Wick's first build; 80 gallon RF

Wicked4x4 · Post by **Wicked4x4** » April 5th, 2013, 2:21 pm

the start of a beautiful thing...

Wicked4x4 · Post by **Wicked4x4** » April 5th, 2013, 3:17 pm

i should mention, some of the metal you see there is to build a welding table, and i'm sure to have go amount of extra material when done as well.

starting the firebox. got myself a good priced 89* steel holder from harbor freight. damn that thing is handy

tank sanded/wire-brushed down

hole cut in FB door. mounting the inner flanges

helper #1 on mandatory union break

helper #2 (you can tell he's the foreman by the cleanliness of that hard hat).
FB door flanges all on. the box is sitting upside down.

foreman inspecting the cut

cutting the door, "measure twice, but once" he said

the burn-out

since i'm too far away to borrow Frank_Cox's forklift, i had to borrow a buddies cherry picker. this is nice to have around, i was not looking forward to stepping on my own ass trying to pick up and move around myself...

got the FB mounted to the CC. had it on end to run that bead across the bottom

feedback, constructive criticism, advice, questions are all welcome.

SOILhunter · Post by **SOILhunter** » April 5th, 2013, 4:34 pm

Looks good to me! Reminds me of the first one I built...one thing I will say that I didn't do on mine, is that if your building a rolling cart for it it sit on extend it end to end. I mounted mine on the CC And CC side of the firebox and it turned out being FB heavy and wanting to tip pretty easy. Keep up the good work!

Smokeone · Post by **Smokeone** » April 5th, 2013, 7:19 pm

That thing is coming along nicely. Nothing beats good help, and I think you got some god ones there!

mofomatic · Post by **mofomatic** » April 5th, 2013, 8:58 pm

looking good.

How bad was it wire brushing the paint off? i need to remove the paint on my build this weekend. wasn't sure wich way to go yet.

KenV · Post by **KenV** » April 5th, 2013, 9:15 pm

Lookin good! Those harbor freight clamps are great for the money, I use mine all the time.

Gizmo · Post by **Gizmo** » April 6th, 2013, 5:40 am

Good work there wick!

Couple observations:
1) Lord knows I've done my share of bonehead things in my shop but I have never stepped on my own ass...! WOW that hit me funny

2) In the first pic I think you need to get the #1 helper a raise - workin' 3 jobs like he is - it's taking a toll - darkened eyes and the works....

3) helper #2 just needs a micrometer and a bullhorn that match his helmet. Put him in charge of QC ... Tell him you're gonna pay him 4 times his current salery and give him a car allowance. There has got to be a way to bring this project in OVER budget!

Thanks man! ... I love a good set of pics like that ... and you will too in a few years looking back.

The Czar · Post by **The Czar** » April 6th, 2013, 7:25 am

Dude your kicking ass and taking names for sure! I love it...helper and all!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

Wicked4x4 · Post by **Wicked4x4** » April 7th, 2013, 12:33 am

SOILhunter wrote:Looks good to me! Reminds me of the first one I built...one thing I will say that I didn't do on mine, is that if your building a rolling cart for it it sit on extend it end to end. I mounted mine on the CC And CC side of the firebox and it turned out being FB heavy and wanting to tip pretty easy. Keep up the good work!

Well crap. I already mounted the legs on ends of tank. I know the FB is heavy but didn't think that much. I was about to attach the casters but I'll put it on ground first and check the balance. I can still make adjustments on that if need be. Thanks for the tip.

Wicked4x4 · Post by **Wicked4x4** » April 7th, 2013, 12:42 am

mofomatic wrote:looking good.

How bad was it wire brushing the paint off? i need to remove the paint on my build this weekend. wasn't sure wich way to go yet.

Wasn't too bad brushing it off. Used a large knotted wire cup brush on my grinder. Took some time but not bad. I tried using a flap disc first and another sanding disk, but decided I didn't have to grind down that much on the whole thing.

Post by **Rodcrafter** » April 7th, 2013, 7:18 am

Looks like your working hard and having fun too. misson accomplished, looks like it will be a nice cooker too.

Grabber70Mach · Post by **Grabber70Mach** » April 8th, 2013, 8:10 am

Looking good, you'll be smelling smoke in no time.

dbear · Post by **dbear** » April 8th, 2013, 11:25 am

what thickness is your firebox? 3/8" or 1/4"? I love the progress...I just started my 100 gallon RF build. Just wire-wheeled the tank clean. Not too bad, just time consuming. Good work bud!

