The beginnings of something beautiful

[zefer]

So, Iv'e been stalking this site for about 2 years and about a year ago decided to buy the plans about a year ago for the Double Pan. I decided to hire the job of having it built to the pros as i do not have the skills nor time to create such a gem. I have been "borrowing" several of your wonderful ideas and reading through many if not all of the builds (thought i had a problem there for a while). but now comes the part where I ask all of my questions that ether need some clarification or i just don't know. I still have not heard back from a quote yet, but in a city full of metal workers and insane amounts of construction its not keeping me up at night.

ill start light with things that would affect the overall cost.

I like the idea of welding a plate underneath the outer skin to be drill and taped for all mounted hardware but what thickness should the plate be? the entire length of my screw or could the end of the screw go past? unless someone sings me some praises about the rivnuts, I am willing to do whatever but def don't mind spending a little extra and saving a headache 10 years down the road.

In the plans it has the doors being 1-3/4" square tube thus making the whole door that thick, is that because the gaskets are 1/4" thick? or can i just change them all willy nilly? (this also applies to the f/b door)




If anyone has some suggestions or precautions in dealing with a professional welder (15+ yrs) I would love to hear them. would it be offensive to ask if they have experience working with thin metal like this project or even suggest they utilize the stitch weld to avoid warping?


All input is greatly appreciated and keep on keepin on.

[ajfoxy]

In the plans it has the doors being 1-3/4" square tube thus making the whole door that thick, is that because the gaskets are 1/4" thick? or can i just change them all willy nilly? (this also applies to the f/b door)

If anyone has some suggestions or precautions in dealing with a professional welder (15+ yrs) I would love to hear them. would it be offensive to ask if they have experience working with thin metal like this project or even suggest they utilize the stitch weld to avoid warping?

I used 2" (50mm) tube to build my DP including the door. The whole thing is that huge and heavy that a thick door was not an issue. The object of the thickness is to aid in the insulation of the smoker. Do NOT skimp on insulation and gaskets on a gravity feed.

On your subject of pissing off your welder by asking them if they know how to weld thin metal via stitch-welding... possibly avoid that.
If the man has 15 odd years of doing it he must have some idea of what he is doing. You may ask him from an interest point of view, how he might approach welding the skin on etc, that way he can let you know if he has a handle on it.

[Elmacho]

In conversation with the welder you can just mention that you are having them build it because a lot of people on the forums mentioned that sheet metal is easy to warp and oil can while building this smoker and you would rather trust that to an experienced professional than try it yourself. Yea it’s passive aggressive as hell. But it gets your point across in a way that you aren’t asking them if they know how, but you are stressing that it an important factor to you. That typically leads them into a conversation about how much experience they have with sheet metal.

[JKalchik]

When dealing with a professional in *ANY* line of work..... if you're not also a pro, trying to tell them how to do a job will just irritate the daylights out of them.

[mp4]

If anyone has some suggestions or precautions in dealing with a professional welder (15+ yrs) I would love to hear them. would it be offensive to ask if they have experience working with thin metal like this project or even suggest they utilize the stitch weld to avoid warping?

I wouldn't make any suggestions to him on how to weld. Just let him know what your expectations are before he begins the project and let him decide if he can live up to them or not get paid for the work. Btw - the one I built warped so much I'm aiming to paint it cammo to hide some of it! [emoji41]