# Octagon Offset Build (24" x 48")



## SNeal5966 (Oct 2, 2018)

Hello All....

I have started a new project, building a new offset smoker for myself, using 1/4" thick plate. Here is where I am at so far....body is fully welded together, no end plates yet, door is cut and is partially fabbed. Firebox is welded up ready to attach, no grating fabbed or installed yet, no frame for it either. This thing is going to be on 10" swivel casters with 4" wide pneumatic style wheels (flat free) so that navigating around the yard won't be too bad. I made the panels 10" which makes the internal width 24". I did make the 2 vertical panels 12" though to give me some more spacing between my grates. The firebox is 24" cube. The exhaust will be 6" cube. The inlet to the firebox, 2 - 6" holes, will have slider vent covers on them. I wanted the ability to have a lot of air flow for higher temps when I want to.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 2, 2018)

Sorry Minor typo....6" tube exhaust, 1/8" wall thickness...not cube....;)


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## JckDanls 07 (Oct 2, 2018)

Yea..  I'm along for this ride (I think my next build will be octagon)... what's the length of the smoke chamber ?? conventional or reverse flow ?? Looks great so far...


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 2, 2018)

Thanks! 

The length is going to be 48", and I am going to go traditional offset with tuning plates. The Octagon gives you some added benefits, you can make those center panes even taller if you like, which will give you even more spacing between the racks. I should have about 6.5" between rack surfaces, and 6.5" between second rack and lid inside. I could have gone even taller in the center section....just wanted some extra spacing without adding a tone of temperature differential though.


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## JckDanls 07 (Oct 2, 2018)

LOL...  I read the thread three times to make sure I wasn't missing the Length... then looking at the recent post page I see it in the title ...


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 2, 2018)

Its ok no worries. 

I am going to make the grates slide out style too....I had drop in grates on my smaller smoker I had and I hated that.


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## JckDanls 07 (Oct 2, 2018)

Something you might want to do on the slide out grates... If you go to my build (link in signature) and look at the grates (click pic to enlarge) you'll see a little piece of 1" angle welded on the top of the track (both sides have it but can only see the right side in picture)..  It serves two purposes... 1st being it stops the grate from falling/tipping down when grate is pulled out... 2nd... it serves as a stop..  I have a piece of 1" flat welded on the back side of the grate (sticking up) so it catches when grate is pulled all the way out... I then ground down the top of the one on the grate just enough so it still catches but also be able to lift/tilt the front of grate upwards for the grate to come all the way out ... It works really well and no intrusion onto grate space ..


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## nanuk (Oct 2, 2018)

Just thinking out loud here...

is there any reason you can't go with a square bottom, so the transition between the FB and CC is a rectangle full width?

It would seem to me this could aid in evening temps front to back.

and would also simplify the build.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 2, 2018)

Well funny that you point that out....I thought about going with a square bottom for ease of construction, and less welds....except believe it or not that uses more steel. Also.....my firebox opening into the cook chamber will be full width, so I am not expecting a lot of front to back gradient.....planning on using tuning plates for getting side to side under control.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 2, 2018)

JckDanls 07 said:


> Something you might want to do on the slide out grates... If you go to my build (link in signature) and look at the grates (click pic to enlarge) you'll see a little piece of 1" angle welded on the top of the track (both sides have it but can only see the right side in picture)..  It serves two purposes... 1st being it stops the grate from falling/tipping down when grate is pulled out... 2nd... it serves as a stop..  I have a piece of 1" flat welded on the back side of the grate (sticking up) so it catches when grate is pulled all the way out... I then ground down the top of the one on the grate just enough so it still catches but also be able to lift/tilt the front of grate upwards for the grate to come all the way out ... It works really well and no intrusion onto grate space ..


Yes deff, I am going to have stops like that for my grates so they will self hold weight when out all the way.


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## motocrash (Oct 2, 2018)

Welcome from Virginia SNeal.Diggin' the build man!


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 2, 2018)

motocrash said:


> Welcome from Virginia SNeal.Diggin' the build man!


Hey thanks man!


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 8, 2018)

OK so this weekend has been productive......made some more progress....nearly ready for paint.... Just need an exhaust pipe installed, make up my grates, bottom shelf on the bottom frame, stops for the cooker door, push/pull handle to push it around....etc. Should be able to wrap this thing up next weekend and then get it seasoned up.


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## JckDanls 07 (Oct 8, 2018)

Looking great... will be interesting to see if the grate stops aren't to long ..  I tried longer ones and found that the grate won't lift up in the front high enough for the stop on the back of the grate to clear the long stop on the side...  maybe you have a different idea ...  Gonna be a nice smoker though..  nice job ..


