Smoker build

[THEFERMANATOR]

Guess I will put this one here since I aint cookin on it yet. My old smoker is just a small cabinet smoker, and has served me well considering I bought it almost 9 years ago now for $40 at Wal Mart, but the time has come to step up and build me another GOOD smoker. I used to have a 120 gallon tank that was a basic smoker, but it rotted out(was my dads, and then bacame mine). I wanted another decent sized smoker, but not a monster thats big enough to do a whole hog like the last one was. The other kick is I'm on a TIGHT budget right now with some family things going on, so to the scrap pile I go.

My neighbor had an old 120 gallon galvanized water tank that he had to replace because the bottom rotted out on him and no longer held pressure, so I got the base for my build for FREE$$ from him. I have a fair amount of 12 gauge and 16 gauge plate left over from rebuilding my lawnmower deck 2 years ago that I can scab together to make most of my firebox and my reverse flow chamber, some old grating leftover from my rack I built from my travel trailer, a piece of 4" exhaust pipe from my BURB build, a NICE piece of food grade stainless grating from a scrap pile for my cooking grate, and just a bunch of odds and ends from years of building stuff. I will need to pick up some angle iron, but other than that I should have most everything I need.

I didn't take a picture of it before cutting, but this is what I have after cutting it. I cut the bottom off to start so I could see how far I had to go to get to decent metal, and found I was left with a good 36 inches of 24" diamter tank for my cooking chamber.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116141338b_zpsbfd279af.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116141338_zps85086f89.jpg
You can see the seem was rusted pretty badly as well as a few other spots in the bottom, but the top portion is pretty nice inside with the exception of a spot where the water valve used to go in at.

Heres my grating I will use for the fire box and some other areas. And yes, I have quite a few JEEP parts pictured here.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116141346a_zps4c10e6cf.jpg

And heres some of my scraps as well as a bucnh of old 6.5 parts.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116141345a_zpsc2bde205.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116141345_zpseeb0c4bd.jpg

So hopefully I will be smokin by turkey day to do some smoked turkey and ham.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Worked on it for a few hours tonight, doesn't seem like I got much progress done, but I got alot of measurements taken, and figured out most of how I'm going to build it up.

Heres the stainless grate I have for the cooking surface.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116142044a_zps4df839f3.jpg

And heres a shot of the reverse flow baffle. I'm adding a little spin to it from most conventional smokers as I'm not going with a completely side mounted firebox, but I'm going to keep it mostly under the smoke chamber so as to minimize heat loss through the firebox to the air. I'm still up in the air about putting a warming chamber on it, or to keep the firebox completely under the smoke chamber.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116142045a_zps063e8138.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1116142045_zpsfd5deac2.jpg

[Destroyer]

Ferm, any danger from the galvanized metal when cooking? I know when you weld galvanized the fumes are particularly harmful, much more so than from welding regular cold rolled or hot rolled steel. Not trying to be a wet blanket. The project looks great, just don't want to see you getting sick. The Zinc bath usually contains lead in it, and welding galvanized produces toxic fumes. You might want to read this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-dip_galvanization, especially the part about the temp. required to start the coating peeling off.

[RidgeRunner]

I'd take the wet blanket over poisoning there Destroyer. Just saying, better safe than sorry.
Ferman. I have two new, albeit a little rusty, sticks of 3/16" steel. 1.5" flat and 1.5" angle and I have a generous ammount of King Starboard for those side tables/cutting board. A friend just recently built a cooking trailer for a side job, he did it here at the shop so every piece of scrap they had is also here. I know you could use some of it..

[THEFERMANATOR]

