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John,

How did you find the welding? I read this was your first welding project? I have the same plans and I'm a little intimidated by welding all that thin steel... And in general contemplating my abilities with metal working..

My very first welding project was my RF stick burner, it came out okay, but nothing really was dead on square or too pretty. It is functional, though.
 
Riku Naskali said:
John,

How did you find the welding? I read this was your first welding project? I have the same plans and I'm a little intimidated by welding all that thin steel... And in general contemplating my abilities with metal working..

My very first welding project was my RF stick burner, it came out okay, but nothing really was dead on square or too pretty. It is functional, though.
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I too was somewhat intimidated. I brought some steel home from work to practice with and found it was not as hard I thought, but my welds looked like $!#t.

I did burn a lot of holes in the thin sheet and i did a lot of grinding. The framing was not hard. But, I found after i had it mostly finished it was not square in some directions. I was able to work around the framing issues by adding metal sheet where needed(1 inch or less in spots. One of my casters I put 1/8 shim in to help level it better

My biggest issue was warping. My top section is not flat, but who cares. I had to redo the door. I would go with 11 gauge on the door skins. It will add some weight, but it will not warp.

All in all its a custom smoker with custom warping and other one of a kind dimensions lol.
 
'nother question for you fine gents who've built these up..... once you've got all of the steel, how many hours do you have into your smoker? I've got a bad feeling that once the snow goes, I'm gonna be busier than a one armed paper hanger with the itch.
 
A lot of hours spent welding and grinding. Winter months probably best for getting it together and spring and summer for painting.

I would get home from work around midnight and then I would spend a couple hours welding and around noon I would do some welding and mostly grinding and repeat and repeat and repeat.........
 
John Bostwick said:
A lot of hours spent welding and grinding. Winter months probably best for getting it together and spring and summer for painting.

I would get home from work around midnight and then I would spend a couple hours welding and around noon I would do some welding and mostly grinding and repeat and repeat and repeat.........
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I was really afraid I was gonna hear something like this..... looks like I'm getting involved in a volunteer project with about 10k lbs. of steel to be welded up that absolutely must be completed by the 4th of July, and my smoker has to be done by mid June. Looks like I'm going to burn up some PTO on these projects.
 
i started last summer and I'm still not done although I've been putting off the finishing touches until the weather warms up. It's functional anyway.
 
JKalchik said:
I was really afraid I was gonna hear something like this..... looks like I'm getting involved in a volunteer project with about 10k lbs. of steel to be welded up that absolutely must be completed by the 4th of July, and my smoker has to be done by mid June. Looks like I'm going to burn up some PTO on these projects.
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My wife wanted me to say that i had a nagging wife constantly complaining i was working on it too much, lol.


If you have all the parts precut, then it won't take that long. The longest part I thought was the transition from making the frame to doing the interior and exterior. I also had to wait for my cut pieces that were not apart of the cut list, I received.

You can do the frame in a weekend. Then concentrate on the Firefox and white. Just remember not to weld any of the frame pieces around the firebox area or you will have issues installing it, like I did. I had to cut a piece of the frame out so i could slide the fire box in.

Welding the panels made me realize that even being careful about trying to keep the frame square as possible, it was all for not, as some issues that needed to get fixed and that also caused some delays. Don't RUSH

I learned not to rush when i did my main door and it was completely ruined by warping beyond use. I do recommend using 11 gauge for the door. It provides a almost warp free door, although very heavy door. Be very careful welding the frames for the charcoal shoot and ash doors and the doors themselves. They will warp very easy and make it hard to get a good seal. I'm not happy with mine. In fact none of my exterior panels are flat. But, who cares it works great and once it is painted it won't matter. Its makes it even more custom, lol.
 
Welding is tricky for sure! It makes me crazy trying to building a frame like that and making it square--it's all about square cuts, equal lengths, lots of measuring, lots of tacking, and then finally sequence and heat control. And after all that, it still won't be perfectly square but you can get close. I just finished this cut off stand. It took about a month start to finish.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=197985390785439

One of the things that happens as you're "welding along" and you suddenly burn a hole in the tubing is that the tubing has gotten hot as you've been welding. When you start, it's cold, so you need to either move faster or back off the heat a little to keep that from happening. REALLY COOL projects, guys! I half want to build one now too but I'm just trying to think about where I'm going to put it... I think I'm relegated to my BGE for now--though I bet I could talk my wife into letting me get a bigger one of those.
 