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 8, 2018)

I am going to put a 1/4" - 20 bolt, some type of thumb screw head or wing nut type head or something (whatever I can find at the hardware store in stainless) into the corner of each grate as a stop to keep it from falling out too far forward, that way I Can easily remove the bolt to remove the grates. I wanted the pockets to be nice and long to keep the grate from being tippy when it pulls out, that way I don't end up with brisket on the ground lol. You'll see what i mean with the photos I will post once it is done. This is turning out to be much more work than I thought.


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## motolife313 (Oct 14, 2018)

Nice build! That’s going to be a lot of fun to use. Mine was too top heavy and I widened the heavy side of the smoker with a custom built axle. No need to worry about heavy wind or anything

Here’s mine

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/stainless-smoker-build.251222/


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 14, 2018)

Hey thanks! You'rs is pretty cool too! 

I sadly did not make any progress with finishing mine up this weekend, took a weekend off of it. I will be finishing mine up next weekend.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

OK so this weekend was a big weekend with lots of progress. It took all day Saturday, finished all the outside stuff and put the paint on it Saturday. I spent up until about 1 PM Sunday morning finishing up all the odds and ends for the internals....making up my grates, tuning plates (4 of them 5" wide), adding the 1/4"-20 stainless socket head bolts into the corners to act as my stops, added the gaskets to the doors, and installed all my hardware (temp gauges, probe port plugs, spring handles, etc after paint dried next day) Starting at aroung 1 pm into the into the evening I was able to get it cleaned up and coated with cooking oil and seasoned up and had it up to temp for about 6 hours, ran at 300 F for the last hour. I also ended up making the firebox grate slide out so that I can use it to start my chimney for getting the fire going. The food grates are 1-1/4" 3/16" angle stock and the grate is made out of 3/4" no 9 expanded metal, which is rolled smooth. The firebox grate is made out of 2" x 1/4" angle stock, and half inch re-bar welded together to make a grate. That grate weighs a ton but should hold up to the abuse from the fire for many years.

While I had the fire going I played around with the tuning plates a bit, got it pretty close end to end, within 5 - 10 degrees. I think I might actually have to remove one of them, seems like the middle is cooler (will know once I use my probes on the next fire), need more time on it though to know for sure. I started out with my first guess as to where they should go at about a 50 degree differential from end to end....not too bad for a guess.  

Check out the wrap up photos on this build. The next time I have a fire going in this beast I will be cooking with it! (will put some bbq photos up too once I get to cook on it.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

I forgot to mention....my small side shelf and pull handle, as well as that chimney cap, are also easily removable for storage / transportation. They just lift out of the pockets.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

Ohh one other thing, the inlet vents are 2 x what I need, one on each side. Depending on wind direction you can crack one or the other or both for whatever you need. Very versatile. Also can get a wide range of temps. I can easily run higher temps like 300 - 350, and still have good control for the 225 to 250 range. For most of my paint curing / seasoning I ran at 250 nice and steady. I did get it up to 300 for the last log that I put on until she started burning down an hour or 2 later.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

I probably did not need the gaskets but I just wanted them on the doors. The doors fit together nice and tight all the way around.


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## phatbac (Oct 22, 2018)

Good looking Pit! should bring you many days of good smoking!\

Happy Smoking,
phatbac (Aaron)


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

phatbac said:


> Good looking Pit! should bring you many days of good smoking!\
> 
> Happy Smoking,
> phatbac (Aaron)


Thanks!


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## HalfSmoked (Oct 22, 2018)

Awesome build sorry i just seen this. Oh to be a welder. Nice build and great ideas.

Warren


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

HalfSmoked said:


> Awesome build sorry i just seen this. Oh to be a welder. Nice build and great ideas.
> 
> Warren


Thanks Warren!

Well...to be honest I am not too much of a Welder myself...my dad was a HUGE help in that department, but this was fully my design / concept and I did everything else (cutting grinding design, least waste layout with materials etc) and some of the welding. By profession I am an Engineer though (Chemical to be exact, current role here at work is Principal Process Engineer). My father owns a construction company, and I worked for him all through school.


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## Bearcarver (Oct 22, 2018)

Looks Great !!
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

Bearcarver said:


> Looks Great !!
> Nice Job!
> Like.
> 
> Bear


Thanks Man!


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## flatbroke (Oct 22, 2018)

looks real nice.  something to be proud of for sure.


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## SNeal5966 (Oct 22, 2018)

flatbroke said:


> looks real nice.  something to be proud of for sure.


Thanks!


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## HalfSmoked (Oct 22, 2018)

SNeal5966 Thanks for the like it is greatly appreciated.

Warren


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## Eric Withers (Dec 10, 2018)

Exactly what I want to do but reverse flow. Very nice and clean build. How did you come up with the calculation for size of the fire box vs chamber and size of exhaust vs intake?


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## SNeal5966 (Jan 14, 2019)

Eric Withers said:


> Exactly what I want to do but reverse flow. Very nice and clean build. How did you come up with the calculation for size of the fire box vs chamber and size of exhaust vs intake?


