# planning to make my own smoker have some questions



## -devil- (Sep 9, 2007)

http://www.mikesell.net/smoker/

ok, the link above is the basic thing i am considering making ... since it would be about the price of a 'fair' smoker ... and i can get the barrels for free ... 

i have no welding ability, but i have tons of saws and drills ... so going the welding route is out for me ... 

has anyone built one like above before? .. is the basic design ok, or are there some changes you would reccomend? ... (like another adjustable inlet for more air on the bottom for temp control? or would the two 'flues' in the center peices between barrels enough control wise)

i know the smoker doesn't make the food any better or worse ... the skill of the cook does ... i am working on that part ... while upgrading what little equipment i have ... (while cleaning out the one i have been using a bit ago i noticed that in one corner rust has almost ate through the bottom, i can patch it temp but looking to the future for another one )


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## moltenone (Sep 9, 2007)

i haven't built one of these and i am a professional welder.
i like the design of this smoker and all the seams can be sealed with the caulking they use on wood stoves,i would consider it.

Mark


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## bigarm's smokin (Sep 9, 2007)

*Well sir, Coley will proably jump in here, he is amazing at design, as are many others. I would wonder, its REALLY tall , are you tall enough to reach everything? I think I would have trouble with it. Also, with the stack in the middle like that, won't the far right end be rather cold? Just questions, I don't pretend to know. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






  Terry*


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## -devil- (Sep 9, 2007)

well, that first photo is a 'stock photo' ... 

about midway they modified it ... where instead of one inlet on the bottom of the top barrel .. there are two ... one on each end ... with adjustible flue's for each side ... 

as for the height ... i don't think that will be a problem ... going to double check ... but if i remember .. a 55 gallon drum barrel is less then 2 foot across ... which would put the meat rack at about 3.5 to 4.5 at the most .. i am 5'7" .. and can always put a layer of stepping stones in front of it to raise up a bit more ...


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## -devil- (Sep 9, 2007)




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## bigarm's smokin (Sep 10, 2007)

*Hey Devil, that makes more sense to me. I don't know why, it just looks high to me. I am 5' 7" too. The good thing is, you can always make some thing work, to get on my horse, I lead her to the nearest stump or rock. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  Terry*


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## deejaydebi (Sep 10, 2007)

I was looking at that smoer awhile back but I know it would be uncomfortable for me to use I am only 5'2" tall and that about puts my chin on the grate! I'd rather things be at waist level or slightly higher. Nice looking smoker though. I know someone was talking about building it awhile back but I'll be darned if I can remember who it was ...


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## -devil- (Sep 10, 2007)

yeah i found a few posts where people were talking about building one .. but never saw one where they had built or used it ... so i made this post ... 

a 55 gallon barrel is just shy of 24" for the external dia' and from the looks of it .. there is about 5  to 6 inches between the barrels and the ground ... so that would put the rack in there at about 48" 

the smaller 30 gallon drums are only about 20" external dia' ... so that would be about 42" ... not a big difference ... but a loss in the cooking area for sure ... 

i could put some 6" thick stepping stones around in the front of it .. and would make it about right for me i think ... 

would be nice to find someone that has built one though for their input or comments... (or from someone who builds smokers in general)


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## smokebuzz (Sep 10, 2007)

We had something similar, we took a 150? gallon boiler tank that had been used as a wood stove for 40+ years and added another tank on top, put a steel plate in it to run the smoke to the op end then across the meat, kinda like a reverse flow. we could only use it in the winter or cool days and had to watch what wood we was useing, we had a lot of fun with it when we was building racecars in the winter months. when my freind sold the place  the new owner wanted to keep the wood stove/smoker so we lost it. but ireally would hate to move it, both tanks were 5/8 thick.

I think they are a good design, kinda awkward to use , but would still use one.


