trap door clean out for firebox?

[simple]

The cheap offset i rescued from the curb doesn't have any way to clean the ashes put of the firebox other than to remove the charcoal grate and start scooping.I was thinking about about cutting the bottom 1/3 of the end plate off and fashioning a drawer I could pull out from under the charcoal grate. The way the intake damper is positioned makes that a no-go. So what about cutting a square out of the bottom of the firebox, add a hinge & latch to make it a bottom dump? Think of the flap on the seat of an old-fashion union suit. I would have to cobble up a flange for the door to seal against, but that's no big deal. Since heat rises, dumping the ashes during a long smoke could be accomplished with very little heat loss.

Any thoughts?

 

[allen]

I was thinking of the same idea on my offset, Never got around to it, been taking care of my wife. I have everything but no time yet. I think it will work.

 

[simple]

Look what I found!  I was sealing up gaps on the offset this evening, and I found the missing firebox clean out.  I mentioned that the neighbor who left the smoker was an over-educated idiot. The firebox on this thing bolt together. He had attached the bottom 1/2 180 degrees off. 8 quick bolts, lay a bead of RTV on the flange and bolt it on the right way. 

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• simple
• Jun 20, 2015

Also used RTV on the body of the CC and closed the lid on it to (hopefully) form a seal. I'll leave it overnight and see what I have in the morning. The biggest issue now is having to add a flange to the body of the firebox for the lid to seal to. I did some tweaking on it trying to get a good seal, but I still have a gap. It looks like the hinge sleeves are welded on a bit kittywampus, so the lid is actually at an angle instead of square to the opening. I'm not  a welder, so I'll scrounge up some metal scrap and screw it in so the lid will have a surface to seal against.

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• simple
• Jun 20, 2015