First Offset Smoker build

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 31st, 2020, 10:39 am

Cool design. I like the look. Welds are coming along too. I bet that door weighs a ton now!

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » May 31st, 2020, 11:28 am

You probably know this, but rule of thumb is to space the door about half the thickness of the gasket. This allows the gasket to crush a bit when closing the door and will give enough room to keep the door from binding.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 31st, 2020, 3:10 pm

Dirtytires wrote:You probably know this, but rule of thumb is to space the door about half the thickness of the gasket. This allows the gasket to crush a bit when closing the door and will give enough room to keep the door from binding.

Thanks mate, I didn’t know that. It’s a good thing I’ve waited then.

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » May 31st, 2020, 3:11 pm

dacolson wrote:Cool design. I like the look. Welds are coming along too. I bet that door weighs a ton now!

I’m amazed at how heavy this thing is. It’s only small too.

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Mankussm · Post by **Mankussm** » May 31st, 2020, 4:01 pm

Awesome looking build. I have been so busy on mine, I have forgot to look at everybody else’s.

[emoji106]

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » May 31st, 2020, 4:32 pm

andysmoked wrote: ↑
May 31st, 2020, 3:11 pm

dacolson wrote:Cool design. I like the look. Welds are coming along too. I bet that door weighs a ton now!
I’m amazed at how heavy this thing is. It’s only small too.

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Make sure those hinges are strong!

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 1st, 2020, 6:42 am

Mankussm wrote:Awesome looking build. I have been so busy on mine, I have forgot to look at everybody else’s.

[emoji106]

Thanks mate.

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 3rd, 2020, 9:53 pm

I really want the weld that joins the FB to the CC to look good so I had the idea to use the CC cut out piece as a practice piece to dial in the welder & my skills. After a bit of trial & error, this is the weld I finished up with. If I can recreate this standard of weld on the actual build I’ll be very happy.

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towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » June 3rd, 2020, 9:58 pm

Not bad....try it again a little hotter you may stumble onto something....and try a little U shaped movement as you go.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:18 pm

towtruck wrote:Not bad....try it again a little hotter you may stumble onto something....and try a little U shaped movement as you go.

Oh ok, unfortunately my voltage dial only has 6 settings so I can’t dial in finely on a voltage, but that was on 4, so I’ll try it on 5. That last weld was little “e” movements. I’ll try the U’s & see how I go.

Edit to update:
Here are the two welds side by side. Cooler to the left & hotter to the right. I started to lose a bit of control & almost burnt through on the hotter one. But which is the better weld?

Cheers mate

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towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:22 pm

You might clean the paint off first too if you have not been...that makes a wire feed work much better....a stick welder can burn through paint better but starting clean helps all welds.

I'm a farmer welder and no expert....if it ain't rusty or dirty I don't know how to weld it

towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:29 pm

Your colder weld is better. You can move faster with the hotter setting to stop the over penetration.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:30 pm

towtruck wrote:You might clean the paint off first too if you have not been...that makes a wire feed work much better....a stick welder can burn through paint better but starting clean helps all welds.

I'm a farmer welder and no expert....if it ain't rusty or dirty I don't know how to weld it

I had ground the paint off the edge about 3/4” wide. I think it’s not showing up in the pic too well.

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:32 pm

towtruck wrote:Not bad....try it again a little hotter you may stumble onto something....and try a little U shaped movement as you go.

Guess what’s happening this weekend then? I’m excited.

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andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:33 pm

towtruck wrote:Your colder weld is better. You can move faster with the hotter setting to stop the over penetration.

A bit more practice & it’s all happening this weekend.

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towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:34 pm

andysmoked wrote: ↑
June 3rd, 2020, 10:33 pm

towtruck wrote:Your colder weld is better. You can move faster with the hotter setting to stop the over penetration.
A bit more practice & it’s all happening this weekend.

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It will look good......don't sweat it.

dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » June 3rd, 2020, 10:48 pm

Both are a huge improvement of your earlier welds. You are making great progress. Especially given the flux core wire. If you can spring for a tank of 75/25 it will change your life. I started like you on flux core. Switching to gas shielded let me see the weld better and was far cleaner. Really upped my game. Towtruck is spot on w travel speed on the hotter weld. Colder looks better since your speed is slower. You can get away w the colder at that speed. Nice work my man.

towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » June 4th, 2020, 8:37 am

I'm an old stick welder and have switched to wire feed and have only used flux core and we don't get along very well. The wire wants cleaner metal than I do and my vision sucks with it as I cannot see where I'm going...push or pull I suck with a wire feed. Even with new steel I suck with flux core. It's all me as the welder is top notch. One day I will get a bottle for my welder and make the switch to gas.....in the mean time I break out the stick welder If I want to get er' done and make it pretty....even then my logging/farming welds are still rough.

When I first got my wire feed I really hated it. I let it sit for about five years rarely using it. Then one day I got a spool of good wire and practiced with it. I got better and my welds got better but nowhere near what I want. My last big project with it was building this fence....Turned out pretty nice and there is a lot of welding on those pipes...

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » June 4th, 2020, 9:28 am

As long as the welds are super strong i don't worry a whole bunch on looks. If it was a show piece I might worry more. Bow my welds don't look terrible but not perfect by no means.
OP you do have some great looking welds. A lot better from those in the beginning.
Practice does make perfect.

Claud McBroom

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » June 4th, 2020, 10:24 am

Hey Towtruck, another thing to consider is a new welding hood. I finally broke down and got a new one and it made a huge difference in my welds simply because I can see what I’m doing better. The auto-darkening technology has come a long way in the past 10 years with clarity in both the normal and dark modes. Wasn’t cheap but worth every penny.

towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » June 4th, 2020, 11:57 am

Dirtytires wrote: ↑
June 4th, 2020, 10:24 am
Hey Towtruck, another thing to consider is a new welding hood. I finally broke down and got a new one and it made a huge difference in my welds simply because I can see what I’m doing better. The auto-darkening technology has come a long way in the past 10 years with clarity in both the normal and dark modes. Wasn’t cheap but worth every penny.

Yeah, that is on the list........and I must be wearing a set of readers now as my trifocals don't work at all. I need to get a helmet with my prescription built in.

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 5th, 2020, 3:12 am

I got the door on today, & then I did the top weld of the FB to CC joint. The underside will be done tomorrow. Not the greatest but I’m happy enough with it.

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dacolson · Post by **dacolson** » June 5th, 2020, 7:52 am

Really coming along nicely now. Welds are turning out better and better!

towtruck · Post by **towtruck** » June 5th, 2020, 8:39 am

Looks good!

andysmoked · Post by **andysmoked** » June 5th, 2020, 3:23 pm

Thankyou guys, I didn’t manage to do it in one bead. I felt myself losing control & had to stop & start again a few times.

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