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## ldrus (Sep 10, 2007)

im new to the smoking world  and dont know much about design  but my first thought was  temp control..as I see it you not only have to  worry about  what is piped into the top  but also radiant heat  from the firebox itself ??????? just my thoughts i may be way off base ???Â¿Â¿Â¿


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## -devil- (Sep 10, 2007)

some of that is the kind of info i am trying to get from people that may have built one .. but i am guessing that not many have (on here at least)


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## coleysmokinbbq (Sep 11, 2007)

GEEZ Terry!...Yer gonna get me in all kinda trouble here!!...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	









...

Just kiddin' my friend!!...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





...And btw...Thanks for the compliment!!...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





... 

Actually...there's a design I've been kickin' around for a couple of months 
that y'all may wanna take a looksee at...Howsomever...bear in mind that 
it's a LONG way from being a finished design...

As J.W. once said..."Cast you eye on dis an' see don't dat de worse ting 
you never saw before again some any...I gar-onn-tee!"...


Here goes.....

The 1st graphic shows the general appearance and layout of the smoker.














In the 2nd graphic you can see some of the features I've designed into 
this smoker, such as the 3 removable cooking racks, the 2 removable 
cooking shelf racks, and the tuning plates, etc....

The shelves were designed such that with any 2 cooking racks in their 
proper place, 1 shelf could be used...or with all 3 cooking racks in place, 
both shelves could be used...

Versatility in the placement of foods to be smoked!...That's a definite plus!...

Like I said...It's a LONG way from being a finished design...

Haven't even started the details for the bottom section yet!!...

Hope y'all like it so far!...Let me know what you think!...


Until later...


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## ma?tley ca 1/4 e (Sep 11, 2007)

Well, I was gonna take you to this post...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...double+barrell

The pics are gone and he hasn't been on here in a few months. It was probably the nicest looking double barrell I have seen.


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## -devil- (Sep 11, 2007)

Coley - looks like a nice setup ... would be interested in seeing the junction between the two barrells and such when that part is finished in the design ... looks like that build though would be over my head in skill ... 

MÃ¶tley CÃ¼e - thanks for the link, somehow i missed that post when searching ...


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## peculiarmike (Sep 11, 2007)

This thing is built using a double barrel wood stove kit you can buy from several sources. It's pretty simple, no welding as I recall. If you build it make sure you line the firebox with fire brick. It will make the barrel last longer and retain heat in the firebox, should reduce the amount of fuel you burn also.
Go for it!


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## -devil- (Sep 11, 2007)

i have already found a local hardware store that sells that companies stuff ... they have all the peices in stock .. and it will end up being about half the price of what the company wans through their site ... 

the barrells i am still locating .. i have found several people that have them .. for 5 to 7 bucks each .. but they are the ones with the open end .. and a seperate top with metal ring ... not sure if that would be an issue or not ... 

will do the fire bricks for sure...

once i have all the parts here and can see for sure how high it will be ... i am thinking about maybe rotating the assembly forward about 15 deg' to lower the cooking surface ... but still keep the openings for the heat near the bottom of the cooking barrel and near the top of the heating one ... would just have to add some bracing to support the top barrel...


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## chris_harper (Sep 11, 2007)

i used the kind with the metal ring that holds the lid on. no problems using it.


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## deejaydebi (Sep 11, 2007)

I like it Coley! Defiately more energy efficent than a side firebox.


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## coleysmokinbbq (Sep 18, 2007)

Haven't gotten those details worked out yet...will probably bolt in place internally, rather than externally...possibly with 'L' bolts which have been set into the refractory material...

Whenever I'm able to finish those details, I'll pass them on!...


Debi,

It should be very energy efficient FB-wise, but don't know how efficient overall...

A couple of design considerations are the use of half-firebrick, or the use of a hard castable refractory, or the use of alumina-silica ceramic fiber blanket (stuccoed with Sairset [tm]) to line the walls of the FB...the floor of which would be lined with half-firebrick or the castable refractory...

The FB itself should be fairly energy efficient with this kind of setup...


Until later...


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