king cooker project

[Tom_Heath]

Good deal, and I agree it takes the satisfaction to a whole new level when you know you are turning heads when you drive by.

[robbynz]

Your smoker is coming along really well. Are you having counter weights on the doors?

[rlmax02]

Hey robbynz. Im not planning on counterweights no. Im thinking on a prop rod that hooks in when you lift the door. Ive seen some photos of them on the net and kinda like the way they look. With that being said, after I lift the doors a few times I may change my mind. those suckers are heavy hahaha

[rlmax02]

well guys and gals ive been quiet for a few days and I am now a big advocate of goggles when grinding. I got a good chunk of metal stuck in my eye even with wearing glasses. Had it dug out on friday and it sucks!. anyway while i sit here in front of the computer with sunglasses on I have to tell you I had a great find today. I came across a trailor that will work great for the King Cooker. I have a large boat trailer already but I couldnt pass this one up. The ad read free boat trailer. I took a look at it and found it to be 15min from my house and in highway condition.



here it is. ive already taken the rollers off and am gonna shorten it by 2ft. Now as with all free things there is a catch. To get the free trailer I had to agree to dispose of the piece of crap gutted boat that was on top of it. Well just so happens that my friend and I had planned to burn some limbs and things from a heavy wind storm we had last week so....



No more boat!

now my friend helped me out a ton with this today so all good deeds are rewarded.




8 pounds of juicy goodness after 14hrs

good food, good friends, and a great trailer for free!. Now thats a good day

[Tom_Heath]

Sorry to hear about the metal vs eye incident. Most of the time the metal wins. Been there done that, the sucky part is when they dilate your eye. I thought I was gonna die on the way home the last time.

Gotta love the tiny tiny flexible drill bit they sometimes use to catch the little chunk of metal. One worse then metal is crushed glass, been there done that too. Yikes that was a drag.

Awesome find on the trailer, and entertainment to boot, disposing of the boat.

I am looking for a new face shield, if I can remember where I saw it. It was supper cool, if I can find it I will share the link.

[rlmax02]

I took the opportunity to go out in the shed this evening to work on the smoker. I cut a few coins out and filled the holes from the factory bungs.



still have to hit them from the inside but at least the tank looks different. makes it seem like progress is being made.

On another note I found a gentleman who retired to my county from the Baltimore area. Seems that he
was in the metal business and after he closed shop he brought all of his stuff here with him.
His yard is really a 1 stop shop for everything ill need. Hes selling at scrap prices too.
Saturday Im picking up angle for the trailer and a 6" pipe for the stack as well as some
3/8 round bar. Now that stuff I just mentioned is what I saw from standing in his driveway shooting
the breeze with him. I cant wait to browse the whole property.

[Tom_Heath]

I'm thinking you have just hit the jackpot. Congrats

It's amazing how much different the tanks look when ya fill the holes. Keep up the hard work, its paying off.

[rlmax02]

I squeezed a bit of time in this afternoon to work on the cooker. I got the 2nd door framed out and sitting in the hole. Everything is lining up good so far so Im very pleased. I know im skipping around a bit but gotta work with the material I have when I have it

[Tom_Heath]

That looks fantastic, its coming along nicely.

[rlmax02]

Since the trailer for this build is coming along nicely It is time to get this thing ready to go on it.
I cut off the legs on the smoker and welded them back so they would line up with the
crossmembers on the trailer.
Ive noticed that alot of people just weld on braces or legs for support but these are thick
and the right height so Im keepin them

[rlmax02]

for some reason I couldnt get this pic to resize. sorry

[Tom_Heath]

Personally I have never really understood why so many people cut um off. I think they make a great platform to work from.

[rlmax02]

I totally agree with you tom. The legs seem to b perfect as is. Thanks for resizing the pic

[rlmax02]

looky looky my fellow smoker fanatics.....got the tank on the trailer and working the bugs out. just sitting on top and not mounted yet of course. Firebox has been laser cut (sorry guys, my buddy works at a defense contractor and access is restriced so no pics of that). progress is good!

[Frank_Cox]

heck yeah!!! that's one of my favorite parts of the build, puttin the cookchamber on the trailer. starts to take shape at that point great job man!

[Tom_Heath]

WOW a laser cutter, now that would be cool to check out.

Hey, that trailer is looking pretty darn good. My goodness, is that a frosty malt beverage I see there on the fender? LOL

[rlmax02]

why yes tom that would be a frosty beverage. a little celebration of a good days work!

[robbynz]

That is looking really good!
Are you going to have anything on the other side of the smoker?

[rlmax02]

The other side will be storage and a woodbox, i plan on having a couple of propane burners and maybe a charcoal grill on there somewhere as well, cooler spots etc. thanks for the compliment. got the firebox started last nite. i will post some pics this evening!

[rlmax02]

like i mentioned in the previous post my buddy eric delivered a load of steel cut to order last night













gotta love how a laser CNC cuts steel!

I also got a chance to put a few pieces together and so far so good!

[Tom_Heath]

Nice !!!!!

We may have talked about this before and I probably just can't remember. What's the 5 holes in the FB top going to feed?

[rlmax02]

hey tom...the holes in the top are gonna be for a dampener system for the warmer box. closed just for radiant heat and open to allow heat and smoke in for smaller cooks or for cooking at diff temps. 2 of the holes will have to be patched because dummy me didnt take into thought that they will b convered mostly by the notch in the tank. Thats ok tho 3 will work just fine and line up in the warmer perfect I got the firebox all tacked up tonight. just gotta seal it up!

[Tom_Heath]

WOW, I just looked at that last pic and thought holy sheeeemamma that looks like freaking 3/4" LOL but then I went back and looked at the parts again and noticed its part of the circle cutout making the top look so thick.

Thank You for refreshing me about the warming box. I do remember that now.

[rlmax02]

i see what you mean about looking thick. This thing is heavy enough. the pieces totaled at 374lbs. im gonna close it up tonight i think and work on dealing with the trailer over weekend. maybe ill get lucky and be able to join the tank and the box as well.

[rlmax02]

today the king cooker starts to take shape.
I got a good jump this morning and found it amazing what a good floor jack, some ciderblocks and a bit of determination will do for your day



heres a shot of everything lining up as it should. a bit of prying here and tugging there of course



got everything tacked up and the trailer squared up here. took quite a bit to get the twist outta the trailer but we did it





these are the insides as the stand right now. celebrating with some Segrams dark honey.
Perfect day my friends