I've read about the galvanized and cooking before, but in all honesty I grew up eating whole hogs and such out of a nearly identical smoker with no problems. Some say that it takes 750 degrees for the zinc coating to gas, and others say it can gas at 500, but in reality I will most likely never get it that hot. The hot portion will be the firebox, and it will be all steel. I'm going to take a grinder to the inside of it and get most all of the scale and such off before I close it up, but after years of being used as a water tank there wasn't much coating left inside of it. It didn't have hardly any of the gassing or the white flaking off when I welded the inside of it, just alot of spatter from the surface rust. The outside of it on the other hand has the white flake off and the funny colored gassing when I weld to it. I know my uncle used to build smokers on the side for people, and he used nothing but old galvanized water tanks for his builds when he did them.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Ferm, any danger from the galvanized metal when cooking? I know when you weld galvanized the fumes are particularly harmful, much more so than from welding regular cold rolled or hot rolled steel. Not trying to be a wet blanket. The project looks great, just don't want to see you getting sick. The Zinc bath usually contains lead in it, and welding galvanized produces toxic fumes. You might want to read this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-dip_galvanization, especially the part about the temp. required to start the coating peeling off.
Well you got me to thinking on this one. I wasn't worried about the galvanized danger as I grew up eating out of one, but I guess as I've gotten older I'm more paranoid and I have decided to abandon the galvanized tank. So I went to digging and thinking(ridge probably seen the smoke from his place), and I remembered my neighbor had an old 80 gallon 2 stage air compressor pump and tank without a motor on it. Went over and asked him how much he wanted for it, and he said free when he found out I would be using it to build a smoker. SO I scored a heavy wall 24" diameter 80 gallon tank with a little over 36 inches of good area to cook on for free. SO I lose a days worth of work, but my designs for it will stil lwork since it is the same diamter tank. So no more worry about the galvanized tank problem, and it will be made of a heavier wall tank.

[Destroyer]

Well you got me to thinking on this one. I wasn't worried about the galvanized danger as I grew up eating out of one, but I guess as I've gotten older I'm more paranoid and I have decided to abandon the galvanized tank. So I went to digging and thinking(ridge probably seen the smoke from his place), and I remembered my neighbor had an old 80 gallon 2 stage air compressor pump and tank without a motor on it. Went over and asked him how much he wanted for it, and he said free when he found out I would be using it to build a smoker. SO I scored a heavy wall 24" diameter 80 gallon tank with a little over 36 inches of good area to cook on for free. SO I lose a days worth of work, but my designs for it will stil lwork since it is the same diamter tank. So no more worry about the galvanized tank problem, and it will be made of a heavier wall tank.

And I'll be down for some pulled pork BBQ when she's up and running. :drool: I think you made a wise choice Ferm. Sorry about the wet blanket, and the loss of time, but we all want to be talking TO you, not ABOUT you. When I read about the Galvanized coating starting to flake off @ 389 deg. and the fact that it might contain lead I just had to say something. Lead ain't so good for that young'un you got, and I'm sure it's not so good for you and the missus either. I'll bring the beer. :beer:

[bradford]

Good call.

Ferm that's gonna be a bad boy when you're done!

[smokeonthewater]

one of these days I'm gonna build a grill....... thinkin about copying an engine block/heads and bolting on headers, valve intake, etc.... I know you can buy one already made from stamped sheet metal but where's the fun in that.....

Keep burning wire/rod Ferm.... Good call on the tank and BONUS that heavy wall should last longer and regulate heat better too

[THEFERMANATOR]

Heres the new victim. It's an old challenger 80 gallon air tank rated to 200 PSI, and it is over twice as thick as the water tank was. This thing is HEAVY.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1118141425_zpse5d9c997.jpg

And here it is cleaned up with all of the holes welded up.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1118141630b_zpsb657c2f7.jpg

I have it taped off for the marks to cut the opening, but cutting it won't be anywhere near as easy as cutting the other tank. This thing has to be 10 or 11 gauge steel. Since it is already REALLY close to the 36" cooking surface I was shooting for, I'm going to leave both ends on it and do all the work through the opening. So it actually makes for a little less work in the end. Just gonna take me some time to cut out the door opening as I don't want to chance distorting it using the plasma cutter, so gonna take some time with a sawzall. The best part is I'm still sitting at $0 as the new tank was a freebie from my neighbor.

[RidgeRunner]

I saw the smoke, knew something was cooking!
:you:

[bradford]

Friend of mine built one out of an old compressor tank. Buy ahead and buy the bulk pack of blades. LOL

Turned out great when he was done.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Friend of mine built one out of an old compressor tank. Buy ahead and buy the bulk pack of blades. LOL

Turned out great when he was done.
Blades? I don't need no stinkin blades, me's gots a plasma cutter to use. No pics, but no turning back now. I cut the opening in the tank for the lid today, pressure washed and cleaned it out as best I could, and welded the reverse flow baffle into the bottom of it. Now I gotta get more welding wire, angle iron, and maybe another piece of plate to finsh up the firebox.

