My first attempt at a build.

[12ring]

So what's the best material to make your fire grate out of? I was thinking of making mine 16"x14" so it will have about 3" under it for air circulation and for the ash to drop. I was thinking of using 1/2" round bar and stealing this guy's idea. What do you think?

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• 12ring
• