Wick's first build; 80 gallon RF

[Miketheforester]

Your picture could be misleading, but your door looks like it fits pretty darn good to me. I end up with some major gaposis on my CC door, and after the first cook I filled some of the worst areas with gasket, and it still leaks some, but not enough to lose CC temps or to prevent me from keeping my fire and flow in check, so I figure that is good enough.

[bluecatfish]

I know you are anxious to see thin blue smoke coming out the stack when you get it on it!

[The Czar]

How big of a gap is there? And it's spelled plumber....but like mike said I can't see the gap,..

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

I have to agree based on the pics the gap looks OK. Like the others said you can always used gasket to fill in the gaps if necessary. You can also use toggle clamps to provide pressure to seal the door.

[Wicked4x4]

How big of a gap is there? And it's spelled plumber....but like mike said I can't see the gap,..

now i know why everyone's always giving you shat..I fixed it for you (and for myself so i can sleep at night).

thanks for the compliments guys. i'll try to take a better close up pic of the gap and post later.
big goal is to have this thing smoking for a party we're having on the last weekend of the month...of course i need to use it at least once or twice before then so i can learn how it likes to be fed and some basic temp control, which means ideally it will be smoking next weekend (20th). i see some late nights ahead of me, which also excites me!

[Rodcrafter]

now i know why everyone's always giving you shat! I fixed it for you (and for myself so i can sleep at night).

WOW!

[Wicked4x4]

now i know why everyone's always giving you shat! I fixed it for you (and for myself so i can sleep at night).

WOW!

offensive? sorry, thought we were all internet friends...

So i added some pics of the gap in the lid. i like the idea of the toggle clamp(s), may need to go that route, thanks to he who mentioned that one.

TOP, pretty good, seems like a good seal


MIDDLE, starts getting a bit of a gap


BOTTOM, you can see it here, stuck a ruler by it for a pic too

[Rodcrafter]

No it wasn't offensive I was really commenting on the fact you said you would be able to sleep since you fixed it.

I agree the clamps should close that right up for you. You might PM, TQ he was getting some really nice sized clamps for cheap somewhere.

[Wicked4x4]

so, i also put some hours in last night after getting the boys down. i see a light at the end of the tunnel, i think i may be seasoning it and testing out some tri-tip on it tomorrow!


hole for the stack


stack on


working on the slides for the grills






put the FB door back on. i'm bitter about the blurry pic, but i guess i wasn't seeing straight when i was wrapping up at 3am

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

Looks great. You can mess with that door for hours which will add to frustration and lack of sleep. NOT WORTH IT. Clamps will cost you between $5 and $10 each. Well worth the spend. http://www.thetoggleclampstore.com/

[Smokeone]

The clamps would make this a lot easier of a fix. Besides we will get to see some Q quicker!

[The Czar]

I like it.....I would like to ask how far does that stack come into the cook chamber? and are your plans to make a solid baffle plate or have you thought about tuning plates?

[Rodcrafter]

DC he already has a BP in his CC. It must have been a late night.

[Wicked4x4]

I like it.....I would like to ask how far does that stack come into the cook chamber? and are your plans to make a solid baffle plate or have you thought about tuning plates?

DC he already has a BP in his CC. It must have been a late night.

was just going to say it's in there already. the pics show it going it and using it for my tool storage.

*and i don't know off hand how far the stack drops in, i think around 3 inches on the higher side of the angled cut. the top of the stack clears my garage door (normal door, not the roll up) by about a half inch. if i had thought about it when buying materials, i'd have gotten a 5" round pipe, or 4" square tube instead so it'd be a few inches shorter. but it's all good.

[The Czar]

My bad....whoopsie....

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Wicked4x4]

...so close!
wife knew i was on home stretch yesterday so she told me keep at it and watched the kids, but did ask me to save the FB basket for her. after the padres game, we came home, she dressed up and threw it together.










couple quick things this morning, then seasoning it with bacon grease, then Q-VIEW
i do still have some things to work on, like getting rid of the temporary handle, still need to figure out what i want to do on that. figure out what i want to do for the top of the stack, add the cart/tray to the bottom, add a counter weight on the side opposite of FB, and paint it. still considering a tray in front of the doors, but think i may not need it since those racks slide out...

