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
Yes it is, luckily with the help from you all here and a buddy that is a welder/fabricator who likes to trade his services for my hydrographic services, it shouldn't be that bad in the end. I am going to try to do as much as I can myself with my minimal welding and fab experience but have a backup if it starts going south.
Welcome to the forum and thanks for your service. 500G is one heck of a start. Make sure to run all the numbers thru the calculator twice before you cut anything. With the welder buddy and this forum you are good to go.
Sounds like an awesome build. As stated above, please run the numbers before you start. But better then that, you can always give us a call and possibly think about a set of our plans.
Tom_Heath I had originally planned on going with a set of your plans however, did not find any that were for a 500 standard offset with a square insulated firebox. I had seen one for a 500 gallon reverse flow with a non-insulated fire box though. If getting a set made is an option it would be something I'd consider to make the process go a little easier for my first go at building a smoker.