First Offset Smoker build

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 21st, 2020, 11:46 pm

I measured 7 times & cut once. Now I will finish the rest of the firebox before I weld it in place. The way I see it, I’ll have 2” below the charcoal basket. That leaves me 8” to play with so I’m thinking 5” for the basket & 3” head space.
I’ve made a cardboard template for the throat & dam & Im pretty happy. Now to cut & weld. I’m planning on extending the top of the FB into the CC about a foot as a shadow plate.

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dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 22nd, 2020, 6:59 am

Fantastic! Nice looking template.

hogaboomer · Post by **hogaboomer** » May 22nd, 2020, 2:20 pm

That cardboard is gonna leak.

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 22nd, 2020, 6:35 pm

Tough to weld too

hogaboomer · Post by **hogaboomer** » May 22nd, 2020, 6:51 pm

I would just use duct tape.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 22nd, 2020, 7:32 pm

dacolson wrote:Tough to weld too

hogaboomer wrote:I would just use duct tape.

Come on guys, do it right! Loctight is the go. [emoji38]

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 24th, 2020, 5:01 pm

Good morning all

I’m ready to build the FB door but I’m struggling with design. I’m thinking that given it’s a small smoker/FB, I want to have full width access when the door is open, to allow more room when adding splits & to be able to easily scrape ash out.

I’m thinking of framing the door with 1 or 1.5” angle, ie the door would fit over the FB walls.

Ideas from you guys would be great or pictures of your doors.

Cheers [emoji482]

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towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » May 24th, 2020, 5:56 pm

having the door frame on the outside of the fire box will work fine....just make sure the firebox has some kind of framing around the opening to keep it from warping.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 24th, 2020, 7:50 pm

towtruck wrote:having the door frame on the outside of the fire box will work fine....just make sure the firebox has some kind of framing around the opening to keep it from warping.

Would small angle welded around the outside do the job? The I’d just make the total size of the door bigger so as to go around the bracing. I just don’t want it to look odd.

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 24th, 2020, 10:15 pm

towtruck wrote:having the door frame on the outside of the fire box will work fine....just make sure the firebox has some kind of framing around the opening to keep it from warping.

Thanks Towtruck, so here is a couple of pic showing my lines of thought for the framing you mention. Any preference to which would be better?

My dilemma is that option one might look a bit odd, & option 2 will reduce the already smallish opening. I need to decide which is the lessor evil.

Pic 1: angle welded around the outside of the opening

Pic 2: flat bar welded inside the opening.

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Post by **Big T** » May 24th, 2020, 10:55 pm

I would 45 the angle iron and weld it to the outside of the FB, I wouldn't choke the inside down anymore. I have seen a few FB/WC that had flat bar on edge welded around the outside to brace them.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 24th, 2020, 11:16 pm

Big T wrote:I would 45 the angle iron and weld it to the outside of the FB, I wouldn't choke the inside down anymore. I have seen a few FB/WC that had flat bar on edge welded around the outside to brace them.

Yeah I tend to agree. I gather you mean to 45 the ends where each piece will join? That was the plan. Thanks for the help once again.

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Post by **Big T** » May 24th, 2020, 11:30 pm

Yes sir, 45 the ends.

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 24th, 2020, 11:41 pm

Why not use the flat bar on it’s side around the inside of the door to make a lip? Depending on how wide the bar is, you may need to move it back a bit on the side opposite the hinge so it will close. You’d get rigidity and stability from the flat bar and the lip. You could run a gasket around it as well to improve the seal. Just a thought so you can keep your door and firebox the same size.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 24th, 2020, 11:56 pm

That’s a good idea too for the door.

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 25th, 2020, 2:30 am

After a lot of indecision about my FB door this morning, I decided to leave it for more consideration while I had a doctor’s appointment. When I got home I took all the paint off the tank with the help of a few cheap flapper discs. It’s all shiny steel now.

After lunch, & some consultation with you guys, I braced up the FB opening ready to make the door.

What would be the general consensus on this? Do you think that angle iron needs to be fully welded to the FB or will what I’ve done be enough?

First job in the morning is to clean up my workshop. It’s a disgrace!!

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dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 25th, 2020, 8:41 am

First- the tank looks awesome! Really cool look all shiny like that.
Second, It’s probably ok to leave. If you are aiming for as tight a box as possible, you will get air leaks and need to weld it up all the way. Most FBs have some leakage anyway so ... I’d probably weld over a few inches at least of each corner for strength. And I’d position my gaskets so they overlap the seams.

towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » May 25th, 2020, 9:21 am

The tighter everything is the easier it is to nail your temps down. My tube smoker is 100% air tight on the fire box and cook chamber doors and I can control temps by the degree.

Nice job so far!

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 25th, 2020, 9:45 am

If you do weld it up completely, you have a lot of tacks to deal with. You should grind them down a bit so you can weld over all of them. Try for as few starts and stops as possible. You’ll get less porosity, cleaner welds.

tinspark · Post by **tinspark** » May 25th, 2020, 10:10 am

Also, at the very least, remove all of the slag on your tack welds before trying to weld over them. If you have a stiff wire wheel on a grinder that works great for this. Innershield doesn't like welding over slag.. Also, I was looking at your welds again, you mentioned that your polarity is correct/ Are you sure that you are running innershield and not dual shield? Some wire that looks like flux core but actually needs gas with it too (dual shield) which makes for a beautiful and very strong bead... Still looks like a possible machine setting/ set-up issue to me. IMHO
Nice looking build!

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » May 25th, 2020, 12:07 pm

I wouldn’t say you absolutely need to weld the entire length of the piece but I would add a few longer stitches as I would be concerned of the spot welds holding up to the abuse. Maybe I just don’t do mine well but my tack welds tend to be more like ‘only slightly tacky welds.’

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 25th, 2020, 3:56 pm

tinspark wrote:Also, at the very least, remove all of the slag on your tack welds before trying to weld over them. If you have a stiff wire wheel on a grinder that works great for this. Innershield doesn't like welding over slag.. Also, I was looking at your welds again, you mentioned that your polarity is correct/ Are you sure that you are running innershield and not dual shield? Some wire that looks like flux core but actually needs gas with it too (dual shield) which makes for a beautiful and very strong bead... Still looks like a possible machine setting/ set-up issue to me. IMHO
Nice looking build!

Yeah, the label says “gasless wire”. You will be correct, it’s probably set up issues added to lack of experience/skill, all of which I will gradually fix.

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 25th, 2020, 3:58 pm

Thanks to all for your help.

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dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 25th, 2020, 4:31 pm

Hey Andy, you know how water drains in the opposite direction in Australia? Maybe welding polarity is opposite there too

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