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Here I go again...!  Went to Home Depot, looked at all the vent stuff and nothing clicked.  Walking out,  I noticed a display... it clicked... what if.....

I exterior mount the unit inside a Metal Mailbox!

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Mount it, drill holes in bottom, screw and seal box to smokehouse, use a 2" hole drill through the box and plywood, then seal around it and in the hole between the box and plywood.  Adjust your draft by opening the door a little at a time, plus the holes already in the bottom of the box.  Enclosed, metal, adjustable draft, exterior, no flame-up worries!  If it's 110° outside, you probably ought to reconsider "cold" smoking anyways, lol.  But,for either cold or hot smoking, not a problem!  Just run the propane burner inside if you want to hot smoke without fear of catching the pellets on fire. No propane for cold smoking.  If you want, toss a chunk in the iron frying pan too for extra goodness, or fruitwood sticks, etc.

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Fits perfect!

Hmmm... maybe a 2" hole in the bottom, with a flap to open or close with.... like an electric circle box cover plate with 1 screw it to swivel on...

Now, do I want a mailbox on the outside of my smokehouse?  ABSOLUTELY!

Mad Scientist Smokaholic Pops over and out for now, until I test it out!

Todd, need your advice... should I use a 2" bottom draft hole with a 2" upper exit hole so they're equal, or what percentage input to output do I need?
 
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......   Pops, morning.... I'm thinking there is someone else out there that lays awake at night .....  thinking of "off the wall" stuff, that ends up being a great idea....

I love it.....   Is there a patent attorney in your future .....  Dave
 
That is brilliant - Love it. So now you can say you mailed in that last smoke 
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Pops- you could ask your postal carrier to deliver all mail addressed to "Occupant" to that box!

You could install a bbq vent to the front of your box and then you wouldn't need to worry about drilling holes into the bottom of your box or need to open the door for additional draft-

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Where can i get one?
 
Pops- you could ask your postal carrier to deliver all mail addressed to "Occupant" to that box!

You could install a bbq vent to the front of your box and then you wouldn't need to worry about drilling holes into the bottom of your box or need to open the door for additional draft-

1cb6b5bc_bbq_grill_smoker_air_damper_4-4.jpg
 
Well, first step, mod the mailbox.  Drilled a 2½" hole with a holesaw in the back of the box, then a 1¾" hole in the front.  I attached the cutout from the back to the vent hole in front with a nut and  bolt after tracing the outline of the smaller hole on the cutout so I could center it properly, then simply bent up the edge a little to provide a grip to swivel it.  It was weird drilling everything with the opposite hand!

From the front:

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From the back:

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The two little holes I tried mounting a piece of plywood inside to aid the holesaw but it was too rickety, so I just went at it with the holesaw through the metal and it worked fine!  I'll cover those holes with a little caulk, no problem.

Of course, I'm just guessing for the input and output draft holes; may be to much (but have an adjustable flap on the front to cut it down) or, too little.  If so, I can open the door a bit too, just don't want it to draft out instead of in!  But, pushing the unit all the way to the back should direct the draft to where I want it to go.  Have to stop and go to dinner with the older son and grandkids!  Will continue tomorow and hopefully complete it and test it, have a date with some buckboard bacon Saturday!

Think I might put a piece of ceramic tile under the unit so it won't heat up the metal box that much; non-conductive.
 
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Alrighty by crikey...! lol...

Got the mailbox mounted; I cut 6" long pieces of 1x4 (7/8" x 3½") to put in the bottom of the mailbox, covering up all holes to control the draft, screwing them in on the sides, and lining up the boards to get at least one screw in on each side, plus to get proper spacing for the mounting holes underneath so there was solid wood to mount to (a bit of planning, eh?, lol, plus keeping the back of the bracket flush w/box:

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Then, test fitted the unit to the smokehouse, lining up where I wanted the draft hole to be (figured just above the drip pans, where I'd set it when inside), then drilled the hole in the side, centering it.

Then, re-align the hole with the mailbox and mark where the screws will go into the bottom of the bracket (held the mailbox with a 1x1 length inside it, lining up the two holes while marking the screw holes with a Sharpie[emoji]174[/emoji]).  

