First offset build! Have some questions.

[dacolson]

Hard not to take the bait on that one ...

Here’s a pic:

[thejm]

Hard not to take the bait on that one ...

Here’s a pic:

BC7E6FF1-630F-4A31-B5F7-34DD49A68A3E.jpeg

Haha! Didn't realize I was setting you up so nicely.

After reading y'alls posts above, I am a little worried about the hole getting clogged with ash so I want to make it bigger and want to make sure its sealed off on the bottom. Since its only a single 1/4" wall I might drill a 1" hole where the 3/8" one is and then weld the bottom of the hole to ensure there's no place for water to leak down. Might have to do a little grinding to make sure the weld doesn't prevent the water from escaping downhill.

Also one more thing I could do is weld a little bit more and thread the hole to insert a 3/4" threaded rod. We'll see.

[tinspark]

Hard not to take the bait on that one ...

Here’s a pic:

BC7E6FF1-630F-4A31-B5F7-34DD49A68A3E.jpeg

Haha! Didn't realize I was setting you up so nicely.

After reading y'alls posts above, I am a little worried about the hole getting clogged with ash so I want to make it bigger and want to make sure its sealed off on the bottom. Since its only a single 1/4" wall I might drill a 1" hole where the 3/8" one is and then weld the bottom of the hole to ensure there's no place for water to leak down. Might have to do a little grinding to make sure the weld doesn't prevent the water from escaping downhill.

Also one more thing I could do is weld a little bit more and thread the hole to insert a 3/4" threaded rod. We'll see.

If you decide to go the 3/4" SAE Bolt, you could always weld a 3/4" nut on the outside of the FB and that way you would have good threads. That would work especially since it is single wall in that area. easy-peasy!

[tinspark]

You might be able to use a short nipple and add a cap at the end:
Drill a hole through both skins and weld the nipple inside of the FB and outside of the second insulated skin, and attach a cap on it..... Done.....
You may want to go bigger so that it doesn't plug up

I might go bigger, good point. What do you mean by the nipple? Can you post a pic?

Edit: After re-reading it are you talking about a short segment of pipe welded to the firebox with a nipple slid on there?

Yeah, Sorry I didn't see your question. That's what I was talking about. You could cut off the threads on one end and weld on a short nipple.
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The cleanest look though IMO is to weld on a 3/4" black iron coupling/ nipple and get a ball valve so that you wont have to grab a tool to open it up each time. And they are pretty cheap too... Plus thats what's kinda what they (plumbing parts) are for too.

[thejm]

Merry Christmas!

Quick question:when y’all coat the smoker with Pam, do y’all coat the inside of the firebox too or just the CC?

[hogaboomer]

Just the CC.

[Big T]

just do a really light coat or it will get messy.

[thejm]

Well I’m halfway through the first burn and things are going okay. After all the hard work I was super happy to do it fired up for the first time!

Admittedly I am very much an amateur when it comes to maintaining a fire on a smoker but I’m seeing a little bit of an issue.

The Stack has lots of smoke coming out of it but I am seeing some smoke come out of the firebox door. As a way to test I opened one of my cook chamber doors and it immediately stopped. I wonder if the smoke is getting trapped in the cc and the stack/smoke collector assembly is the choke point? The thoughts?

[hogaboomer]

If you leave the door wide open, smoke gets out. I run mine with the door open about 1-1/4 inch, no smoke gets out and the fire stays lit.

[thejm]

If you leave the door wide open, smoke gets out. I run mine with the door open about 1-1/4 inch, no smoke gets out and the fire stays lit.

Hey thanks for the advice. That almost immediately fixed it now I hope my fire doesn’t go out LOL. Thank you

[dacolson]

If you leave the door wide open, smoke gets out. I run mine with the door open about 1-1/4 inch, no smoke gets out and the fire stays lit.

Hey thanks for the advice. That almost immediately fixed it now I hope my fire doesn’t go out LOL. Thank you

Do you have vents in the firebox?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thejm]

If you leave the door wide open, smoke gets out. I run mine with the door open about 1-1/4 inch, no smoke gets out and the fire stays lit.

Hey thanks for the advice. That almost immediately fixed it now I hope my fire doesn’t go out LOL. Thank you

When I closed the door to leave about an inch and a half to 2 inches open my temperature is immediately went up and my coal bed got hotter. She’a purring like a kitten now!

