Way to go.. I think 6mm plate will be more than adequate. Heck the entire "The Mack" smoker is built out of 6 mm plate.
Well all I can say is go to it. Should be an interesting build to watch.
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
If I were to do mine again, I would put a short shadow plate (about 10 inches long) and mount it 1-2 inches below my baffle plate. It would be right up next to the firebox to help tame the heat on the firebox side of the smoker.
So I have been making some slow progress. I have the walls and floor of the FB welded to the BP. My first welds were horrid because there was no gas in the mig. A week later we had gas and one of the lads here gave me a quick lesson in gluing metal.
I have cut out the FB air intakes at 3 x 5", based on the pit calculator here I need two of these. If I need a third in the door I can always add one later.
I went for bolt sliders for the intake doors, I wanted something a little different to the standard flat plate or angle. and I think they came out pretty well. I used an off cut of the intake door material to make a simple jig to grind all the bolts to the same height after cutting.
I still need to source the rod for the cooking racks, Angle for the FB door and rack holders, the flat for the CC door and possibly some 5" pipe for the chimney. we have 4 and 6" here. I think 4 will look to small and that 6 may be too much weight. I would like to keep it to around 350kg on the fixed weight.
I have a question for the brains trust. I plan to have three racks in this smoker and I was hoping you guys could advise spacing between the racks. I have 22" from the BP to the top of the CC
First, nice progress. A smoker is a great project to learn metalworking on. Don’t get discouraged by slow progress as that is just the way it goes.
You mentioned looking for rod for the racks and you were concorned for weight. Most of us use flat expanded metal for our cook surface. Lighter, easier and better looking than using cut rods.
3 racks in yours is going to be cozy. Ribs will fit fine but a shoulder will most likely not fit. Mine is a 24 inch pipe. Bottom rack is 5 inches from baffle plate and top rack is 5 inches above that. I’ve only got 6 inches left at the top and it gets crowded fast with the curve of the pipe. On mine, I wouldn’t change a thing.
The rod option was more of a cost thing, it is cheaper than the flattened expanded sheet by around 25%, plus I would need to buy a lot more expanded sheet than I need. I also quite like how they look. The racks will not contribute to the fixed weight as they can be removed while the rig is being moved.
I never thought I would use a 4x8 sheet either...but I did. Used it for my cooking racks, the warmer box racks, a bottom shelf on the frame of the smoker and a full legnth swing up prep rack. Also made the firebox from it. That is a lot of material for $50 in my opinion.
Yesterday I got the BP tacked into the CC and marked out the door opening and did 3 of the cuts leaving the corners intact to be cut later.
Fully welding the BP will be much easier once the CC door is removed. I used the seem roll as the lower door cut so only had to do the three.
I think this CC door is actually going to flex inward. Welds are still very ugly.
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
Thanks guys, I was considering doing a stack from the BP that was open all the way to the top and then have optional drop in gates to restrict or position the flow of the smoke but I think I will now go for a more conventional set up with it closer to centre or top of the CC. If i go from the centre to the top I suppose I can still run the gate system if I want to.
I am definitely not the welding professional but my welder does not like dirty metal. I might recommend you clean up the rust on the edges where you want to weld. It will help the weld penetrate as its not fighting rust.