Cutting out the door

TSied · Post by **TSied** » February 8th, 2019, 3:05 pm

So I'm getting ready to cut out my cook chamber door on a piece of 24" diameter pipe that will be 44" long. Here is my question. What is the best positioning of the door? I was going to go 1" past 3:00 for the bottom food grate but what about the top? Is it best to cut it right at the 12:00 position or an inch or so to the front or back of 12:00? Also how about the sides? Does it matter how close to the end of the pipe it is or should you keep the cut a few inches from the ends?

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 8th, 2019, 3:17 pm

1.5-2” past 12:00 is what I would do
If you only go to 12:00 rain water can get in easier.

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Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

TSied · Post by **TSied** » February 8th, 2019, 3:39 pm

This is kind of where I was leaning also. Then I was going to come in 2" from both sides.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 8th, 2019, 3:47 pm

That’s about right. How many doors?
You could make the c/c doors about 4” below 3:00. That might even give you enough room for another cooking rack

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

TSied · Post by **TSied** » February 8th, 2019, 3:52 pm

doing one but my guess is I'll need a counterweight when its said and done. I'm kind of already planning on that being the case, I would like to put 2 food grates in though. So you think going a few more inches past 3:00 if i'm doing 2 grates?

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 8th, 2019, 7:08 pm

Yes ya can get 2 grates in it and I think that maybe you should think about 2 doors. JMHO a single 40” door wit seal and rim can be really heavy.
BTW how thick is the pipe?

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

TSied · Post by **TSied** » February 8th, 2019, 7:38 pm

its 3/8" pipe so the door will be in the ballpark of 75-80 pounds.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 8th, 2019, 7:44 pm

If ya make 2 doors it’ll be a lot easier on the body to open. Put a 2.5” space between the two and that’ll be plenty of room for the rim. Another thing to think about is the counter weight would not be needed if you make a door stop on top of the c/c. A med size triangle welded on top it would only take 2 per door

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » February 8th, 2019, 11:23 pm

A 44 inch long pipe only gives you about a 38 inch opening. If you decide to put 2 doors on it, you end up with only about a 16 inch opening which is not ideal in my opinion. Make one door and add a counterweight. You need minimum of 4-6 inches on each end. The gap is on one side and the chiminey on the other side and you don’t want the chiminey over the food racks.

Standard is to cut opening 1 inch below 3 o’clock and put bottom rack 1 inch above that.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 9th, 2019, 2:32 am

Thanks DT

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

Smurf · Post by **Smurf** » February 9th, 2019, 10:30 am

On my first smoker I put 2 doors. After using it several times I wish I had gone with 1. With the right counter weight setup I think you should be fine. Pic for reference

TSied · Post by **TSied** » February 9th, 2019, 4:20 pm

Thanks guys. I got it cut out today. It only very very slightly sprung. Maybe 1/16th of an inch, so not to bad.

Side note as far as the actual cutting I used a diablo steel demon 7 1/4" circular saw blade. I've never really seen them mentioned around here but I will tell you that I was absolutely shocked at how well it worked. I made a cut maybe 3-4" long through the pipe with an angle grinder and then used the circular saw for the rest of the cut because doing a plunge cut with the circular saw is a bit dicy. It would cut the entire length of the pipe in maybe a minute tops and with a perfectly smooth edge too. Plus the metal doesn't even get hot at all. I was honestly amazed. Just throwing that out there to all the others that don't have a plasma cutter in their garage. I'm sure the blade is basically toast at this point but it served its purpose for what I wanted.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 9th, 2019, 4:54 pm

At Harbor Freight they have a 7 1/4 circular saw blade made for cutting steel. I’ve been thinking about getting one just to see how it cuts. No sparks and a smooth edge is nice as well as no getting hot.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

TSied · Post by **TSied** » February 9th, 2019, 7:22 pm

yeah same thing i think, this is just the name brand one from home depot. It was $30 but like I said, it took me tops 30 minutes to cut the entire door out counting the whole process. Actual cutting time was maybe 5 minutes. There are some sparks but not nearly as much as you'd think. Plus the metal doesn't heat up at all, and not really any grinder work to smooth out the edges or anything. It was well worth it.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 9th, 2019, 8:01 pm

I’m gonna get one! You have convinced me. My wife is a manager at HFT so I get a hell of a discount. I was actually worried that this blade would melt the blade guard and that’s why I haven’t bought one yet.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

BryanW · Post by **BryanW** » January 25th, 2021, 6:35 pm

I have a special Milwaukee circular saw specifically designed for cutting metal. I agree with you previous posters, I was in awe! I built a driveway grader and was cutting through 1/2" steel like it was butter! I could not believe how well it cut! That said I have never tried plunge cutting to start the cut. I also have a plasma cutter and cutting torch but have been contemplating using the circular saw for my door cutout to keep from inducing tons of heat into the pipe. Perhaps that would cut down on the dimensional changes guys are seeing when cutting out the doors.

hogaboomer · Post by **hogaboomer** » January 25th, 2021, 6:43 pm

I cut my doors with a metal circular saw, it didn't stop it from springing. It sure is fast, though.

The plunge cut is not too bad, it wants to bounce around a little bit until you get a groove going.

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » January 25th, 2021, 7:30 pm

I really don’t think there is any way to keep from springing a door if the steel has memory still. I have a 24” diam piece of sched 20 I’m going to cut lengthwise to release the memory stress. I’ll add a piece of flat stock in the gap and reweld it. Then cut the doors. Hogaboomer came across a video of a guy who had success doing this. I’m just waiting on an 8’ length of 3/8 before I cut it.

BryanW · Post by **BryanW** » January 27th, 2021, 9:46 am

Really curious if there is some way to anneal big sections of large pipe like these? Thought maybe a pile of old pallets, huge fire and see if enough heat could be thrown into the pipe to stabilize the stresses. Betting not but would be interesting. Building with things that don't hold dimensions is frustrating to say the least. I did like the jack and chain method I saw.

I also have an enormous 50 ton hydraulic press I built that I could use to nudge things back into shape. Might have to make some type of gantry to move this big a_s pipe around though. Can't just toss this stuff around. Lol

BryanW · Post by **BryanW** » January 27th, 2021, 9:52 am

Hey Dave, FYI McNelius steel in Dodge Center has a huge inventory of steel products and will sell stuff to John Q Public. Believe they charge $0.35/Lb for drops and short leftovers. I have bought literally tons of steel from them. It's a little bit of a drive for you but you could drop by my place and divulge all your treasured smoker building secrets over a couple beers. Lol

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » January 27th, 2021, 10:43 pm

Whaaaa?!? That’s awesome! Gonna have to hit them up.

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dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » January 27th, 2021, 10:49 pm

BryanW - have you got a contact there or do you just call up the front desk?

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