserts expanded to fit the chrome exhaust stacks that I cut down from old Harley mufflers. I also found some old foot pegs to use as handles for my intakes on the firebox. I tacked the inserts into the cooking chamber and fitted the mufflers onto the inserts. They are really nice and snug, so that's good. I am also planning to build a storage rack of some kind to place my thermometers on when I get them. They will be routed through the top bung holes on each end of the CC.
Ok, yesterday I got the doors framed and welded to the cooking chamber. Today I spent most of my time working on the exhaust. I am going with two pipes just for grins and giggles. Maybe I should have went with just one, as drilling 3/8 bolts to fit my exhaust and to make the butterflies work was just a hassle. I was going to try to run a bolt straight through both mufflers and run the butterflies by a connector nut with a wrench as my lever. Now I see I cant do it that way as the connector nut just wont work. I made the exhausts work separately and am going to bend some old wrenches to fit the double nutted bolts that I have set up. Ended up busting two more drill bits in the process. I didn't take a picture of the exhaust, as they are not done yet. I also started to tack the top half of the frame after I found I had made a big mistake and to cut up the old one and start over. What a rookie. But now I am learning the build process and build progression. But I can see the progress that I am making and that's a good sign.
Without mistakes we don't learn... however it is generally less drama to learn from someone else's mistake
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
Just kicked back and thought on how to get my doors closed. Working at the farmers shop they have a lot of surplus steel parts to use. So we decided to take a couple of potato chains off a beet lifter that were worn out and used them to fabricate my door handles and locking mechanism.
That would be in the plans.
