Off Topic - Build Mod for HM


 
<scratches head> You loaded your racks outside, opened the door, and put each one in? I can see that being a bit of an issue.

Personally.... I would have left space around each piece. Much like a fry pan, there does need to be room for air circulation, I think. Nice to know how much bird you can get in one of these, the pic says it all.
 
It's much easier to load the rack out and then in, as yo don't leave the door open very long. Also, I was doing all this by myself, as my wife was working,.

I had the chicken in the kitchen in a good sized container, staying cool in ice. So every 10 minutes or so I put in rack. Ideally I would not put so much, but I had to have it ready before a certain time and I just barely made that time.
 
John, Will, a couple of questions on your builds....

1) The HeaterMeter pocket. How'd you construct it? 5 cut panels, squared up & stitch welded together? I'd like to find somebody with a deep finger brake, pretty sure that's not going to happen, and my cheesy little 12" 3-in-1 sheet metal machine just whimpers at the thought of working on 1/8" sheet (go big or go home....)

2) The bullet hinges on the cook chamber door. Did you adjust for sag at all when you welded it up? How'd that all turn out?

I'm taking the week of May 14 off to build the beast, finishing up the fixture table tonight.
 
1. I went to my local home Depot and bought a sheet that was 6 inches by whatever and cut it squared. I used a sheet metal cutter at work, we also have a bending machine. I may remove it and make it bigger 6 inches is just a tad too small for connecting the probes and cat5 cable and having the Thermocouple on the other side.

2. The hinges are holding very well. My door weighs over 200 pounds from using 11 gauge skins. The bullet hinges are rated much higher.
 
1) I've bought extra sheet just for stuff like this. I'll probably make a pocket that'll fit snug between the 2" tubing..... hmmm..... there's a fabrication thought..... still doesn't solve my finger brake problem though.

2) I'm going heavier still.... 1/8" skins, that's what the steel yard stocks. I think for the trailer run in June I'm going to mount a brace on the trailer deck under the door just to make sure it doesn't sag.
 
I also think I'm going to make a single pass through for temperature cables into the cook chamber, but not going to make one for power & damper/fan control. Given MN weather, and that this smoker is going to live outside in the elements (the HeaterMeter won't, just during a cook,) I'll just drape cables.
 
So, JKal! you're finally getting ready to do some welding I see.

I have one request ... Don't do as I did, and get to the point that you can cook meat and forget about the grinding of seams, painting, and all the detail work that makes the smoker yours.
 
Has to be completely done by June 20, paint & everything. Helps like heck to have 4 angle grinders, each fitted a different disc.

I've got the frame assembled, let myself get hung on on some dimension details that I've come to realize probably just don't really matter due to the way the plans are designed and assembly order.
 
This project is making me a little crazy. I really should have picked up a metal cutting circular saw for cutting sheet, I'd have been ahead. I also seem to have a frame that's a bit out of square (reference the metal cutting saw above....) that's making for some interesting skinning operations. Still, the frame is on wheels, and moving forward.
 
Heh..... somewhere between fixin' and features.

Something just isn't adding up for the flue opening in the interior skin. Time to finish welding up the firebox/flue/ash drawer and hoist it into place. Something may have to be shimmed up.
 
JKalchik said:
Heh..... somewhere between fixin' and features.

Something just isn't adding up for the flue opening in the interior skin. Time to finish welding up the firebox/flue/ash drawer and hoist it into place. Something may have to be shimmed up.
Click to expand...

I saw your post on the other forums, but you can post some info here without Frank getting mad at posting the plans.

What issue are you having, I had all my stuff cut and all the dimensions we are spot on for the most part except, I did have some warping and if I'm reading your post correctly, you to are probably experiencing the same warpage
 
I'm pretty sure that the only thing warped is me..... my skins are all 1/8" sheet. I can stand on the bottom and it doesn't doesn't even oil can in the slightest. I've got something off, or I'm mismeasuring somehow.
 
JKalchik said:
Heh..... somewhere between fixin' and features.

Something just isn't adding up for the flue opening in the interior skin. Time to finish welding up the firebox/flue/ash drawer and hoist it into place. Something may have to be shimmed up.
Click to expand...

Looks like the bottom sheet might be mounted a little high, and a cross member might be mounted a little low. Shim the burn assembly up a bit under the flue, and cut the flue opening in the interior skin.
 
Geez.... it's been 3 weeks. Time flies when you're having fun.

It's definitely *NOT* complete, but complete enough to smoke food. Lot of grinding & cleanup on the outside to be done, but I'm running a seasoning burn right now.

It'll take some time to figure out how much of an opening I'll need on the stack for running with an HM.
 
I was a BBQ judge this past weekend at the KCBS Cowtown Cookoff in Mile City, MT, and out of about 30 teams I did not see even 1 gravity feed smoker on the field. I guess they haven't caught on yet.

Try running your stack fully open. I do on my mini, and it maintains within a degree with the HM. Maybe the double pan will require a bit less?
 
Wide open? REALLY? I'd expect a lot of convection loss that way, but hey.... that's what empirical evidence is used for, to modify theories. Right now, I've only got the stack cracked open a little. I'm smoking a pork tenderloin for dinner, I'll open it right up and see what happens.

Looks like 15 lbs. of briquettes ran it for about 12 hours, but I've obviously got some issues. Actually.... I may need to go chase down another twisted pair cable, I wonder if the cable to the fan came loose (one latch is broken.)

Re: the Cookoff..... out of the teams, how many were cooking with charcoal? The self-feeding aspect of the gravity feeds are what really got my attention last fall. If I can stoke this thing, head for work, and still come back to a fire, I'll be happier than a gopher in soft dirt.
 
Well, now that's bloomin' weird. Not entirely sure how, but the air shutter assembly was stuck closed, apparently during the entire seasoning burn. That would explain the rather low charcoal usage. I did pop and get the air shutter & servo working before smoking a pork tenderloin. The HM and smoker behaved MUCH better during this run than last night's seasoning run.
 
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