[RidgeRunner]

Ding Ding Ding Ding! Looks like a trip to Lakeland is in the works for you.. I got some steel like I said. Let me get an inventory of what is out there and I will get back to you..

[THEFERMANATOR]

Ding Ding Ding Ding! Looks like a trip to Lakeland is in the works for you.. I got some steel like I said. Let me get an inventory of what is out there and I will get back to you..
OOPS, I already went and bought steel today. Got 60 feet of 1" angle iron, 20 feet 2" angle iron, 24 feet 1" square tubing, 31" 4" pipe, and 2 sheets of 1/4 scrap plate they had. I didn't need a full sheet, so I told him I wanted a 5' X 6' foot piece they had that was used. It was $150 for a piece of SCRAP plate. The guy loading the stuff helped me out though, and threw another piece up there even bigger along with it. So it looks liek I might be looking for another tank and building another smoker after this one. Figured since I have a GOOD THICK wall tank, I might as well make the rest of it as heavy or heavier and have a high quality smoker when done.

[RidgeRunner]

:beer:LOL! Well OK, I didn't have any 1/4"plate anyways..
When I took an inventory I found mostly 1/8" thick, that is what they used for the frames on the removable cooking shelves... I am looking for a picture of this smoker they built. It was involved.. It is now mounted on a cook trailer and the guy is going around selling Q..

1/8" x1" flat x 8'
x1" angle x 25'
x1" sq tubing x 6'
expanded metal 2'x4' maybe
plate 15" x 36"

3/16" diamond plate 3'x4'
x2" flat x10'
plate 4.75"x6'
plate 4'x10' ? several large pieces are buried under a ton of crap out back, done so to keep from having to move everything to mow..
2" angle x 28'
3" channelx 25'

PS I just thought we were busy with Melissa and the soccer schedule, add to the mix volleyball with practice two nights a week and one night for games..Holy cow, I am gonna sell all my tools cause at this rate I will never get another project started nor finished..
:beer:

[spareparts]

:beer:LOL! Well OK, I didn't have any 1/4"plate anyways..
When I took an inventory I found mostly 1/8" thick, that is what they used for the frames on the removable cooking shelves... I am looking for a picture of this smoker they built. It was involved.. It is now mounted on a cook trailer and the guy is going around selling Q..

1/8" x1" flat x 8'
x1" angle x 25'
x1" sq tubing x 6'
expanded metal 2'x4' maybe
plate 15" x 36"

3/16" diamond plate 3'x4'
x2" flat x10'
plate 4.75"x6'
plate 4'x10' ? several large pieces are buried under a ton of crap out back, done so to keep from having to move everything to mow..
2" angle x 28'
3" channelx 25'

PS I just thought we were busy with Melissa and the soccer schedule, add to the mix volleyball with practice two nights a week and one night for games..Holy cow, I am gonna sell all my tools cause at this rate I will never get another project started nor finished..
:beer:

finish a project? what a strange foreign concept:you:

[RidgeRunner]

5819

Fire box on the bottom, four holes for indirect heat, drainpans, fairly well configured but not a tested design...

[THEFERMANATOR]

5819

Fire box on the bottom, four holes for indirect heat, drainpans, fairly well configured but not a tested design...
That design is pretty good for conserving wood as you don't get much heat loss. They all have there pros and cons from what I can find out. Been using alot of info fro mthis site http://www.smokerbuilder.com/ , has a calculator to punch in sizes and dimensions to tell you the required firebox size, chimney size and length, air inlets, and the rest. Heres another http://www.feldoncentral.com/bbqcalculator.html .

[RidgeRunner]

Foreign, strange and novel an idea as "finishing a project" may sound to some--- :nut:I did finish the refit on that skiff. AND In my defense I have been sicker than any dog I ever had, SO I really don't know where to stop, just opened another can-o-worms with a bathroom remodel... Which I intend to FINISH before X-mas so help me.. If I ration my time better: 12 hours a day Ridge- 3 hours Melissa - 5 hours Rest - 1 hour SSS - 1 hour to eat and prepare meals, LOL what does that leave me? Good couple hours a day, unfortunately none during daylight hours, LOL! PLUS Weekends are mine for the taking..