Brought it inside and caulked the back of it:

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Then brought it out and mounted it.  Took about 4 tries, kept dropping the drill, the screw off the drillbit, moving the box, etc.  Should use two people, believe me, or at least one with two good hands, lol!  But, got it mounted!

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from the back:

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From inside the box:

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Inside the smokehouse:

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Of course, light it up and test  it!  (drum roll..)

It's Smokin'!

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Pouring out!

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and out the top vent!

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So, Cold Smoking is a success!  YAY!  Now, how about hot smoking?

Well, that took some experimenting with!  I'd had the draft on the bottom of the smokehouse where I normally had it.  The Cold Smoking entered the smokehouse from the side with no problem, no more adjusting needed.  But, Hot Smoking... different story.  Tried different positions, putting lit end in first nearest the entrance hole, or the reverse, in the middle of the mailbox,  cutting the 1x1 in half lengthwise to raise the unit for more draft underneath, and so on.  It was like with the heat on, the hot air rising did not pull the smoke into the smokehouse box, which I thought it would even moreso.  Wrong!  I fiddled and faddled with this and that, then suddenly realized, it didn't have a reason to pull the air in, the bottom draft was doing that!  So, **click** - close the bottom draft.  Now where is the flame from the propane burner going to get air from to keep burning...??? You guessed it, through the mailbox, creating the draft through there and likewise pull the smoke in with it!  I'm checking it as it is going, I'll report further on what it's doing, plus on Saturday when I'm smoking meat with it!  Stay tuned!
 
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  But, Hot Smoking.......... then suddenly realized, it didn't have a reason to pull the air in, the bottom draft was doing that!  So, **click** - close the bottom draft.  Now where is the flame from the propane burner going to get air from to keep burning...??? You guessed it, through the mailbox, creating the draft through there and likewise pull the smoke in with it!  I'm checking it as it is going, I'll report further on what it's doing, plus on Saturday when I'm smoking meat with it!  Stay tuned!
interesting......i have a similar problem with my up-right gasser so this may lead me towards a solution. thx pops!
 
 
Great re-purposing of the Mail Box...JJ
 
Thank you, all!  Well, I figured it needed more area to pull the smoke in, so I drilled from inside the smokehouse two more holes:

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then replaced my makeshift props with a better one:

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Hopefully that will allow more airflow up from the bottom plus through it too; if not, I'll have to put the two verticals on some metal strips or something and eliminate the horizontal board.

But, got the AMNPS going with two rows lit and put it in the box, started the propane and shut the bottom vent and here's the result:

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Thin blue is rolling and temp in climbing!  It is drafting great and coming out the output vent like it should!  But, no heat in the mailbox that will catch the pellets on fire, and plenty of draft to keep it from going out!  I think if I did it again I'd just remove the back of the mailbox and cut out a hole just a hair smaller than it to be able to seal it and it would work just fine!  The front vent it open all the way too.

This is the initial start; let's see what happens as it goes on!

Just took a pic of the money end, hopefully it shows the smoke going into the smokehouse:

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It is drafting so much better, no buildup in the mailbox now, all being sucked into the smokehouse immediately!  Exactly what I wanted, and the draft keeps the pellet embers smoldering so no fear of it going out!  And, no heat buildup in the mailbox, no combustion on the pellets either, draft must not be that great to get them to ignite.   If it does, then I can close the small circle in front down some to adjust the draft. 
 
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I just sealed around the bottom vent on the smokehouse and it increased the draw through the mailbox and likewise the amount of smoke exiting through the top vent!  I'll do a few more smokes, but may just take out the bottom vent and board it and seal it up!
 
Pops, morning.... Did you get any sleep last night...
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.... I've heard, great inventors never sleep.... 
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....   You are going to need that vacation.... 
 
I only sleep 3-5 hours a night, always have.  But, after so many strokes, I have to nap several times a day too, 1-2 hours every time.  Only time the brain heals is when you're asleep.  I always got up early to drive 80 - 120 mi. each way to meatcutting jobs in stores, having to be there by 4am on inventory day and 6 am to cut meat, til 4 or 5 pm, then drive home.  Could do it back then, but not now!
 
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