Your new tanks sounds exactly like the one I finished a few hours ago. The tank thickness is not 1/4" and not 3/16 but something in the middle. I can think of my exact measurement just now but I'll measure anything you want on it. I ha attached a picture here but jus search MACK ...Franks build revisited, the doors
1/4" is perfect for baffle and fire box. I now add a 1-2" x 1/4 " stringer" from the front door to the throat on the inside too of the fire box to eliminate warping and I use an x brace on the fire box door, same condition.
Your seal will come from solid welding. Maybe 1 pass, maybe 2 or more depending in the fit tolerance. Same for the baffle plate
I always use 1" tube on my grate with the 9 11 expanded flat sheet my cc door started as a cut at 1" below 3:00 and 1" above 12:00 noon but you see how I had increased tank volume with that little dormer on the to to accommodate square doors. This was reall a fly by the seat of my pants build but still adhereingnto the pit calculator...if you like what you see...ask. I am bound by the code of smoke to pay it all forward. Especially my removable stack
Do a search on the smokerbuilder university. Frank has a great video on grate making, I use the method showed here.my tank has 2 racks on 2 1/2" above the BP and the next 7" above that one.
Attachments
Make no mistake, there ain't no powder in this Puff ! And... I'm not really a crazy person but I play one in real life
Slowboat76, you can do all those thing you mentioned to your BP but it isn't required. Most of the time the drippings that land on the plate will not go anywhere at all. They will sit right there and char away to a crusty thing you will need to scrape off later. An cooker the size you are going to make won't create enough drippings to worry about. I'm not familiar with the size expanded Puff listed, I always ask for 3/4"x9 and they give me what I want. The size of your grates won't require anything special you can use square tubing which is very strong or angle which is halt as strong. I use both and they are 1"x1", the slides they rest on is 1-1/4" x 1-1/4".
Here is one example:
Here is another:
Here is something about the removable stack on my back yard smoker:
Here is the stack:
Hope that helps.
Current Smokers: Backyard RF Offset and Hybrid RF Offset trailer rig with Cowboy cooker and fish fryer, always room for more........
*****Nevermind, I finally found the university.. lol Been watching a few of them.
I got a 4'x8' sheet of 1/4"
1 4'x8' sheet of expanded flat
1 stick of 1/4"x2"
1 stick of 1" square tubing heavy wall
1 stick of 1.25x1.25 angle heavy
got the door cut out, and as I left the office I had a healthy fire of busted pallets going.
Will have the firebox welded up tomorrow
I am going to cut top and bottom 1/2" large both ways that way the other plates will at least have one straight side.. lol
Sorry for that expanded metal. It is 3/4 x 9... I think that auto-correct got me. Another thing about the removable stack is that you can wheel it under lower height doors. I built it in the barn with 12' door heights but finished it in the garage which has 7' standard doors
Make no mistake, there ain't no powder in this Puff ! And... I'm not really a crazy person but I play one in real life
Lets see, I got the firebox done (lots of bead running) except for mounting hinges and vent cutout,
I am doing the cook chamber mating today if all goes well, I found some hinges in the next town over so asked the wife if she wanted to go for a roadtrip? lol what she doesn't realize is I have an extra grinder that she can help me with after I buy her lunch on the road trip for hinges... I hope to get racks built today as well and then try and decide on an undercarriage.
So I've gotta be gratefult then... My wife is a Vermont farm girl. She helps with deck building, treehouses, firewood, snow, and a load of other crap. I do cover her expenses for manicures, hair and makeup though. Over 30+ years that adds up!
Make no mistake, there ain't no powder in this Puff ! And... I'm not really a crazy person but I play one in real life
LOL @ smokeone. Next time I see her, I can tell her you said she better start helping out and pulling her weight. Lmao. Helping a brother out..... Right?
Well made progress, but not as much as I had planned. I got the firebox mated to the cook chamber, the baffle plate welded in completely, and welded an additional 15" "extra baffle plate" to the fire chamber end to lessen the hot spot. The hinges were not the right ones so that was a wasted trip, but got to eat lunch with the wife. Now looking for hinge ideas that I can build and door latch mechanisms. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Bummer on the hinges. You can always cut 1/4 in plate to a shape you like and drill the two pieces with a common hole and weld them in place on edge. Using a bolt in that common hole as the hinge point.
Well, I got the hinges I bought installed and they have already warped, so I am going to cut them off today and if I can't find the bullet hinges, I will try and make some that's a little stouter. Also got the exhaust stack cut and installed. Door fitting ok, but I actually think I am going to cut it off today and build the squared-off doors. Getting closer but with running into road blocks and not finding parts I need, it's becoming quite comedic. Poor planning on my part by not ordering this stuff and having it here, but that's what I get for just busting into something wide open. Also can't find door handles anywhere in stock either.
ok more progress, I cut the firebox door off because I was really unhappy with the gaps. Also I found 2-5" bullet hinges after a long search effort and as soon as I got back I reshimmed the door for proper clearances and welded the bullet hinges. The firebox door is good now, just got to cut air inlet holes and mount latch. I cut the cook chamber door off because I was really unhappy with the gaps, it is now scrap and I am halfway through getting the squared off doors built thanks to Puff telling me to go for it. looks a lot better but ran out of oxygen so had to cease the door cutting for the CC. Got my first slide cook rack tray built minus the expanded metal. I am slowly sneaking up on it as poor planning has really cut my work time down looking for parts.
Glad you're progressing. The smoker I'd just finished for my son had some planning issues too and I'd bet this goes on a lot. Especially that I was building on the fly. Saw some pieces in my pile that would take me to the next step quickly. Then made the following steps a real PITA. from an easy weld up, I went to a complex cut and fit on the next 3-4 steps. There is a great spot on the horizon that allows you to see the finished project. It's coming! I learned a bunch of stuff here and was simply told...pay it forward.
Ps: at one point I'd cut the hinges off 3 times (shhh, don't tell anyone)
Make no mistake, there ain't no powder in this Puff ! And... I'm not really a crazy person but I play one in real life