[Destroyer]

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:

[phatdaddy]

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo214/gls216/DSCF0568.jpg (http://s377.photobucket.com/user/gls216/media/DSCF0568.jpg.html)

i'm with you D, this is an old salad bar out of the local papermill, i do the same thing with the hot plate & fry pan

[THEFERMANATOR]

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
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1121142126_zpsf50714e6.jpg

Smoke chamber, reverse flow baffle, and the side of the smoke box
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1121142126a_zpsf0d307b2.jpg

Smoker opening
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1121142127b_zpsf04eda23.jpg

Don't criticize my welds to much
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1121142138_zpsf5d263ca.jpg

[THEFERMANATOR]

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 (http://feldoncentral.com/bbqcalculator.html?cc=0,0,80,0,0,0,18480.00,6160.0 0&fb=18,18,20,0,0,6480.00,6160.00,105.2&ch=4,324.00,25.80&fi=0,0,3.5,19.44,2.02&fc=8.13,11.49,51.84)

[bradford]

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:

[THEFERMANATOR]

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.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1122142246a_zpsaf92a595.jpg

And of the end where the smoke chamber is being built to route the smoke back through the smoker.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1122142247_zps8c8418f8.jpg

[willy]

I smoke all the time on my WSM 22.5 Ferm and all I can say is Git her Done.
Looking forward to it

[THEFERMANATOR]

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.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1123141502_zps29384bde.jpg

And here it is all closed up.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1123141820a_zps26bd0eb2.jpg

The legs are all welded on, and supports welded in.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1123141503a_zps745677b0.jpg

Got it upright, firebox door on, and the wooden skids for it to sit on bolted on.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1123142257d_zps44bec5d1.jpg

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.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1123142257a_zps49e36d86.jpg

[smokeonthewater]

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

[smokeonthewater]

http://a1stoves.com/images/categories/832-0540.jpg?rand=869732906
http://vogelzang.com/image/cache/data/Parts/450-07A-1000x1000.jpg
http://a1stoves.com/images/manufacturers/10300.jpg?rand=934306767

[THEFERMANATOR]

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.

[smokeonthewater]

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

[THEFERMANATOR]

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.

[smokeonthewater]

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

[THEFERMANATOR]

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.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1126140028_zps23f4d351.jpg

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.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1126140029_zpsdb09bd9d.jpg

The wood basket on slides. I will probably add a smaller side to the front of it before I finish it up.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1126140029b_zpsa0e12236.jpg

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.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1126140030_zps88322bc5.jpg

And I got the chimney on it as well as the damper on top.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1126140030a_zpse319d2a6.jpg

[smokeonthewater]

I may have missed it but is there an area for ash to collect below the wood basket?

[phatdaddy]

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.

[THEFERMANATOR]

I may have missed it but is there an area for ash to collect below the wood basket?
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.

[smokeonthewater]

Gotcha.... Yeah sorry u didnt make ur deadline... I know it's gotta feel like a kick in the teeth.... Been there done that.

[RWilson2526]

You need to get to a metal shop and run that door through a roller. If you lived in NJ I'd hook you up.

[Destroyer]

You need to get to a metal shop and run that door through a roller. If you lived in NJ I'd hook you up.


X2 Rob, it's funny that you said that because I was thinking the exact same thing. My friend owns Paterson Sheet Metal and has a roller that could straighten that out in less time than it takes to talk about it..... or... he could make a brand new one out of stainless for that really classy look. :head:

[Blue_Runner]

Just use your hands to straighten the door out :party:

Great looking smoker build ya got there Ferm, like the design. You'll get er done and be smoking in no time.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Just use your hands to straighten the door out :party:

Great looking smoker build ya got there Ferm, like the design. You'll get er done and be smoking in no time.
If only my hands could do it. I already welded a brace on the back, atatched it to a table, and put 2 pipe wrenches on it and hung from them to try and tweak it, but it wasn't enough pressure(guess that 60 pounds I lost actually hurt me for a change). Haven't been able to work on it for a week now as I got sick on Thanksgiving with the flu. And if that wasn't bad enough, my 2 year old got sick within an hour of me getting sick. So all weekend my poor wife had to take care of me because my fever got so bad I couldn't stand up because I was dizzy, but she also had to help out with our 2 year old being just as sick. Fortunately about all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep on my chest on the couch, so at least we were together and she didn't have to go across the house. Just now getting better, but my son is still down.

