New to smoking, 60 gallon build

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allenfab

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 26, 2014
24
10
Central Florida
New to the forum and relatively new to smoking.  I've personally never smoked anything on my own, but I constantly help my friends when they cook.  So, I decided to take a stab at it and first need to build a smoker.  A friend of mine wanted me to build him a smoker so I may end up selling this to him, but who knows, I may like it enough to keep it and build another to sell.

So far I have a 60 gallon air tank that I picked up for $100 (still had motor and compressor attached that I will sell), $200 in the form of a 4'x8' 1/4" steel plate, and a little more money in material to build my own hinges and some thermometers, latches, and Nomex gaskets.

I used the Feldon BBQ/Pit builder calculator to get all my numbers but I won't bother posting them at the moment.

So far this is what I have...




Got all the plates cut and cleaned up for the fire box...

 
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Welcome to SMF AllenFab

I'm not having any luck with your links? Looks like some extra html made it's way in there?
Thanks!  And yes, the links were bad.  Check it now though as I attached the images through this site instead of photobucket
 
 
Now I have the pics! I'd say you are on your way! Check out this build I was just looking at:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/165338/my-first-smoker

Please keep posting as you continue your build. A lot of us don't have the experience and it helps a lot to see how its done! 
I actually just got done looking through that one and some others.  That one turned out great and gives me a few new ideas.
 
 
I actually just got done looking through that one and some others.  That one turned out great and gives me a few new ideas.
I don't have the tools or knowledge to do anything like that myself so I enjoy watching other folks build theirs. I don't have the room for something like that either. You will find a lot of great ideas on this forum. A nice touch is the way the mini-wsm builders use decals on their builds, paint over the decals then peel them off. 

 http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/3163/mini-wsm

Although I hear they don't make any better food than the unpainted ones... Good Luck with your build and keep those pics coming!
 
 
I don't have the tools or knowledge to do anything like that myself so I enjoy watching other folks build theirs. I don't have the room for something like that either. You will find a lot of great ideas on this forum. A nice touch is the way the mini-wsm builders use decals on their builds, paint over the decals then peel them off. 

 http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/3163/mini-wsm

Although I hear they don't make any better food than the unpainted ones... Good Luck with your build and keep those pics coming!
I'm working out of a 2 car garage, which essentially about a 1 car garage, maybe less with all the crap that is in there.  I am a welder by trade, working at one of, if not the biggest fab shop in the area that does a lot of work for the phosphate industry.  I do side jobs out of my garage for extra money... anything from lifting trucks, to building grills, to building trailers and whatever else that can be built with a welder.

I definitely like the way they do the paint with the decals, I'd just worry about the paint wearing off with all the heat.  I am thinking about getting some thin sheet plasma cut with something to put on the smoker somewhere.
 
Check out this thread before you make the FB to CC cut to make sure you have good area for flow and your numbers take into account your smoker style/tank shape.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/161795/is-feldons-calculator-really-flawed

This is one of the coolest examples of CNC templates on a smoker I've seen. Dragons Breath did an amazing job on his smoker!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/112908/my-first-250-gal-reverse-flow/140

Keep us posted, this looks like it will be a really nice build and a great size for a family smoker. We are all picture junkies and someone with your skills will be an extra treat.
 
 
Check out this thread before you make the FB to CC cut to make sure you have good area for flow and your numbers take into account your smoker style/tank shape.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/161795/is-feldons-calculator-really-flawed

This is one of the coolest examples of CNC templates on a smoker I've seen. Dragons Breath did an amazing job on his smoker!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/112908/my-first-250-gal-reverse-flow/140

Keep us posted, this looks like it will be a really nice build and a great size for a family smoker. We are all picture junkies and someone with your skills will be an extra treat.
Thanks for those links, I will go back and adjust some of the numbers to hopefully make this thing flow and cook better.  I'll probably have a few more pictures up sometime tonight with the progress.
 
Here are my numbers before the adjustments 

Link to BBQ Pit Calculator

I'm needing to figure out what half circle diameter I am now going to need for the opening between the FB and the CC.  If I go with 1.5 times the recommended half moon (which is 10.9" diameter), then my calculations came out to a 13.25" diameter hole to being very close to the 1.5x amount (around 69 square inches).  Does this sound accurate?
 
