Building My MINI GRAVITY FEED Smoker

[SmokinDTown]

Puff, looking at how fast you work makes me envious! That's a lotta tubing cut!

[Rodcrafter]

He's operating on energy that has been stored for a bit. lol


Making memories.

[Puff]

Ha...that's funny RC, (but probably correct) I have gotten much more precise in my cuts and measurements and advance plan how many 25" how many 30". Etc.etc. I mark each page with a number and the identify the the qunatitity of pieces needed in this page and what each goal of the page is.

When I actually cut, I have the total length and which cuts I will get out of each and waste very little. Cut 5 lengths of 10' tube and had about 1-2" waste on each. Not a whole lot fortunately. The last 10' footer only needed 2-12" with 45 degree ends cut out of it. They all have pencil lines marked where the cut needs to take place so I can clamp them in the chop saw and just keep going til the circuit breaker trips . ( about 12-14 minutes )

After their cuts are in place I take the flap disc grinder and clean up those razor edges and bevel the butt end to get the deep fill that Frank shows in the smokerbuilder university video.
If I can weld tomorrow, much prep work is done. Trying to find a makeshift brake or my log splitter I - beam to bend the outer skins...it is a 50 ton hydraulic ram....should be able to make sumptin'

[Bmtnbiker128]

Out of curiosity, those that have the plans is it possible to add a fourth shelf in the cook chamber?

[Puff]

Right now, you have each shelf 5" apart. I would think if you have days when you're using it for lower height stuff like ribs, if you wanted more you can add. My thinking might be to add the shelf guides to the side wall and the select the spacing you might prefer as needed and fabricate an added shelf or three for those times. Or....go with the larger GF. That one has five well spaced shelves.

I am not sure of the total heat requirement but I'm sure it is not an issue. My big gf has been up around 380 without any difficulty but the smaller one remains un tested to ME...as of yet.

[Puff]

SmokinDTown,

I'll pass along one of those mind mellowing moments for that day where : you're finished enjoying the foods, the place is cleaned up and you're gonna go check to see that the smoker can cool down and be safe for the next few hours....

1. Take a chair and a beverage and a flashlight out to the smoker
2. Turn out all of the lights
3. Sit in the chair low down with the beverage after opening the smoker door and the ball valve
4. Gaze in wonderment at the Orange glow traversing the transfer tube and the orange glow radiating from the 2" hole

Free stress reduction... for a few minutes ...or longer

[Dubay]

i am interested of how the gravity chute works and building one of my own. i have been a welder/fab guy for 35 years.
i am having trouble with the fuel burning up the chute, and it is air tight. how do you get it to flow out the transfer tube.
thanks for any help.

[Tim Schmidt]

Puff, are you wrapping the ceramic blanket around the firebox itself?? How are you securing the blanket?
Thanks
Tim

[Frank_Cox]

Dubay, the only way for the fire to burn up into the chute is an air leak. All seems including the door must be welded solid. The gasket must also be sealed tight

[Puff]

Hey Tim ,
The blanket is going into the interior wide spaces of the walls of the cook chamber and in the interior walls of the chute space. I used a bunch of expanded metal strips tacked into the firebox chamber to keep the insulation off of direct contact with super hot 1/2" stuff. I'm not sure if it's ok to allow the blanket to contact the hottest metal parts but at 3200 degrees, I don't see why not?

Frank, do you have any thoughts on this?

[Frank_Cox]

Should be fine bro! Sounds like you guys have it going your way!

[Puff]

Thank you Frank, good to know....Tim, there we go! A complete wrap! This should be REALLY insulated well. Also Tim, I might try to stitch the seam around the firebox chute with stainless steel wire or hog clips to keep it in place

In case, hog clips are used in upholstery and used to be used to keep the seat covers on in your car

[steffec]

Like others I am very excited about the MINI. I joined the forum a couple of years ago when I was just starting to get into smoking. I thought at the time I could design my own smoker that was more of a family/patio size. But since I was just starting I decided to take some advice from some seasoned smokers to buy a simple smoker that was easy to control temps on and spend most of my time learning about the different meats/cuts/rubs/etc., instead of trying to also concentrate on fire management. Since then I have dropped by every now and then to see all the cool builds that others were doing and dreaming up different concepts of my own. My concepting time is on pause, the MINI plans will soon be purchased and I will be checking the site like crazy to follow the builds that others are doing.

Looking forward to the builds!

[CaliforniaSmoke]

I bought the plans for the mini last night, I'm making a materials/cut list right now so I can estimate what it will cost me to buy what I need to build it.

[Puff]

I'm getting bogged down with heat and humidity this weekend...I CANT STAND HEAT AND HUMIDITY ! Additionally, I've got boat issues to cater to.

I am documenting this build adequately so anyone will be comfortable getting the hang of the build.
CaliforniaSmoke, I sat with these plans and measured parts, pieces and potential wastes . I think I did 95% of it correctly but only time will tell. I know I did add 10% extra for those times when something messes up but my frame cuts went well so I have 10' extra in the square tube already. I find so many uses for these leftover pieces. Aside from your choice of wheels, I wonder what your estimate will reveal? I hate to throw out a number but I'll pick a few out of thin air....under 250 for all metals and that's in the "pavement state" - New Jersey. ( they've secretly convinced people here that it's the garden state ) bear in mind I have some stock left from my other builds.

Steffec, I think this is a great sized smoker that can cook for a big family or small.. A perfect size. After this, unless you're controlling the tank volume....they get big fast. Looking forward to you getting started and posting pictures with all of the builds going on. Once the cooler weather kick in , like a high in the low 50's, my adrenaline kicks in and I can work steadily outside

Much luck to all and congratulation on your mini gf plans.... I love mine! It will be a new standard in extreme quality home sized smokers. There will be nothing else it can be compared to in it's class.

[eagle9252]

following

[Rev.Mike]

After following your other builds Puff, ( and everyone else's) will be interesting to see it come together