[RidgeRunner]

Holy Toledo, I feel for all of you.
Black Cloud Hangs over us too--Thanksgiving Day was OK, mealtime was nice and I even landed a few redfish in the afternoon. All turned south that evening when my 82 yr old dad went to sleep and couldn't catch his breath. Congestive Heart Failure complicated by a bad chest cold/bronchitis. Off to the ER in Gainesville at 12:45 am Friday, Black Friday no less and the main entrance to the Oaks Mall on Newberry Rd. just so happens to share the same stoplight as North Florida Regional Medical Center... I could watch the frackus from my dad's hospital room.
Thankfully they were able to dry him out and he was released Sunday morning. The entire time my mom has been fighting off the same chest cold and with her COPD and other breathing issues I was just as concerned with her as I was my dad. Back and forth from Suwannee to Gainesville is a trek and I didn't sleep much. But it really wasn't about me-- could have been worse, we still counted the many blessings bestowed upon us..we are family and I was glad to be there to help for a change.. They are both resting at home this morning and expected to make a full recovery.

[the daydreamer]

ridge glad to here your parents are ok!!!!! visit them often and share memories. there will come a day when you want to but cant. I know been there done this!!!!!!!!!!

[RidgeRunner]

I hate to poo poo on Ferman's smoker thread but you are so right Daydreamer. I hate it that I can't be closer to them, makes me feel guilty at times. The daily routine leaves little time for anything else. That is the problem with hustle bustle, no time to enjoy the roses.
We make time to go see a sick friend in the end, we should have taken time to enjoy the same friend while they are still with us.. Situational awareness reveals there is not enough hours in the day, so we do our best and pray.

[phatdaddy]

so true ridge,lost both of mine 4-6 years ago, not a day goes by i don't think of 10 things i wish i could ask them.

[bradford]

I'm with yall. Tomorrow is promised to none of us. It's good to work hard and plan for the future, but take a little of your retirement early every few days even if just for a few minutes.

When we're all old and in the nursing home crapping our pants we'll wish we were out in the shop twisting on a smoker door that won't shut right.

[THEFERMANATOR]

After 10 days of being sick, I felt ALMOST human today(ALMOST, but not quite yet) and did a little more work on it. Got the firebox all finished up, and ready for a fire to be lit.

Heres the firebox basket finished up and my fandangled rod I made for pulling the fire tray out.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1206142032_zps307e285c.jpg

The firebox door all finished up with my own latch design.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1206142034a_zps989dc35a.jpg

And the air intake for the firebox is all done as well. Installed some grating to help prevent any chunks from falling out that may stray out of the tray.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1206142034b_zps53e45149.jpg

And forgot to mention earlier, this cooker is part DURABURB. My smokestack is made from my old driveshaft that I twisted in the BURB. Still gotta get the friggen door straightened out and laying down semi straight, then it's pretty much done.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Haven't gotten much time to work on the smoker lately, but I have gotten an hour or two here and there to work on it. It's starting to look like a smoker, and getting close.

The cooking grates. They come out in 2 pieces for cleaning. Decided to go with conventional grating instead of the stainless for the cooking grates.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1213140940_zpsf0e3bbc8.jpg

The grate on the outlet side goes all the way over, and you can see how far in I made the stack protrude in.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1213140941a_zps35a76ab6.jpg

Got the door on, hinges welded on, and the handle mounted up.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1213140941d_zps397d249c.jpg

Starting to look like a smoker.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1213140941e_zps2724bedc.jpg

You can see the water fill pipe I added for filling the water tray(had an extra piece of 1/2" pipe, figured what the heck).
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1213140942_zpsb1fb4906.jpg

Still have to decide if I want to leave the door as is, or add a counter balance to it so I don't have to open it so far to keep it open. Also need to add on end racks, and build my 2nd rack to go inside the cooking chamber. Hoping to maybe light a fire in it tommorrow to get some smoke in it.