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Almost, you may have overlooked the part in the "flawed feldon's link" that talks about how you need to use your actual cook chamber size and make up a firebox that comes out to 100%. The calculator works off of the firebox so if you want a bigger firebox, it jacks up all the other numbers. In actuality, you want to do the calculations with a fake firebox size at 100%, then make the real firebox how ever big you want. With that said, your calculator opening to the cook chamber is supposed to be 37 sq-in, take that number times 1.5 and you get 55 sq-in needed. Then you take the radius of the cook chamber and use it in the circle calculator. http://www.1728.org/circsect.htm  You want to click that you know the radius and segment height ED, put in the radius of the cook chamber and "play" with the ED number until you get 55 sq-in in the segment area box. The number you put in for ED that works is the height above the bottom of the cook chamber you need to make your moon shaped cut to mount your firebox. The Cord AB is how wide most guys make their fireboxes to match up with the cook chamber. Does that make sense? If not, post your cook chamber diameter and I can get you the height you need above the bottom of the cook chamber for your cut.
 
 
Almost, you may have overlooked the part in the "flawed feldon's link" that talks about how you need to use your actual cook chamber size and make up a firebox that comes out to 100%. The calculator works off of the firebox so if you want a bigger firebox, it jacks up all the other numbers. In actuality, you want to do the calculations with a fake firebox size at 100%, then make the real firebox how ever big you want. With that said, your calculator opening to the cook chamber is supposed to be 37 sq-in, take that number times 1.5 and you get 55 sq-in needed. Then you take the radius of the cook chamber and use it in the circle calculator. http://www.1728.org/circsect.htm  You want to click that you know the radius and segment height ED, put in the radius of the cook chamber and "play" with the ED number until you get 55 sq-in in the segment area box. The number you put in for ED that works is the height above the bottom of the cook chamber you need to make your moon shaped cut to mount your firebox. The Cord AB is how wide most guys make their fireboxes to match up with the cook chamber. Does that make sense? If not, post your cook chamber diameter and I can get you the height you need above the bottom of the cook chamber for your cut.
I think I got it, but to verify, lets see if our numbers match.  The cook chamber inside diameter is 19.75".  

My numbers:

segment height ED - 4.6875

segment area - 55.654

chord AB - 16.805
 
Great job, you've got it! May be easier to make it 4 3/4", but I'll be happy to watch you hold four digits cutting a 4.6875 height.... 
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Make sure you maintain that same height under the RF plate and have 55 sq-in minimum at the end where it turns into the grates and you should be golden!
 
 
Great job, you've got it! May be easier to make it 4 3/4", but I'll be happy to watch you hold four digits cutting a 4.6875 height.... 
77.gif


Make sure you maintain that same height under the RF plate and have 55 sq-in minimum at the end where it turns into the grates and you should be golden!
Sweet!  Thanks for the help.  And I think I will go with 4.75" and save the hassle haha
 
Didn't get much done today due to fiddling with the calculators to get the FB to CC opening correct and the weather turned bad right on schedule... lovely Florida summers...

I got the FB tacked up.  I planned on doing an insulation plate ~1/2" below the top of the box, but now I am not sure if I am going to do it.  I still need to figure out how exactly I am going to do the FB vents and the door so that it will seal correctly.  

 
finished up the intake door/adjuster and got the guides and stops welded on.  It doesn't slide as easy as I'd like, but with a little wiggling it works ok.  Still deciding on what to do about the handle for that as well....  Hopefully today or tomorrow I can get the CC cut and get the FB at least tacked to it.  We will see what happens...


 
Well I ended up re-doing the intake slide setup and it now works flawlessly... just took me a day or two to think of how to make it work better.  I also got the door and it's bracing on and welded and of course the door warped, but with a little time and some clamps, I got it back to almost perfectly flat.....




 
Good job on the door. 
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Even though I try to minimize warping when welding by doing various things, I pretty much always expect some warpage. Comes with the territory. I just always have a plan to correct it after the fact.

Sometimes I get lucky and things stay straight. After I bought my 50 ton press, I have been able to straighten pretty much anything.
 
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