Door size

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bishgeo

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Mar 4, 2014
570
19
springfield oh
cc is going to be 20"x48" how wide should I cut door.I know to cut it at 12 and 3 it's going to be rf so you won't be able to use several inches on the left side anyway right.??
 
Hello.  I assume you mean that the firebox is on the left so the left side will be hotter.  The design of the reverse flow is just for that purpose.  It draws the heat quicker through the smoker so that you have a more even heat from one end to the other than you would have in a normal offset.  The firebox end may always be slightly hotter but that can be used to your advantage.  I wouldn't restrict access to either end.  I would leave 3"- maybe 4" from each end and cut the door.  I don't know your experience but may I suggest you cut the top of the door first, let the cut cool so that you can comfortable lay your hand on it.  Tack weld on your hinges at this point, pretty solid tacks.  Then finish cutting your door.  All should then be completely aligned.  Hope this helps.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
No firebox on right just meant u really wouldn't want any thing clear out on end of rack where heat was coming up from under rf plate.I marked cut 3" from end and at 12-3.
 
KC5TPY, I think what he means is you don't necessarily want to have your cooking grate hang over the opening at the end of the reverse flow plate (opposite end of the firebox) so what I did was figured how much space I needed for that opening to give me the cubic inches I needed (width of the plate times the distance from the end of the plate to the wall of th CC) then I made my door cut there, as well as the edge of me cooking rack. I used the even spacing on the opposite side of the door as well so the whole CC looks even and proportional.

On my build, my plate is about 7 inches off of the bottom (24 diameter pipe) which gave me a width of approximately 22" wall to wall. So 6 inch long opening times 22" wide gave me the opening that I needed. So I cut my door 6" from either side.
 
Last edited:
Ive seen where the door is not perfectly centered, an it looks alright if the trim is done well.  Or you could build your end cap to allow for the air to flow, and utilize more of your pipe for cooking area.
 
CC size will be 20"x48" if that helps with measurements for opening at end of RF plate to door opening.I have it measured to cut 3" from each end but can be changed quick.
 
Hello.  Yep!  Now I see what the question was.  I still stand by the fact that a hotter end can be a useful thing.  Not used all the time but handy to have.  I wouldn't make it hard to get to.  Not every piece of meat is the same thickness. Why make that end hard to get to when the door size doesn't affect the efficiency of the smoker.  GREAT question there RW.  I can see where a flat end may "push" more heat to that end of the grill where a "domed" end might tend to roll the heat over the end.  By God son you know some stuff about building smokers.  Are you sure you ain't from Texas??  
ROTF.gif


Danny
 
Thread Starter  


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  • 30 Posts. Joined 3/2014
  • Location: springfield oh
  • Points: 10

cc is going to be 20"x48" how wide should I cut door.I know to cut it at 12 and 3 it's going to be rf so you won't be able to use several inches on the left side anyway right.??

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post #2 of 9

3 days, 11 hours ago


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  • Points: 44

Hello.  I assume you mean that the firebox is on the left so the left side will be hotter.  The design of the reverse flow is just for that purpose.  It draws the heat quicker through the smoker so that you have a more even heat from one end to the other than you would have in a normal offset.  The firebox end may always be slightly hotter but that can be used to your advantage.  I wouldn't restrict access to either end.  I would leave 3"- maybe 4" from each end and cut the door.  I don't know your experience but may I suggest you cut the top of the door first, let the cut cool so that you can comfortable lay your hand on it.  Tack weld on your hinges at this point, pretty solid tacks.  Then finish cutting your door.  All should then be completely aligned.  Hope this helps.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

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post #3 of 9

3 days, 11 hours ago

Thread Starter  


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  • 30 Posts. Joined 3/2014
  • Location: springfield oh
  • Points: 10

No firebox on right just meant u really wouldn't want any thing clear out on end of rack where heat was coming up from under rf plate.I marked cut 3" from end and at 12-3.

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post #4 of 9

3 days, 11 hours ago


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KC5TPY, I think what he means is you don't necessarily want to have your cooking grate hang over the opening at the end of the reverse flow plate (opposite end of the firebox) so what I did was figured how much space I needed for that opening to give me the cubic inches I needed (width of the plate times the distance from the end of the plate to the wall of th CC) then I made my door cut there, as well as the edge of me cooking rack. I used the even spacing on the opposite side of the door as well so the whole CC looks even and proportional.

On my build, my plate is about 7 inches off of the bottom (24 diameter pipe) which gave me a width of approximately 22" wall to wall. So 6 inch long opening times 22" wide gave me the opening that I needed. So I cut my door 6" from either side.

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post #5 of 9

3 days, 11 hours ago


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Ive seen where the door is not perfectly centered, an it looks alright if the trim is done well.  Or you could build your end cap to allow for the air to flow, and utilize more of your pipe for cooking area.

My opinions and suggestions are just like my farts, they never stop.

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post #6 of 9

3 days, 9 hours ago

Thread Starter  


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  • 30 Posts. Joined 3/2014
  • Location: springfield oh
  • Points: 10

CC size will be 20"x48" if that helps with measurements for opening at end of RF plate to door opening.I have it measured to cut 3" from each end but can be changed quick.

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post #7 of 9

3 days, 9 hours ago


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Are you going with flat end caps?

My opinions and suggestions are just like my farts, they never stop.

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post #8 of 9

3 days, 7 hours ago


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Hello.  Yep!  Now I see what the question was.  I still stand by the fact that a hotter end can be a useful thing.  Not used all the time but handy to have.  I wouldn't make it hard to get to.  Not every piece of meat is the same thickness. Why make that end hard to get to when the door size doesn't affect the efficiency of the smoker.  GREAT question there RW.  I can see where a flat end may "push" more heat to that end of the grill where a "domed" end might tend to roll the heat over the end.  By God son you know some stuff about building smokers.  Are you sure you ain't from Texas??  
ROTF.gif


Danny

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post #9 of 9

3 days, 6 hours ago


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  • 1,879 Posts. Joined 5/2012
  • Location: Orlando and Tampa Florida
  • Points: 48

Nope, from Florida, we don't get a lot of notoriety for our BBQ like Texas does, but we do know how to cook.
 
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