[Destroyer]

Ferm, that thing is a piece of work. Simply a beautiful smoker. Fine work there, well done. :clap:

[Stinky_Hooker]

Great work!

[bradford]

That's one bad mofo Ferm! Great work!

[THEFERMANATOR]

Getting close. Didn't light a fire in it today, but I'm pretty close to doing so. Just have to finish up the right side table, figure out how I'm going to hang the 2nd cooking tray, and I'm also building a diverter for the smoke stack.

Left side table is on and finished. It might not look stout, but I put my 250 pounds on it and it held me up just fine.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1215140044a_zpsd0efad70.jpg

And the 2nd cooking tray.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1215140044c_zps6e257723.jpg

[Destroyer]

Man, some black outdoor grill paint on that thing and it's going to look like something that sells for $$$$$$$$$$!! Maybe some black krinkle paint on the non-heated areas for that extra touch?...
Just don't let Mr. Krinkle hear about it, or he'll be wanting to hang glow sticks all over the thing.

[RidgeRunner]

I'd be proud of that. Nice job Like Like Like.. Push the button..:money:

[THEFERMANATOR]

I've already got some flat black high temp grill paint for it. Just waiting to burn it in for the 1st time to get all the loose paint off, and oil residue burned off of it before I spray it.

[Redneck]

:beer: nice tradesman ship hurry up an show off the grill skills.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Well it's about time to go get some wood, and fire her up. Got it all finished up tonight except for cleaning and painting which will happen after the 1st fire is lit in it to burn off any residue on it.

It's hard to make out, but you can see my diverter in the upper right to redirect the smoke out to the side. Had to add this on after I did some checking and seen where the smoke would be hitting under the back porch.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1216142351_zps6e163847.jpg

And the 2nd cooking rack installed. Got it setup so it can be removed fairly easily, and tilted up while cooking to access the meats on the lower rack easier.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1216142351a_zpsae5bfe38.jpg

[Destroyer]

Awesome!!!

[THEFERMANATOR]

Got a chance today to pop her cherry, and lit the 1st fire in her. It sure takes alot more wood than I thought it would to get it hot, but I could get it up to 300 on my temp gauge with the water pan about half full. Unfortunately my temp gauge must be reading way low though(more on that later).

1st fire lit in her.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1217141429_zps099fe858.jpg

Decided to put the 1st coat of paint down on it while she was burning in.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1217141714_zpscd0d7252.jpg

And I couldn't resist the urge to cook something on it. Found a pack of chicken breasts in the deep freezer, promptly thawed em out and slapped em on her.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1217141714a_zps75d74da5.jpg

Sure is a pretty glow coming out of the firebox at night.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1217141801_zpsf08063cf.jpg

Still have a few things to finish up on her, but all and all pretty happy. 1st order of business is a GOOD thermometer. I was cooking the breasts around 225-250 on it, but they cooked in under an hour and half and were over done in that time. 2nd is I need to add a heat deflector inside just above the halfway mark because I found a cold spot in the cooker. When I put the breasts in, I put one in each corner of the cookign area, and judged how they were cooking to jusge the temp. The lower left side cooked quite a bit slower with less smoke than the other 3 zones did. Hopefully a deflector will take care of this. 3rd, going to add a post on the side of it to hold a crescent wrench for taking the water fill plug out with, and removing the water drain plug. 4th going to add a tube to hold the wooden prop rod I made for the 2nd shelf. And lastly put another coat of paint on it.

[willy]

Very nice my friend, going to be some nice meals coming out of that smoker

[bradford]

Looks great Ferm!

