I think it's a Southco "Draw Latch".
You'll have to search around and either buy online or find a marine hardware dealer locally.
My PORTABLE mini!
- Thread starter E Mann
- Start date
You'll have to search around and either buy online or find a marine hardware dealer locally.
Joe, you are correct. They are Southco latches purchased through amazon. Here's the link.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002I05PHI/tvwb-20
I went to multiple hardware stores here in KC and couldn't find anything that resembled these.
Thanks for the kind comments guys!
I was researching the latches (the ones I got were too long and had to pick up others anyway), and found that they have a version of the latch with kick-out spring.
See page 224 for the kick-out spring version. Don't know if it's worth it for you to change it at this point, but that looks like the perfect solution.
http://www.southco.com/static/Literature/k2-k3-k4-k5.en.pdf
Chung, I don't see where the spring kicks the latch when open.
Looks to me that the latch uses spring loading when in the closed position if I am looking at the correct model ?
Joe, look at the bottom right picture on page 224.
Yep, good find Chung !
Here they are on amazon, I just ordered up two: <Deleted Link>
Note from Moderator: Amazon link above is no longer valid.
Oh man, I've been searching for these all over (even on Amazon) and couldn't find them! Congrats Jason, you got the last of them (1left). I did call Southco today and they referred me to one of their suppliers. It'll take 2-weeks to order with a cost of $9.15 (which is much better than the vendor that had them in stock but would charge $16 per plus shipping)!
Great mini build, in particular the mod for the removable thermometer. That's awesome. What size face bushing did you use and can you recall where you purchased it? I'm attempting to fabricate something similar. In my initial attempt, I used a stainless steel 1/2" to 3/4" NPT hex bushing with a 1/2" SS lock nut. I tested it out using a piece of cardboard to mimic the tamale pan and realized that the tapered threads of the Tel Tru prohibit the thermometer from being fully screwed into the bushing, thus leaving a a bit of a gap where I'd prefer it to be flush. I assume this would work, but it would just look better (and the stem would be farther into the smoker) if the thermometer could be flush with the bushing or washer when inserted.
If you needed a 1 and 1/8" step bit, I would imagine this would be for a 1" bushing but I couldn't find any 1" x 1/2" NPT face bushings. Was yours a barstock face bushing? Also, of the brass face bushings I've come across, some are lead-free which I'd prefer but they have a max temp pf 250 deg F, which is where I'd probably around where I'd run the mini, but that seems a bit low for a smoker so I'm curious how it holds up. I know brass ball valves are used often in UDS builds so I suspect the brass, while I prefer SS, will be fine. I can get steel or black iron bushings from McMaster Carr, but those would rust. In any case, if you could share a link to or share the source you used for the bushing, I'd be grateful.
I don't mind if I need to pay a few more bucks to get the right bushing, since I already have a UDS and modded ECB so the mini will be the last one I build for a while and if the mod works, I might use it on my UDS. Thanks in advance for the help.
If you needed a 1 and 1/8" step bit, I would imagine this would be for a 1" bushing but I couldn't find any 1" x 1/2" NPT face bushings. Was yours a barstock face bushing? Also, of the brass face bushings I've come across, some are lead-free which I'd prefer but they have a max temp pf 250 deg F, which is where I'd probably around where I'd run the mini, but that seems a bit low for a smoker so I'm curious how it holds up. I know brass ball valves are used often in UDS builds so I suspect the brass, while I prefer SS, will be fine. I can get steel or black iron bushings from McMaster Carr, but those would rust. In any case, if you could share a link to or share the source you used for the bushing, I'd be grateful.
I don't mind if I need to pay a few more bucks to get the right bushing, since I already have a UDS and modded ECB so the mini will be the last one I build for a while and if the mod works, I might use it on my UDS. Thanks in advance for the help.