A New Build: 24x30 Vertical Offset - A Custom Build For JLeonard!

[seenred]

It’s an awesome build and will be an awesome cooker. Love the idea of it all.

Thank you sir!

Red

 

[seenred]

seenred that looks even better than what I had pictured in my head after talking with you on the phone. And is that the firebox its sitting on? gives me a idea of the height of it!
And after looking at civilsmoker pics thinking I could almost get rid of the kettle. Oh lordy the things I can do!
@Brokenhandle you may be right....the possibilities of self enabling for hanging hooks and etc are endless!

Jim

It really turned out better than I expected, Jim! And you may be right - you might not ever use the kettle if this thing direct-cooks as well as it should...

Red

 

[seenred]

I think the last build pics should be the look on your face when you first see it! That will be priceless! Not to mention if you move you will be the best new neighbor in town... as long as your neighbors aren't vegans lol!

Ryan

We'll definitely get a "reaction shot" of Jim!

And honestly - Vegans? Who cares what they think?!!

When they get to smelling that TBS and meat cooking I'd have them converted!

Yeah...either that, or they'll call the police and try to get you arrested for disturbing the peace!

Red

 

[civilsmoker]

We'll definitely get a "reaction shot" of Jim!

And honestly - Vegans? Who cares what they think?!!



Yeah...either that, or they'll call the police and try to get you arrested for disturbing the peace!

Red

Ha that’s why mentioned grilled veggies…. When they come over to complain you open it up and give them a plate with roasted cauliflower steak, some carrots, and a Portabella shroom and the will be your best friends!!! If they do call the police they will arrest the vegans for disturbing your peace……lol.

 

[seenred]

And is that the firebox its sitting on? gives me a idea of the height of it!

Yep! I'd say it's sitting pretty close to the height it'll be when I get it mounted to a cart.

Red

 

[seenred]

Ha that’s why mentioned grilled veggies…. When they come over to complain you open it up and give the a plate with roasted cauliflower steak, some carrots, and a Portabella shroom and the will be your best friends!!! If they do call the police they will arrest the vegans for disturbing your peace……lol.

No doubt LOL!! First thing you do is feed those cops some smoked ribs and brisket...then the vegans are in big trouble!

Red

 

[civilsmoker]

Thanks Brother! Took me most of a day of pondering, scribbling, and measuring before I landed on the final design - but I'm real happy with how it turned out. And all credit to you - I woulda never thought of it without your suggestion.

And I agree - I think this is gonna be a truly multifunction cooker!

Thanks but you made it a reality! That’s better than how Shirley smokers does it! Jims mind is going to be blown at how that will cook. He could even do pizza in it if he wants!

You even got me thinking of a slide in Santa Maria frame add in, but the spacing of your racks is such things can just be transferred between shelf’s.

Now Ryan - you know there ain't no enabling goin' on around here - just happy suggestions!




Lol lots of cool pics of your cooker in action buddy! I'm hoping Jim's new pit can do all those things...

Thanks again guys!

Red

You are welcome and a picture can create inspiration! Oh it will cook every thing is posted, Jim is going to be on a learning path and a bunch of featured posts!

seenred that looks even better than what I had pictured in my head after talking with you on the phone. And is that the firebox its sitting on? gives me a idea of the height of it!
And after looking at civilsmoker pics thinking I could almost get rid of the kettle. Oh lordy the things I can do!
@Brokenhandle you may be right....the possibilities of self enabling for hanging hooks and etc are endless!

Jim

Jim you can keep the kettle as a reminder to how the evolution started!!!

 

[seenred]

Thanks but you made it a reality! That’s better than how Shirley smokers does it! Jims mind is going to be blown at how that will cook. He could even do pizza in it if he wants!

Now I never would have expected any pit I built to be compared to a Shirley! Those guys are Master fabricators! I've seen some of their welds...and they are buttery smooth! So pretty it looks like a robot welded them.

My welds definitely ain't that pretty - but I guarantee they'll hold!

You even got me thinking of a slide in Santa Maria frame add in, but the spacing of your racks is such things can just be transferred between shelf’s.

Yeah, a Santa Maria insert would be pretty cool, but you're right - the distance between the racks in this cabinet should accomplish the same thing.

You are welcome and a picture can create inspiration! Oh it will cook every thing is posted, Jim is going to be on a learning path and a bunch of featured posts!

I can't wait to see all the cooking threads Jim creates! That's what's really fun about this project for me - knowing that one of my forum buddies will be cookin' on something I created!

Red

 

[seenred]

Evening Friends!

Last couple weeks, I've had other projects keeping me away from this build, but I think I'm finished with that, and ready to concentrate on getting this pit finished.

So a quick update on where I'm at now. First off, I had a little snag that was nobody's fault but my own. The firebox assembly was basically finished...when I remembered I was gonna weld in some cross bracing on the interior of the FB door - an attempt to keep heat from warping it. Well that backfired - in an effort to prevent warping, the extra heat from all that extra welding... Warped the Door!! (insert forehead slap here)

I heated it, clamped it, hammered it, tried setting up a jig where I could press it with a bottle jack...no luck - still warped as s#%*.

So I cut the hinges, handle, and latch off of it and built a new door. Here's the old warped one, after I scavenged all the parts. Can't tell from this pic, but it was pretty warped - couldn't get the door latch closed.

And here's the new door, all framed out and re-hinged.

If I'm being honest, this door is flatter and fits better than the first one...so win-win (I guess).