[THEFERMANATOR]

Does this count as a truckload? I'm just not physically able to split wood with a splitting maul anymore. I ended up cutting most of it with a chainsaw, and only split some of the laurel oak I had. Then again, live oak is harder to split than concrete. To those who haven't had the pleasure of trying to split it, your lucky. I REALLY need to find a log splitter, but I don't have the funds right now for a new one, so I'll keep watching craigslist and wait for something to turn up. And hopefully I don't have another guy do me like yesterday where he promised to hold it for me until I got there as I was driving 25 miles to come look at it, and he calls me when I was less than 2 miles from his house and said he just sold it. I was less than thrilled to say the least.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1219141707a_zps7d1df270.jpg

[bradford]

Ferm, I split and sold firewood for a few years and you aren't kidding about the live oak..I used to say it was like trying to split an anvil. Especially if it was 300 year old stuff. I actually charged 25% more for it, but eventually just quit messing with it it was so hard and so much extra work. I use a 27 ton splitter. Red oak and water oak is where it's at for firewood if you ask me. Now I loan out my splitter to close friends and neighbors and get any wood I want for free.

[THEFERMANATOR]

I have laurel oak, live oak, and some blackjack oak, but mostly(probably 90%) live oak in my wood pile. It's a good heavy long burning wood with a mild flavor for smoking(little salty, but not bad at all), but man is it hard to split. Guys up north have it easy with there wood from what I have heard and read. Theres a 35 ton log splitter for sale as well, but the guy is hem hawing around and I don't know if he really wants to sell it or not. He's been telling me since Monday it's 150 miles away and he's going to pick it up that night, but here I am Friday and he still hasn't even got pictures of it, let alone got it some where where I can go look at it. Or theres a few smaller ones that they want $850 for, the kicker is I can buy a brand new one of the same model for $950 at TSC. Don't really want to spend the money, but it might be cheaper than $100 for a load of wood that won't last but 3 or 4 smokes.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Well, I got her finished out and going to try her out for awhile before I make anymore changes. My thermometer is supposed to be in Monday, but other than that all I didn't do was add the baffle. I decided to hold off on that and I'm going to try adding on an extension to the chimney to bring it down furthur first and see what that does. I'll make it adjusteable so I can move it to allow all of the smoke to go in through the bottom, or part through the bottom and part through the joint. I also added in some toggle clamps to hold the center of the lid down because it was bowing out when hot, added on a hanger for my crescent wrench, and put a piece of tubing in to hold my prop rod for the 2nd shelf.

I did run into a problem with it today though. The 1st time I lit it off it took me over an hour to get it up to 300, and today it took me forever to get it up over 200. As soon as I opened the lid the firebox lit off(I could hear it flame up), and it got HOT in a hurry. So I took my mailbox off the top of the chimney to direct the smoke out, and she went to blazing. So I found an old section of 6" furnace vent pipe with an adjusteable 90 on it, and screwed it to my roof for now to get me by. I got 3 slabs of ribs, and 10 pounds of leg quarters on her now, so I had to come up with a quick fix. She's holding a nice 200-225 now with the vent barely cracked open.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/1220141500_zps0cc6691e.jpg

[THEFERMANATOR]

I can't believe the difference taking that mailbox looking elbow off and going to the heater duct made. It now can hold any reasoneable temp no problem, heats up pretty quickly, and uses ALOT less wood. I used probably half the wood today VS what I did Wednesday, and held better more consistent temps. I didn't have to pack the firebox this time and keep the vent full open. I was cursing it thinking I needed a bigger chimney pipe for it, but it ended up being my own fault. Live and learn.

My impressions with cooking on it for the 1st real cook is it is an AWESOME cooker. It would have taken me 4-5 hours to cook ribs until they were done in my old BRINKMAN, but 2.5 hours in this one and they were already getting tender. I used VERY little wood after I fixxed the chimney problem, but I do have to remember to add another chunk every 30-45 minutes to keep the smoke going uniform(this is probably more to do with my wood not being really dry yet. It's 4 years old, and still damp after I cut it up). The water pan not being in direct contact with the heat worked out nicely. Even after 3.5 hours it still had a good deal of water left in the pan, but it stayed very humid inside the smoker. Only downside to this design isn't a deal breaker, but it does make it a bit uncomfortable. Having the firebox underneath the cooker sure helps to re-use the heat and keep it compact, but it does make it warm on my right leg when I go into the smoker. Alot of heat radiates off of the door when you have a good fire going in it. But all in all I'm VERY happy with my smoker, and like my unique design. Time to do some hams for Christmas.

