65 Gallon RF Build

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heliboydoesbbq

Meat Mopper
Original poster
May 22, 2009
150
21
Palmer Alaska
Well SMF.  its been a long time . Its labor day weekend and I'm smoking meats. so I'm posting my build for you to enjoy.

I had life take over for a while and I had to sell my smokers and move around alot. work and life took over. but after doing much soul searching and compromising life changing decisions. I have settled down again in Alaska and built my own smoker after being unable to CL any smokers up here.. there seems to be a lack of interest in smoked BBQ... loads of cold smokers lil'chief, big chief ETC because for the most part smokers are used to preserve fish thats it. and the lack of orchards make fruit wood worth a pretty penny. anyway..

This is not going to be a long drawn out step by step build that has a real to the process time line for months and months.

I already did that.

So here it is in ONE hit.

One wonderous build thread.

With out further adeau.

I Give you THE -->    HONEYWELL   <---


Thats the finished product .  244 square inched of smoker space on top of a waterbath Reverse flow chamber.  this is how it started..


The red tank was not used.. the grey tank is a 65 gallon 48x20 and was discarded in a salvage yard in Palmer AK. I paid 20$ for the above. I brought them home and cleaned them up.


Cleaning and Thinking..After running the excellent RF Calculator on this build I found the Little red tank lacking in Volume I need to use the whole thing it seemed a bit outlandish and out of proportion so I continued to search the yards for a better fit. Althought I dont have a picture of the one that I used in its raw state it made for a more asthetically pleasing match.

jumping ahead heres where I made the first cut. what a moment .. quite stressful .

Firebox (another compressor tank) and the Cook Chamber more cuts and welding ahead.



So after a little mockup I welded on a 1/4' plate to the flat side of the firebox. this made fitup on the round side of the CC much easier



Making the Firebox flat on one side made cutting the joining holes a little easier.. but no more stressful.  I did use the Circle tool listed in the RF build Calc thread.. After a few coffees and interpretation I was able to cobble this together.


I cut it off with a wheel and patience. that was a good day. 

After a few trial runs with the fit up between the CC and the FB I was able to weld it in place.








more in the next post.
 
So the next thing

was building the frame and opening up the Firebox Door,a Stack a Reverse Flow Plate and a cooking grate. But first I had to get it off the Cribbing and Dunnage and figure out how to move it around, So the wife and I could still use the Garage/Shop.


The Frame and the inspriation.





Unfortunatly it looks better than it works . But I am able to move it around by myself and I can use the Quad/ATV/4wheeler/lawnmower to move it around the handle is missing in this picture but I can attach it to whatever.  pretty good day when I had it up on its own wheels and rolling around the shop.!


OK So looking at the Smoker  I still have to cut the FB Door. Another stressful moment especially after so much work went into this build to this point.




Putting a black Marker line on the white tank let me see the actual cut line easier.



Cut, Welded, and shelf in place.


BAMB... Doors!  its reverse flow plate time .


I ground and Wire brushed out 99% of the rust and installed the drain tube for the water bath drain


I don't have any pictures of the fit-up of the 1/4' plate on my welding table but It came together in 3 parts the right bit is built in place above the firebox inlet. the main chamber is lower to allow for more smoke flow and water, the floor itself is welded on the back side and channelized to allow for easier drainage.



Gratutious shop photo.

Almost there. at this point I had to go to work for the next month and this project had to go on hold.. I came back to the next steps in the next post. but I was pretty happy  with my progress. while I was working I was dreaming about the smokes I was going to do when I got home !
 
So after a month and a half away

I came back to my build just a stack install and cooking grates to build, paint, burn in, and seasoning to go ..


I cut the hole for the 4" stack with a 41/8 Hole saw it took almost all morning with the old school 15year old Dewalt as it is the only drill thats has a chuck big enough.. but the batteries are TOAST.  using the hole saw made the strange rebate cut easier to make althought I did use a template I didn't have to modifiy the inital cut I was very happy with the outcome.



4" Pipe was sourced at a local Diesel shop he charged me 20$ for the 36" piece I think that was a pretty good deal Not in the pictures is the cut I made 6" up from the bottom of the interior part of the exhaust.






Some odds and ends.


Door Stops and handle


Fire Box Air vent.

Burnout, old paint removal and Paint!







Then I ground and sanded it all shiny


Added three coats of stove black


And lit a new fire the next day to set the paint.



Then Its Seasoning time and the first STEAKS! the First Q-View!



Two NY Strips and 5lbs of Beef Fat off cuts from the local butcher for 5$


First Smoke Ring!! Nice!


The Fat the next day I pushed the cold rendered fat into all surfaces inside the smoker before I lit the fire for the ribs this helped seal the smoker and season it that much faster!


More Cue-View I worked up some ribs




Pull from the bone goodness using the time tested 3-2-1 method.



that brings us to today and starting the smoker under the northern lights at 4am  that's a unique thing!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mad Jack
OK Northern light up here have been going off recently Its really hard to get good photos of them My friend Shane Apperson does this very well here is the view from near Denali Nat'l Par


The view from my porch at dark thirty was very much the same..

but my phone camera just sees black or this.




The smoker in its new home. 

This is what is inside.. 


More Q-view to come... On a new thread! cheers!

Thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed the quick style build!

--HBDBBQ
 
VERY VERY NICE BUILD!!!!

You Sir are a craftsman!

This is a point worthy thread if I have ever seen one!

Point to you Sir!

Al
 
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Reactions: tiggyt
Great build and detailed thread. Thanks for sharing the experience. Food looks awesome and you can't buy that kind of scenery.
 
Great looking smoker. 

Smoking under the Northern Lights must be a truly awesome experience. 

What's with the trailer ball hitch on the firebox?
 
I get to go to some really cool junk yards. up here. I found the old maul head and the trailer ball hitch in one of them , I think while i was sourcing metal for a different project,I tossed them in the pile. Both of them came back to me as door stops thats all.. the hitch ball stops the Fire box door from going full extension . likewise the 1/2'ed maul head for the Cooking Chamber. The Huge Spud bar is for aligning bolt holes on the Alaska pipeline and is 1970's vintage NOT a junk yard find.

all the Best!

--HBDBBQ
 
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