I'll have all of the sheet pre-cut, and I'm certainly paying attention to using 11 gauge sheet for skins. I don't have a problem building it heavier. I do have a decent power hacksaw, a production 240v 50a MIG welder, a combo TIG/stick 240v welder, and a possible 120v small MIG welder as well. Building it up square... oh, yeah. To quote a Coastie I used to work with: "Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, and cut with a fireaxe." Ted was a good guy.

If you "suddenly burn a hole," yes, your heat is up too high, or your wire speed is too low, your travel is too slow, some combination of the above.

I'm not quite sure my g/f groks how big this thing is gonna be......
 
i like the 11 gauge idea for the door. I used 16 gauge and somehow had no issue with warping, but did have to weld in a 1/4" plate inside for the latch mounting screws to give it a bit more heft for fastening.
 
It's time. Just ordered the plans from SmokerPlans.net for the double pan gravity fed. It's still going to be at least a month before I get to any sort of welding, though.

I discovered by accident that I have what looks like a pretty darned good source for steel, less than a half mile from my house. Small shop that manufactures dumpsters (some take a 40' trailer to deliver,) stocks 12 gauge sheet and has a 4' CNC plasma table. He's open to getting the rest of the steel that he doesn't normally stock. And probably unlike a lot of his other orders, I'm not gonna be asking for it by yesterday.
 
John Bostwick said:
I told son that if behave badly, the smoker will be his new room. J/k

It's much bigger then what I envisioned
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JKalchik said:
It's time. Just ordered the plans from SmokerPlans.net for the double pan gravity fed. It's still going to be at least a month before I get to any sort of welding, though.

I discovered by accident that I have what looks like a pretty darned good source for steel, less than a half mile from my house. Small shop that manufactures dumpsters (some take a 40' trailer to deliver,) stocks 12 gauge sheet and has a 4' CNC plasma table. He's open to getting the rest of the steel that he doesn't normally stock. And probably unlike a lot of his other orders, I'm not gonna be asking for it by yesterday.
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You will love the journey and end results. I'm getting ready to smoke 120 pounds of chicken quarters, this Tuesday.
 
JKalchik said:
It's time. Just ordered the plans from SmokerPlans.net for the double pan gravity fed. It's still going to be at least a month before I get to any sort of welding, though.

I discovered by accident that I have what looks like a pretty darned good source for steel, less than a half mile from my house. Small shop that manufactures dumpsters (some take a 40' trailer to deliver,) stocks 12 gauge sheet and has a 4' CNC plasma table. He's open to getting the rest of the steel that he doesn't normally stock. And probably unlike a lot of his other orders, I'm not gonna be asking for it by yesterday.
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Awesome! You're gonna love it! and the build is quite enjoyable. With the capacity, however, I can see it putting me into a Meat Coma one of these days.
 
JKalchik said:
Here's hoping you have a fowl day.

Be mean. Post pics.
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I will try to remember to post some pics. Let's just say I was able to get all 120 pounds of chicken into the smoker at the same time, except for 15 pieces of chicken.


I do have the pics on a Facebook heatermeter page.
 
Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!!

One thing I learned the hard way with my horizontal offset is that it was awfully easy to "overload" the single cooking surface, leading to overdone on the bottom, and not cooked on the top. It does look like you have sufficient airflow.

I've been contemplating adding extra rails for more rack adjustability in the cook chamber, but after looking at your pic, not sure that I'm going to bother.
 
JKalchik said:
Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!!

One thing I learned the hard way with my horizontal offset is that it was awfully easy to "overload" the single cooking surface, leading to overdone on the bottom, and not cooked on the top. It does look like you have sufficient airflow.

I've been contemplating adding extra rails for more rack adjustability in the cook chamber, but after looking at your pic, not sure that I'm going to bother.
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Oh, I had it crammed in there average about 30 quarters per rack and the bottom rack was done before the top rack, but I also put those in first. I should have started with the top rack and worked down instead of up. But this was a learning thing.
 
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