Tonights grub.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/10850302_830449467019991_6058698261299968116_n_zps 5b229a89.jpg

[Blue_Runner]

I have to say this is one impressive smoker build. Good job Ferm. You did one heck of a job. Appreciate you sharing this with us.

BIG thumbs up from Lexington, NC!!!!!! :party:

[THEFERMANATOR]

Got the new thermometer in, and got Christmas hams going. My suspicion of my old thermometer was correct, at 225 now i have a nice gentle sizzle in the water pan instead of a boil, and I barely crack the vent to hold 225 now. will find out in a few hours the results.

[step up here]

Now that would make Tim Allen go nuts!!!!!!!!!! Some ingenuity,great job.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Did another cook yesterday, and had some problems keeping the smoker up to temp. It was a cold(by Florida standard), rainy, windy day yesterday, and I went through quite a bit of wood, put out alot more smoke than I thought I should have, and had trouble keeping it up to the 225 mark. So I'm going to make a few small mods to the smoker to try and help it out. I did some testing on it while cooking, and found if I opened the door on the firebox, smoke and flames would come out, if I opened the lid most of the smoek and flames would go back up through the smoker, and the smoke would clear up and it would burn nice again. Close the firebox door and it would keep burning, but if I closed the lid, the fire would go out and the smoek would come back after about 30 seconds. So I'm thinking my 3.3" ID chimney pipe just isn't large enough to flow the heat out of the smoker, and am on the lookout for a piece of 1 inch bigger pipe to make my chimney out of. I can hold a good fire in the box with the lid open, but closed it won't hold heat. Also I'm going to add in an exhaust pipe to the roof of my overhang for the smoek to go out instead of my current 90.

Even with the troubles I ran into yesterday, I still managed to turn out some decent food. Cooked a whoel chicken, a pork loin, a slab of baby backs for prego, and a brisket.

baby backs as they went on. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/10917399_847736555291282_7102359168076264202_n_zps 71faef8a.jpg

The brisket before cooking, during, and done.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/10346306_847563425308595_1764926195534662027_n_zps 7f2dd1e5.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/10401876_847644568633814_2209247117524736960_n_zps 20e50686.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/10429390_847781768620094_3372926219698575577_n_zps 11d9b027.jpg

[smokeonthewater]

Try insulating your chimney.... Hot gasses draft much better.... An insulated clue pipe would slide right over the existing pipe or could replace it if you like

[THEFERMANATOR]

I got my 3.3" ID chiney pipe swapped out for a 4.3" ID pipe. I also added on an adjusteable damper to it. Seems to be doing a bit better now, and not choking back so easily. Another thing I found is my supposed top of the line thermometer is WAY off in temp. My 1st burn in after swapping the chimney pipe I got it up to 400 on the gauge, but I put my digital temp probe in it and found it was almost 500 inside at the thermometer. The thermometer stalls out in the 200-225 range and goes from reading higher than actual to lower than actual right in the sweet spot for smoking temps. When it's 75 degrees, it shows 100, but when it shows 300 it was actually 375. So I have to get another thermometer for it. After moving it back to my porch, I added in a roof top vent pipe setup so the chimney outlet now goes straight up instead of through a 90 and out into the wind. It's a VERY windy day today, and all the exhaust seems to be going straight up and out. Will find out here in a little while how it all does together as I'm doing my 1st cured meats. Got some whole pork loins, put in a brown sugar honey cure for 5 days at 40 degrees, and got em in the smoker now hoping to make some canadian bacon.

Heres the smoker on the porch, and you can see I have the 4.5" OD chimney pipe going tinto a 6" furnace pipe, and finally up into a 8" outlet with rain cap.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/0216151414_zps7417f800.jpg

Also built me a wood rack so I can dry my smoking wood somewhere than my back porch taking up space.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/0216151413_zps5b9560cc.jpg

And finally, anybody with a nice smoker needs a log splitter to split up your smokin wood so you can get em how you want em.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/10418151_857382744326663_1781190499057321157_n_zps 3040e66e.jpg

[THEFERMANATOR]

Heres todays cook. I cured it for 5 days at 40 degrees in a brown sugar honey cure, and it came out pretty good.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/SMOKER%20BUILD/0216151918_zps91a2d03a.jpg

[bradford]

Lookin' good there Ferm!