[Miketheforester]

I would strongly suggest to just do some cooking with it for a while, before you paint it. I was in the same boat as you, as far as thinking of not having a front tray, and a couple other things, but cook a few times, figure out what bugs you and what you want to add delete or tweak, that way if you want to change things you don't have to make trashing your paint job a deciding factor on doing changes. The only down side to this is that it will make you hungry the rest of the time you work on it, because it smells so good.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

So awesome to see the Mrs helping you with the cooker. I agree with MTF, cook on it a few times before you paint it. You will find little things you want change after cooking on it and it's easier to do it before you paint it.

[Gizmo]

Nothing beats a good smelling weld!

[Wicked4x4]

so, let's talk about SUNDAY FUNDAY!!!

the bacon grease seasoning:
heavy lather of it all over inside of CC. rager of a firer with vents and door wide open, temps got to about 450 on FB side, 420 on far side




this picture makes me realize that my yard looks like a damn scrap yard, with the neighbors piece of high fence for whatever reason, my pile of tree limbs that i have yet to cut up for camp firewood, and the stuff sitting in the corner for my garage sale this weekend...i've got work to do.


first meat: 3 tri-tips, three styles of seasoning. some chicken 1/4's 2 styles of seasoning.



some time with the fire and smoke:



all in all, i'm a happy man being able to use this thing now while i dial in the final details. i'm damn excited and proud to use a pit that i built
couple issues i did run into:
1 - not too even of cook temps across pit. lowest i got the difference was around 25 degrees, but was around 40 and up to 50 degree difference (ie/ 260 / 300). i'll be smoking again this weekend to see how that goes, without turning it up to 400 for a couple hours early on. see if i can get to around 225-240 and hold there for the day and see where the temp differential is.
2 - to get the temp down to around 250 (that is where i wanted to be for my cook, but just settled throwing it on around 280ish), i had to shut my air ports down to about 1/4 of what i expected to with the pit calc. again, not sure if this is because of the raging fire i had originally and let burn down before cooking while the pit just maintained temp, or if my FB is a bit too big and efficient for my CC. but i think my trial this weekend will help me be a better judge of this.
3 - smoke leaking out the hood. i knew this was coming with the little bit of gap there. still deciding if i want to do toggle clamps or fill with some gasket...
4 - i really wish i had the FB side wheels mounted to the FB, even just a few inches back. this heavy bastard loves to wheelie up on me when moving around and trying to manhandle it. it's fine with sitting/cooking, but damn. i just don't want to cut the legs off and move them, thinking about one more caster as a wheelie bar/wheel right underneath the FB. or i'll just move the legs. gonna add a bit of counter weight to the opposite end to help, but i'm really not trying to add another couple hundred pounds to this thing. i really thought i was clear of this problem when building it.

as always, i'm open to any tips or advice or feedback to help me out.

[Gizmo]

I might have an idea to help with the balance problem.
Does it want to drop on the FB end when you try to roll it?

If so then buy a plug-in socket type of swivel caster and weld the socket to the bottom of the FB about 2 inches from the door in the center. Then plug in the swivel caster part only when you are going to move it - sort of a "safety wheel". Those legs need a basic shelf across them about half way to the ground for gloves, tongs, etc. - the plug-in wheel can just live there so it's handy when you need it…. or not

[Smokeone]

Don't get frustrated yet! Give it a normal test fire and see what she does.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

Welcome to the art of pit building. We've all been in your shoes and that is were this forum can be a big help.

[Wicked4x4]

I might have an idea to help with the balance problem.
Does it want to drop on the FB end when you try to roll it?

If so then buy a plug-in socket type of swivel caster and weld the socket to the bottom of the FB about 2 inches from the door in the center. Then plug in the swivel caster part only when you are going to move it - sort of a "safety wheel". Those legs need a basic shelf across them about half way to the ground for gloves, tongs, etc. - the plug-in wheel can just live there so it's handy when you need it…. or not

ya, that is kinda the thought i had, a safety from teetering up. also, i do plan to build a rack/shelf on the bottom. also as for a counter weight, i was thinking of taking some 3x3 that i used for the legs, fill it up with either rebar or sand and add to the opposite end from firebox on bottom by rack...just an idea.

Don't get frustrated yet! Give it a normal test fire and see what she does.

not too frustrated, just figure i gotta learn it more...but LOVING it so far.

Welcome to the art of pit building. We've all been in your shoes and that is were this forum can be a big help.

thanks, so far all the help on here has been priceless! looking forward to getting more help. after my dad saw mine coming along, he is nudging me for one

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

It's funny how dad's will do that. Mine did the same things years ago when I starting building pits.