You have a plasma cutter to easily cut out some round steel plugs so would probably just keep it simple and weld up each circle. Till you cut a big rectangle, clean the cut, fully weld in a big plate and then smooth out the weld, it is less time and effort to do just the circles.
If you couldn't cut circles it would be a different situation.....
One on far right was done with hole saw and ill do that one individually. Other two was with plasma and looks like I did them with a chisel while blindfolded. This will likely be a rectangular fill as would take forever to cut a piece that fits in there
Took few days off. Started rushing get things fab’d up and started making stupid mistakes. Hate when keep running in circles. Had few hours today between meeting and got holes filled in. Few large gaps had to fill in with weld puddle so some pitting once ground smooth. Going to fill with thermosteel bondo and sand to curvature of tank
Looking to get door cut this week but unsure how to get it square. Since I cut ends off I cant use weld as reference and I know cuts werent perfectly straight. Any ideas on how to get it centered between ends? My guess if I measured off one end it may be within 1/4-1/2” and I can just keep doing lines until corners are square
Here are holes filled in. It was pain bend 1/4” steel. I had flush up bottom and then heat and hammer to correct curvature. Did about 1/2”-1” of weld before having to reheats and bend. One of those aint much but honest work type of days
Edit: forgot important thing. When working with tools that can do serious harm make sure wearing proper PPE. One of reasons took time off building was I was in hurry get something done to pick kid up from school and was using two pliers in tightening water separator on plasma. Wasnt wearing gloves and one slipped and caught my thumb as I was closing it. Took nice chunk of meat off side. Stupid me getting in hurry but made me take step back and regroup
You first want to find "top dead center" of tank and use that reference to locate the top and bottom door cuts. To center left to right, just find the middle of the top/bottom lines and average the location with a vertical line.
To find top dead center, lay a large t-square across the top and front of the tank at one end. Place a level on top of the t-square at the top of the tank and rotate until the bubble reads horizontal level. Then, simply use the ruler on the t-square to mark the top of the tank at a point equal to the outside tank radius. Repeat for the other end of the tank and draw a line between the two points.
Used to have laser level. Dont know what happened to it
Ill build center square out of scrap wood and router slot for ruler drop in then use vertical
Level with horizontal indicator. Better than spending $30-$80 on Amazon
If you're looking to square the ends of the door up just wrap some parchment paper around the tank til it overlaps itself, tape it together and mark the ends.
If it's tourist season, how come I can't shoot 'em?
Picked up 3’ long 6” sch 40 pipe today from work for the exhaust stack. ID is just over 6” and OD is around 6.75”
What is easiest way to remove section and create 5” ID? Though just doing doing desired diamater multiply by pie and calculate difference but then I though that due to wall thickness and length I couldnt bend back for seam to close
Could I cut in half down middle removing partial then weld halves back together? I am assuming remove prob 3/8” each side and with thickness of plasma I would get full inch
Splitting a 6" pipe and removing a section will leave you with an egg shaped mess. Way too much work and it's gonna look goofy. Just buy a 5" pipe like you want or use the bigger as is. Either will work as long a correct volume.
Only 5” pipe I could find locally was 36” in length and they wanted $220 for it. No thanks. Stack will be one of last things I put on so ill set it on collector to see how it looks. Sitting on floor looks massive but next to a big tank may look different
Anyone know dimensions of style of hinges used on Jambo and Outlaw smokers? Trying to determine how much material is needed. Also what is proper thickness. 1/8” , 3/16”. , or 1/4”? What is benefit of the three piece hinge over 2 of same design. Is the only thing being able have door stop built in
As far as brackets for door handle are there any oem makers out there that uses solid piece with little drop? I either see straight out or a massive drop.
Remind me to never start a project around holidays again. Between putting up decorations and getting dragged 1000 miles visit inlaws I have had no time to work on smoker
I did manage to get 3 sides of firebox welded together and then attached which made one thing obvious. FB is going to be F*N heavy. Inner shell alone will be 275lbs.
Here is photo of outside of inner shell showing all the holes had patch up on the 3/8” plate and number pieces had to fit together before I could cut out dimension I needed. It takes me one full day per side to complete. Inside of FB I decided to smooth out and looks nice
After going through 12lb flux core im starting to get hang of this welding thing
Plan between now and new year is finish up FB, smooth out all tank sections and weld onto cart, cut out door. Trying find mobile sandblaster to come and do everything inside and out but no luck yet
Used 1/8” plate for stack collector and decided to insulate it
Plasma cut door and had about 1/8” spring inwards which is odd. Will straighten up later on. Bands will be on inside so door closes flush
Here is where we are at this far. Stack is just sitting on collector. Getting flange waterjet and will bolt to top once I fab up last piece. Hope get Fb mounted tomorrow
Pulled tank off and extended frame so FB would be supported. Tomorrow going to start on door and havent yet 100% committed myself to having a window in FB door. May be more trouble than its worth
One thing having issue with is squaring CC door up. It sprung inward about 3/16” and twisted slightly. If O use tie down to pull everything flush then welded hinges on do you think it would fix twist and some of spring?
It might work. Getting a door to pull out should be a whole lot easier than getting one to pull in. It's gonna pull out some when you weld the hinges on. Is it sprung inward just on the corners, or all the way around?