back of latch. i did not use a spacer on the inside, and i added a slightly ramped chunk of metal to help the latch engage smoothly. with the ramp and the round bar. it closes nice. and if i want to adjust tension, i can whack it with a hammer.
i stacked the baffle plate material and some other stuff on top pf the door to keep it tight when i was welding the hinges.
so there is the fire box. i need a door handle, a baffle plate for the air inlet, and i need to make the log basket.
And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy.
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)
everyone-thanks for the kind words. this site has tons of good info. makes it easy to put something together.
mtf-a little of both. i built a 2 tier beer machine, single pump, 10 gallon batches, we use the kegs for brew pots and fermenters. pretty much every container needed for brewing is a keg.
got the hole cut. just sitting on there. i wont weld it until i figure out if i should have it sand blasted or try to flap wheel/grind off the rust. but anyways. the whole is cut and it lines up.
i have two pieces of that plate for the baffle. i think i came up with an easy way to figure out the correct shape and size for the bp openings. i'll share it if it works out like i think it will.
and there it is. just kinda of sitting there(still not welded). i glued the door seal on the cc door. ready for hinges, and paint removal
so i got lazy and uncreative for the air inlet damper. i got 2 rain hats from work that were going to the scrap bin. i tightened the pivot bolt a little and now the flap will stay where i leave it. it seals up pretty well. about as well as any sliding, rotating adjustable inlet.
it was free and require almost no effort on my part. i will look at it again in a few days, see if it still seems like a good idea. thinking about doing the same for the smoke stack. the stack and air inlet are truck exhuast pieces anyways, so may as well keep it going...
also got the lower half done. 8" castors. 4"x3" tubing for the frame(dirt cheap at metal place). fire box is welded to that now.
keep up the good work she's starting to look like a cooker
Oh and I think we all like ez and most of all free solutions and if u don't like it you can always change it
Making some progress. got the CC tacked to the fire box, CC door hinges on, smoke stack tacked on. Being a center feed, and needing the stack to be in the middle. I would up putting it kind of low to clear the door. but It is still above the cook grate surface(you know, when I get to it). A few people have said it does not matter too much how high or low the stack opening is, so that should be fine.
I've ben wondering how the stack was going to fit in the middle like that, I am happy with it.
I need to make the basket for the fire box and I can burn it out.