Fire is also doing fine.

[thejm]

First test cook went well!

I made some chicken thighs and sausage.

Everyone said it had great smoke flavor and no negative notes so I’ll call that a win!

[Big T]

[hogaboomer]

If you leave the door wide open, smoke gets out. I run mine with the door open about 1-1/4 inch, no smoke gets out and the fire stays lit.

Hey thanks for the advice. That almost immediately fixed it now I hope my fire doesn’t go out LOL. Thank you

When I closed the door to leave about an inch and a half to 2 inches open my temperature is immediately went up and my coal bed got hotter. She’a purring like a kitten now!

Fire is also doing fine.

Glad to help. I don't put vents in my fireboxes, too much work.

That's a badass smoker!

[dacolson]

Yup. She’s a beaut. Glad you got her dialed in. Congrats on the first cook

[Cole Leffert]

Good work on the first cook!

[thejm]

Just a small update. I managed to enlarge that drain hole in the firebox and prevent any water from draining into the insulated cavity as well as do a couple other odds and ins on the firebox.

Firebox Drain Hole

My plan was to tap the hole with a 3/4 -10 tap and use the corresponding bolt to plug it but I needed to make sure that water doesn't seep through the seam. To prevent this I first drilled the hole out with a 5/8” bit which was the closest I had to a 21/32 bit which is required for that sized tap. Then I put a grinding bit on my Dremel and ground the bottom half of the hole down about a 1/4”.

After the grinding, it was fairly easy to see the seam. With the extra space created, I put a few small weld beads to fill in the gap I just ground, covering up the seam. All that was left to do was run the bit through there again to clean things up, tap it, and insert the bolt.

Here was the final product. Works well and drains a lot faster than before. I have now cleaned the firebox out twice now and had no issues with the hole getting stopped up with debris.

Odds and Ins

Nothing major but I took my angle grinder to the weld seam on the inside of the firebox to smooth it down as it was quite rounded. Also in that process I used my welder to fill in any potential holes in the weld to make sure no water could seep through. From a practical matter, it would be almost impossible for water to get through this seam because its welded on both sides but this make me feel better at least.

Here is a pic of the weld I’m talking about.

One last thing I did to safe things up was to do a little welding on the plate that the firebox door was cut out of and is mounted on. This was minor but I welded the bottom third of the seam between the inside of the firebox and the above mentioned plate. This is also welded on the other side but it made me feel better to put another weld here.

Here is a pic that illustrates what I’m talking about.

[thejm]

Hey guys, I have another update!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this on here yet but building this smoker was my 2020 New Years resolution. In January I had never even picked up a welding torch and didn’t know anything about smokers other than I wanted one that produced better smoke flavor than my egg did. Now I’m an ok amateur welder and as I’m writing this, I am sitting here with an awesome 250 gallon smoker in my driveway getting ready to put my first butt on.

Now I’m sure that I will continue to make modifications (I’m definitely planning on adding a deflector plate near the firebox) to it as I use it more but at this point I’m considering it ‘done’!

My smoker would look nothing like it does today without the help and input of all of you on here. I greatly appreciate it. This is such a great place on the internet.

With all the time and effort that I put into this pit, I figured it deserved a name! Since its a Texas style smoker I thought the only name appropriate for it was Pancho! Out of the Pancho and Lefty song by Willie Nelson.

I designed this plate and had a shop in town cut it out for me. Turned out looking great!!

Again, thank you all for your help in guiding me through this build process. I am grateful for all the advice I have gotten here and definitely could not have done it without you. Can’t wait for all the BBQ to come!

PS. Again, I will probably be posting again asking questions in the near future but wanted to get this post out before the end of the year.

[shearman23]

Awesome job Man.

[dacolson]

Congratulations my man. That is fantastic! You snuck it in right under the bell. Great build, fantastic step by step write ups. Now it's time for great BBQ!!

[Cole Leffert]

Nice build! You did great!

[tinspark]

Poncho! love it!! haah!!

[Dirtytires]

You are never really fine I shed with a build. As long as you have a welder, you will find things to adjust and add to it.

[thejm]

There’s just something about watching a fire...