Good luck, I'm about to start, hopefully before the end of the year. I still need to source some parts and finalize my design tweaks. What model are you going to build?
Yep, you are on your way. Don't be intimidated by the size of the thing, well not until it gets too heavy to move that is, then put it on wheels.
If you tackle one task at a time, it all comes together. If you are like most of us and are a "weekend warrior" then you don't have that many weekends to chew through until March. So you will need to press on. You are a step ahead as you have had your material cut and mitered where necessary. That takes a fair chunk of time on its own. From my own experience of building a double pan may I give you my take on how to build it so you don't have all the hassles I had. First up, build the cook chamber complete, then build the frame around it so the frame fits the cook chamber. Don't get hung up on minor measurement discrepancies, this is a smoker not a NASA space probe. When building the frame don't forget to leave out the top right spar where the firebox/chute goes. This is to enable you to insert the completed firebox/charcoal chute into the unit without overuse of profanity. Put wheels on it as soon as you can, this thing gets very heavy, very quickly. Unless you have access to a gantry crane or fork lift it's going to require a buddy to help move, rotate for welding and fabrication etc.
But most of all enjoy the journey of building your very own Double Pan, Gravity Feed Smoker. At the end of the day you can say, "She's a good 'un".
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
I do have a question. I'm not sure when Ajfoxy said to build the cook chamber complete first. Wouldn't that also mean the frame needs to built also. How do you complete the cook chamber first?
If you would like information about building your own heatermeter or having someone build one for you, feel free to ask any questions you may have.
I will be going through each of the precut pieces and inventoring them, to make sure they are what they need to be and to make sure I have everything, as they still owe me a few parts. Tonight and this weekend will be fun.
Only if my wife did not go out and buy 10,000 oysters, I would have more time to work on it. Seriously 10k, we get a special price. But, 10k
These were free and made a great midnight snack
If you would like information about building your own heatermeter or having someone build one for you, feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
Heatermeter... On second thoughts you have all your steel cut already. Why I said weld your cook chamber first is that on my DP I build the frame then cut the cook chamber and found it was a few mm out, so had to spend a bit of time getting it to fit.
With the mini's I'm building I built the cook chamber first and build the frame around the finished cook chamber. No hassles that way for me. But then I'm cutting my material as I go so the measurements are not allways spot on...
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
Good luck with the Double pan, I built mine a year ago, its amazing how many friends you make when you fire it up. People come out of the wood work with food they want smoked once they smell it cooking, cant say I blame them....
If your gonna be stupid.....you better be tough!!!
10K Oysters! Prescription: 50 oysters for dinner, understand what your wife is telling you, lots o rest later, then probably start a college fund asap.
Bricklayer2 wrote:10K Oysters! Prescription: 50 oysters for dinner, understand what your wife is telling you, lots o rest later, then probably start a college fund asap.
Grandma always said "if ya can't be handsome ya better at least be handy"
I started last night and this morning did some more work on it. I'm getting better at welding, I had one burn through and I fixed that with some weld. Tonight around midnight, I will do some spot welding of the frame and in the afternoon will do some more. Here are some pictures.
If you would like information about building your own heatermeter or having someone build one for you, feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
I'd also build the frame first and weld the CC panels later in the frame. Welding such a large box only of flimsy panels isn't that easy without any support for the panels. Turn the fitting around, instead of the a few posts earlier suggested cutting and fitting the frame AROUND the CC, build a frame first THAN measure what size panels you need for your CC. Either way is a two stage process. But fitting panels in a stiff frame is way easier than fitting a frame around a large flimsy box.