Smoker build

I still have my smoker I built from an old refrigerator. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. Friend long ago gave me an old, old Frigidaire refrigerator. (The kind with a porcelain interior and a locking latch on the handle). Gutted it, put an adjustable vent hole on the top, made several rack shelves and a couple bars for hanging fish. I fill an old cast iron fry pan with wood chips soaked in water overnight (I like Hickory and Apple best) and put it on top of an electric hot plate on the bottom of the refrig, put my fish or whatnot on the respective shelves, close the door, plug it in. About 12 hours later I have some truly fine smoked fish, turkey, ham, or whatever. The steam from the water actually cooks the food, and after all the water is gone the chips smolder and add a wonderful smoked flavor to it. Like I said, it's nothing fancy, but it works and it's good eats... :beer:
 
Yesterday ended up being a bust for getting work done by the time I got home from getting steel and running errands, BUT I had a pretty good afternoon today. Got most of the firebox plate cut out, cut the opening in the drum for the smoke to go through, welded the top plate onto the drum for the smoke chamber, got 3 sides of the firebox welded on, 1 support leg welded on, and the legs are cut waiting for trimming and welding. Still alot of work left, but it's starting to take shape.

The 3 sides of the firebox welded on
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Smoke chamber, reverse flow baffle, and the side of the smoke box
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Smoker opening
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Don't criticize my welds to much
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Was just going over my numbers again on the calculator, and it looks like I'm pretty close for most all of it. My firebox will be just slightly oversized at 105%, but most say to go 103-108% on the sizing(I should have probably undershot considering my design will utilize more of the heat). Planning on an 18.5"X3" opening out of the firebox for 55 cubic inches of volume, and the calculator says I need 52 but with the 180 degree change in direction I want to be al ittle over. My calculations come out to 58 cubic inches of volume for the reverse flow baffle chamber so it should flow planty and not bottle neck there. And I'm planning on a 30" tall 4" ID stack which is a bit taller than what the calculator calls for, but I want to keep the smoke away from me as best as possible. Hopefully this thing works out good as all the math says it should be sized right, and I will have a good 36" long, 23.5" wide, X 12" tall half circle cooking chamber to work with(may drop the cooking area down a tad deeper, will finalize my decision on that shortly.

Link to BBQ Pit Calculator
 
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Sounds like its gonna be perfect! Next V20 get together at Ferm's place!



Phat, that is some straight up country right there! Your Cracker image has increased yet again.:beer:
 
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Starting to take shape. Fell short of where I wanted to be at, but it is starting to look like a smoker(just upside down at the moment).

Shot of the front.
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And of the end where the smoke chamber is being built to route the smoke back through the smoker.
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Got a bit furthur along today, I sure hope I can get it done by Tuesday so I can burn it in and season it for Thursday. Got the firebox all welded on, sealed up, and the door on it(still have to build a latch for it). Got it upright, so it is looking like a smoker now.

Heres the smoke chamber before I closed it up.
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And here it is all closed up.
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The legs are all welded on, and supports welded in.
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Got it upright, firebox door on, and the wooden skids for it to sit on bolted on.
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Firebox door open, still have to decide how to build a latch for it and straighten the door out some as it pulled during welding.
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Lookin awesome!
I think it would be hella cool to make the latch like an old wood stove latch with the spring coils on the end
 
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Fixed the pic. As for the handle, I don't really have time to order one right now, so I'm going to have to build something. That, and I'm trying to use as much scrap material as I can.
 
sure... I would have been quite disappointment if you ordered it!

just figured some pics might help inspire

Have you thought about a gasket around the door or just gonna let it draft?

an oven door gasket would work
 
going to try it as is for now, but i can buy a thin 1/8" gasket later on if needs be. need to get a close up of my firebox hinges. made them out of 5/8" round bar and 1/2" black iron pipe. tsc wante $13 a piece for decent hinges, thats about what i will have in all of them, and they are much heavier.
 
HMMMM you COULD modify the hinges to BE the latch... lift and open cam action.....

IF you go that route don't make the notches dead vertical... give em about 15 deg so they door cams in tight but isn't hard to open... then put the handle dead center on the door so it balances when lifting to open
 
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Well I have officially called it, and I did not make the deadline to have it done in time to do smoked ham and turkey for Thanksgiving. The last 2 days have been nothing but road block after road block. I have spent close to 7 hours trying to straighten the door out and get it to line up correctly. I had it REALLY close one time, but it pulled back out when I went to weld the perimeter on it. I only spot welded it, but it pulled back out, so another 2 hours getting it back to where I started. The firebox has also been a hurdle, but mostly my own doing. Fabricating at midnight, dead tired, and pushing through it, your bound to make some mistakes. So I ended up wasting another 1 and a half fixing my screw up there after spending 2 hours building the basket. Almost done with the firebox, just have to weld on my latch assembly I built, cut some wood for my handles, and make the latch catch, and it will be done. But that friggen door for the smoker is still kicking my but.

Heres how I'm having to straighten the door out, along with my 60 ton press to get the curveature back in it.
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My water/drip pan I built out of 12 gauge material. You can also see on the left the drain that routes outside the smoker for draining so no drippings stay in the smoker.
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The wood basket on slides. I will probably add a smaller side to the front of it before I finish it up.
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My firebox air intakes, slider plate to cover them, and above them you can see the water/drip pan drain(still have to get a cap for it.
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And I got the chimney on it as well as the damper on top.
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sorry you missed your deadline, i know you were looking forward to it. i'd be tempted to fire that bad boy up and let here smoke. i have days where the faster i try to complete a task , the farther i set myself behind.
besides, christmas is around the corner, turkey and ham is welcomed there also.
 
smokeonthewater said:
I may have missed it but is there an area for ash to collect below the wood basket?
Click to expand...
Theres a 2" deep space below the tray for ashes to collect. I didn't put the tray all the way down so air can get underneath the fire and all around it. If I could have gotten this friggen lid to fit, I would be firing it up today, but the lid whipped my but and won.
 
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