Wicked4x4 · Post by **Wicked4x4** » April 8th, 2013, 6:21 pm

dbear wrote:what thickness is your firebox? 3/8" or 1/4"? I love the progress...I just started my 100 gallon RF build. Just wire-wheeled the tank clean. Not too bad, just time consuming. Good work bud!

i appreciate everyone's comments. i used 1/4" plate for the FB. i'll look forward to checking out your build as well. i didn't think wire wheeling it was bad. it did good enough to clean it, i still grind where i'm gonna weld, but i'll be able to paint on it.

couple more pics and updates:

legs on!

wheels on!!! now it's looking like a smoker! it rolls really nice. my friend suggested rock cart casters. they are amazing and don't even flinch with the weight.

so this project will be on hold a little bit. i was in a mad dash to get the wheels on since we're moving this weekend. once we settle, i'll be back on it.

SOILhunter mentioned the placement of legs/wheels after i had already had mine mounted...yes, if i push down hard enough on the FB, it will wheelie up, but i'm thinking when i add the 1/4" baffle plate, and some racks it will be even better. i looked at Frank_Cox's and several other patio models, they seem to be similar. i'd be more concerned with someone sitting on it and burning the pants clean off their ass before the thing tilting! still, i plan on putting a cross member on the legs on opposite side of FB (since you can see i'm all about over building my stuff), i may just give weight to it to assist.

i'm not sure on the name for it yet either. i told my wife she could have the honors of naming it. she was pretty excited.

SOILhunter · Post by **SOILhunter** » April 8th, 2013, 6:29 pm

That's looking even better! I had the problems with it if I tried moving it while it was running and pushing from the CC end....if I caught some rocks or a crack in the concrete. The size of my castors could have played a part in this also.

Clover Ridge Smokers · Post by **Clover Ridge Smokers** » April 8th, 2013, 6:55 pm

Post by **Rodcrafter** » April 9th, 2013, 7:07 am

TuscaloosaQ · Post by **TuscaloosaQ** » April 9th, 2013, 7:38 am

Looks good Wick , it is easy to add a counter weight up front if need your build looks great :LG:

Post by **Tom_Heath** » April 9th, 2013, 9:31 pm

Like tq said weight is easy.

A nice shelf made from 1/4 inch plate opposite would and a fair amount of balance weight.

SmokinFF · Post by **SmokinFF** » April 12th, 2013, 4:54 pm

A shelf on the CC end for a cooler would balance nicely. By the time you're done cooking, the cooler is empty, no more weight needed. then it's lighter to push in the garage.

mofomatic · Post by **mofomatic** » April 12th, 2013, 8:25 pm

Looks good.

Tank has a nice shape to it. Your deck/drive way/ patio... must be perfectly flat. With 4 swivel cators, that thing would be spinning in circles out my garage down the driveway, into the street. I Went with 8"pnuematic castors on my build. Too much stuff to run over.

Wicked4x4 · Post by **Wicked4x4** » April 16th, 2013, 5:42 pm

SmokinFF wrote: A shelf on the CC end for a cooler would balance nicely. By the time you're done cooking, the cooler is empty, no more weight needed. then it's lighter to push in the garage.

i like the way you think...but my only concern is the size of the cooler you're referring too; my beer coolers are as larger or larger than my smoker!

Wicked4x4 · Post by **Wicked4x4** » July 8th, 2013, 2:52 pm

well, i finally started working on the smoker a little bit the last couple weekends (after kids go down, then in a garage still unorganized from move so it is usually around 10pm to 1am)...i came on to post pics and find my thread on the 3rd page...that is an eye-opener to tell me i've been slacking!

couple updates, but not too much; 1/4" baffle plate welded in place, flanges on door (pain in the ass, hardest thing i've done on this so far), got rid of old hinges and mounted bullet hinges on instead.

*door flanges: so the door warped a little bit after cutting, not just bowed in or out, but a bit twisted. i could not get rid of that, so i actually shaved it a bit so it would close and fall into the CC. then i laid the flatbar over the cc and welded to the door to fill the gaps. i had a hell of a time trying to get the stuff to lay flat on the curve, it just would not flex (1-1/2" x 1/8"), then it would go crooked so i cut it off and started a new one. i ended up finally buying a little torch (plumber style on MAPP gas) to heat it to get to bend easier, that worked and i still had a lot of gap to fill. ultimately, this is probably one of the parts of the smoker that shows the most and the welds are some of my ugliest (cue grinder and flap wheel). it was just dis-heartening. anyways, it's done and i'm on to the next parts. door is still not a perfect seal, so i need to decide if i want to put a clamp/handle to lock it shut, or do i just fill the void with some gasket, which i was trying to avoid...any advice?

now the pics:
baffle plate, acting as work bench:

as it sits, door flanges on CC:

new hinge for lid. i'll probably re-use the originals i made for the firebox.

Post by **Rodcrafter** » July 8th, 2013, 3:01 pm

That is coming along NICE!

Smokeone · Post by **Smokeone** » July 8th, 2013, 5:45 pm

Looking good! Keep pushing, you'll get er done.

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