Finally up and running on my build

[Sparx1138]

After the false start with the air tank that had a new lifeform growing inside, I finally located a piece of pipe last week for a decent price:



24" in diameter by.......3/8" wall thickness. Only twice as heavy as I wanted for a CC, but the price was too good to pass up. For some reason, no one around here uses 150 gallon propane tanks at all.

I spent the week drawing up my plans, working out the numbers, and ordered the metal to start on the stand and the firebox. I managed to knock out building the stand this weekend and got it rolling this evening.



My makeshift welding table:







It's been years since I've arc welded, but the more welds the better...right??

Tomorrow I plan on fabbing up some hinges and to start cutting the door in that beast. I'm not looking forward to that.

[Big T]

Nice!! There's one thing about using pipe over a tank and that is that you know what you're getting into without having to cut it open.

[Weldun]

I think you made the right choice, now the fun begins!

[Rodcrafter]

It looks like you're going to be cutting that with a grinder. Use thin discs and don't rush the cut. And don't get discouraged, once you get this baby finished it will out last you.


Making memories!

[Sparx1138]

It looks like you're going to be cutting that with a grinder. Use thin discs and don't rush the cut. And don't get discouraged, once you get this baby finished it will out last you.

You're half right. I cut the door today using cut off disks to start the cut and then finishing with a Sawzall. Those Torch blades are pretty amazing. I ended up burning up two blades and using two disks and it took around an hour I think.

[Sparx1138]

It was a good day.

First cut and hinges welded on. The hinges are pretty rough at the moment, but I figured I could contour them a bit later.


The hinges worked!


Tacked onto the cart and making a good place to store the baffle plate while I work on the firebox this week.
Note: Baffle plate not cut to length yet.

[Big T]

If you're going to put gaskets on you CC door, you'll need to space the hinges to allow for half the thickness of your gasket material or it will bind up and tear the gasket up.

[Rodcrafter]

So far so good.

[Squiggle]

Looks awesome dude, well done!

[ajfoxy]

Looking good.

[temurf]

It looks like you are off to a good start. She is looking great so far.

[Sparx1138]

A few nights ago I finished cutting out my FB pieces and tacked up. Tonight I welded all the seams except for the top. She ain't pretty, but she'll hold together. A flapper wheel will hopefully hide my sins.



Once it cooled down, I started scribbling out the cuts for the door and air intakes, as well as playing with ideas for the fire basket. I've had quite a few ideas rolling around in my head and it was finally nice to draw them out life sized.





At first, I was going to have a separate door for the FB and the ash pan. After scribbling a bit, I decided to go with a single door. I'm planning on the bottom of the basket to be a little over 4" off the bottom and I can't imagine I would ever generate 4" of ash in one session.

As drawn out with soapstone on the last pic, the basket is going to be 8" deep by 11 1/2" wide, tapering to 8" at the bottom. That should be big enough, right?

Also, does the position of the basket seem too low in the FB or is that about right? I wouldn't think even a raging fire would touch the top of the box.

Thanks all.

[Big T]

Your fire basket is plenty big enough, it doesn't take a very big fire to maintain temperature so I wouldn't worry about the flames. I would raise it up about 2'', sometimes when I cook I'll have very little ash and sometimes I have a pretty good pile. I think it has a lot to do with how dry the wood is and the BTU's that are being put off, some cooks just take more fuel depending on all of the conditions.

[Sparx1138]

Thanks for the input!

[Sparx1138]

It's been a couple weeks since I've updated, but I've gotten a fair amount done.

Firebox finished and tacked on. I ended up running a bead around the bottom of throat opening so that, along with a bead on the outside should secure it well:



Top of the firebox/shadowplate welded in.



Fire basket frame made up and the firebox door.



My solution for my air intake. The carriage bolt will be a set-screw type thing when I find a knob to use. The upper bolt will be a handle.



Baffle plate, grease dam, and drain pipe welded in.



Cooking grate frames and support rails tacked up. I split the upper grates in half to give me options for smoking things of different sizes.



As well as making the middle support removable for when I don't need the upper racks at all.




Next thing up is finishing all the welding on the racks and rails and picking up my expanded metal for the grating. Hopefull in another week or so I can cut my ends and get those welded on, along with the smokestack. I should be smoking before fall!

[mp4]

Nice work - I especially like the split top rack.

[Rodcrafter]

Very nice


Making memories!

[ajfoxy]

Coming along nicely. I do like the split top rack.

[Big T]

[temurf]

Great idea to make the upper racks and their support removable.

[Squiggle]

Awesome work dude, love the split top rack, well done!

[Pete Mazz]

Very nice

[308fan]

Looking good!

[Sparx1138]

Update time.

I managed to finish up the racks and the tip guards last weekend.


I also used the plasma cutter at work this work to cut out my ends.
One end on.


Other end tacked on. Opening cut for chimney.


Chimney tacked together.


All welded up and ready to start fitting the door. Hopefully I'll be lighting my first fire in this thing next weekend.

[Big T]

Heck yeah!!