Sorry, I have been away for a little while. I used this really easy to follow along with tool, free to use, website based...most on here I think are familiar with this...

http://www.feldoncentral.com/bbqcalculator.html

Check that out, all the info you'll need is there.


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## sunman76 (Jan 17, 2019)

VERY NICE BUILD, LOOKS GREAT.


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## Hawging It (Jan 17, 2019)

SNeal5966 said:


> Hello All....
> 
> I have started a new project, building a new offset smoker for myself, using 1/4" thick plate. Here is where I am at so far....body is fully welded together, no end plates yet, door is cut and is partially fabbed. Firebox is welded up ready to attach, no grating fabbed or installed yet, no frame for it either. This thing is going to be on 10" swivel casters with 4" wide pneumatic style wheels (flat free) so that navigating around the yard won't be too bad. I made the panels 10" which makes the internal width 24". I did make the 2 vertical panels 12" though to give me some more spacing between my grates. The firebox is 24" cube. The exhaust will be 6" cube. The inlet to the firebox, 2 - 6" holes, will have slider vent covers on them. I wanted the ability to have a lot of air flow for higher temps when I want to.
> 
> ...


I like the unique shape.


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## SNeal5966 (Jan 17, 2019)

Thanks guys! 

 Hawging It
 and sunman76

I have cooked on it twice now, and of course did the proper seasoning for 6 hrs or so before hand. Now that I have learned this smoker I am going to put up some cooking picks on my next smoke, possibly some video maybe even upload to YouTube....what do you guys think?


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## Joe L (Jan 17, 2019)

This is an awesome build. I cannot wait to have one like this, maybe once I pick up some more rank lol. Congrats, again looks great.


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## Hawging It (Jan 17, 2019)

SNeal5966 said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> Hawging It
> and sunman76
> ...


Go for it. When you figure out how to upload to YouTube let me know. I would like to upload some of my stuff as well.


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## randya (Jan 18, 2019)

Very nice work. I like the way you used spring hangers for your hinges. Thank you for sharing your build.


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## SNeal5966 (Jan 18, 2019)

Spring hangers? I am not sure what you mean....


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## nanuk (Jan 19, 2019)

up here we call them shackles     Google "Spring Shackle"   you'll see what I mean


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## SNeal5966 (Jan 21, 2019)

nanuk said:


> up here we call them shackles     Google "Spring Shackle"   you'll see what I mean


Ohhhh I see now....except I just bought those hinges on amazon as weld on hinges....very inexpensive too I might add....package of 4 for like 29.99 or something like that....even has grease fittings.


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## jbellard (Jan 21, 2019)

Such a sweet looking smoker!  Great job.


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## randya (Jan 22, 2019)

SNeal5966 said:


> Ohhhh I see now....except I just bought those hinges on amazon as weld on hinges....very inexpensive too I might add....package of 4 for like 29.99 or something like that....even has grease fittings.



I did not know you can get these on amazon. My error, I will probably get me some of these and use on my next build.
Thanks for getting me on the right track...


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## SNeal5966 (Jan 31, 2019)

jbellard said:


> Such a sweet looking smoker!  Great job.


Hey Thanks!!


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## SNeal5966 (Jan 31, 2019)

randya said:


> I did not know you can get these on amazon. My error, I will probably get me some of these and use on my next build.
> Thanks for getting me on the right track...


No Problem! They are a little more expensive than I thought but under 50 bucks for a set of four.


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## SNeal5966 (Feb 15, 2019)

So.....other than answering questions or helping out with sharing build information I won't be adding more to this thread since I have pretty much documented the build and the results. But one thing everyone I think might wanna see....is the beast in use...some asked for that early on in the build.

For the super bowl, I went to a friends party and made the wings. 60 wings, Smoked Cajun Buffalo wings. They were GONE before the game even started!

I cooked with the second shelf out so I could adjust my tuning plates...once they were adjusted though I could have put that in there b/c the grates slide in and out so no worries about reaching around with 2 grates in. I had 60 wings, and some extra bits of chicken for leftovers and didn't even fully fill the first shelf. 

So without further ado.....here it is:







Seasoned with Cajun seasoning for 24 hrs in the fridge:







Once my fire was steady





Here we are moving them around a bit at the end
	

		
			
		

		
	






And Finally....the finished product after being tossed in Hot Sauce / Butter (Buffalo Style at the end I use 1 cup of Franks Red Hot to 1/2 cup butter myself)






The only thing I would do different in the future is use un-salted butter with the fanks red hot. The Cajun has enough salt in it, didn't need that. If they were just straight fried wings though you definitely want the salted butter.


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 15, 2019)

Looks great. I know why you are just sharing a super cook its because you didn't have to share them with us.  

Warren


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## HalfSmoked (Jan 20, 2020)

Thanks for the like SNeal5966 it is appreciated.

Warren


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## nanuk (Jan 29, 2020)

OMG those wings look AWESOME!


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