And I will NOT be adding any more heat to this plate! It's flat and fits great...so no welding in of extra cross bracing. I'm hopeful that Jim will never have any issues with heat warping.



I may do another little chore or 2 first, but I'm pretty much ready to weld the boxes together. In fact, I was getting curious about how they were gonna fit up, so I used a lift table to lift the CC up to FB opening level...just to see how it looked.

Kinda starting to look like one big, badass smoker to me!

Hopefully those last 2 shots will give you some perspective about what this pit will look like once I get the cart under it.

So that's my current status. I hope to have those boxes joined before this week ends. I know there's still quite a ways to go before it's finished, but I feel like I can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel!


Hopefully the next update won't take as long as this one did...as always, thanks for looking!

Red

 

[civilsmoker]

Im betting you can still hear Jim’s giggles after he saw the last two pics…… only to be followed by his under his breath “what have I done……” utterance….

those two pics visualize my past posts admirations!!!!!

 

[JckDanls 07]

Red... Looking good brother...

Let me make a suggestion on the bracing for the FB door... DO NOT try to weld it all up at once... Heat does strange things to metal... Instead... Just do a few beads and let it cool before doing a couple more... Also.. I don't think that many beads are necessary ....

But carry on and do as you see fit... Looking awesome...

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

That is sure coming along nice buddy… gonna be one heck of a nice pit! Jim, you are going to have a lot of fun cooking with that my friend!

 

[JLeonard]

Im betting you can still hear Jim’s giggles after he saw the last two pics…… only to be followed by his under his breath “what have I done……” utterance….

those two pics visualize my past posts admirations!!!!!

Giggling like a school girl after her first kiss! And the utterance was more along the line of "Holy Chit!". It looks even bigger than I envisioned from the other pics. When it gets to its forever home I'm gonna have to make more friends to use all of it! seenred loving what you are doing man!

Jim

 

[seenred]

Im betting you can still hear Jim’s giggles after he saw the last two pics…… only to be followed by his under his breath “what have I done……” utterance….

those two pics visualize my past posts admirations!!!!!

LOL I expect you're right - there may be giggling involved...

Red... Looking good brother...

Let me make a suggestion on the bracing for the FB door... DO NOT try to weld it all up at once... Heat does strange things to metal... Instead... Just do a few beads and let it cool before doing a couple more... Also.. I don't think that many beads are necessary ....

But carry on and do as you see fit... Looking awesome...

Morning Keith! You are correct, of course...and I'll probably end up doing that very thing. My mistake when I warped the first plate was welding one of the braces twice. Like a total novice, I got that piece of bar stock off-line and uneven, so I cut it loose and re-welded it. That's when it warped - just too much heat for the plate.

I'll ponder it a while...then probably go ahead and fabricate braces for the new door...

That is sure coming along nice buddy… gonna be one heck of a nice pit! Jim, you are going to have a lot of fun cooking with that my friend!

Morning Justin! Thanks for the kind words my friend!

Red

 

[seenred]

Giggling like a school girl after her first kiss! And the utterance was more along the line of "Holy Chit!". It looks even bigger than I envisioned from the other pics.

Jim

seenred loving what you are doing man!

Jim

Thanks Brother...my number one goal is that you're happy with it.

Red

 

[JLeonard]

Thanks Brother...my number one goal is that you're happy with it.

Red

I am foreseeing a lot of meat being run through that thing! And after looking at the X-Fire of civilsmoker I can see chickens, bacon etc hanging from re-bar from the top rack slides. I'm gonna need to get a solid wood supplier cause there is a gonna be a lot of cooking done!

Jim

 

[civilsmoker]

I am foreseeing a lot of meat being run through that thing! And after looking at the X-Fire of civilsmoker I can see chickens, bacon etc hanging from re-bar from the top rack slides. I'm gonna need to get a solid wood supplier cause there is a gonna be a lot of cooking done!

Jim

this is your fortune cookie talking to you...... "You are going to be enjoying good smoked meat for a very long time!!!! "

 

[seenred]

After a really cold morning, I spent some time in the shop this afternoon, after it warmed up out there. I've reached the point where it was time to get these 2 boxes joined, and was excited to get on with it!

First off, I got everything leveled, squared and plum. The hydraulic lift cart definitely helped with that. I didn't have any bar clamps long enough to reach, so I used a ratchet strap to pull everything up nice and snug. Now it's ready for welding!

As a Justice of the Peace once said - thirty-some years ago when he officiated my marriage...

What was Two, is now One!

Now this thing is really looking like a smoker!

Don't want to jinx myself, but the joinery of the FB to the CC went very well. Fit up and welding was much easier than I hoped.

So next step is building a cart to put under it. It's gonna be very cold here again in the morning...but if the shop warms up tomorrow afternoon, I'll likely get started on that cart! I really need to get this monster on a cart and casters so it's more mobile.

Stay tuned!

Red

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Wow buddy, good progress for sure! Damn, wish again I had that talent!

Heck, you don’t need a cart for it… just give Jim a few 2x4’s to prop it up… he’s gonna be carrying that thing around anyway… it’s gonna be his portable smoker for catering!

 

[seenred]

Wow buddy, good progress for sure! Damn, wish again I had that talent!

Heck, you don’t need a cart for it… just give Jim a few 2x4’s to prop it up… he’s gonna be carrying that thing around anyway… it’s gonna be his portable smoker for catering!

Well why not just attach some shoulder straps? Jim can carry it around like a backpack LMAO!


He won't need a gym membership...he'll be getting his heavy lifting in by lugging this pit around!

Thanks for the kind words my Friend!

Red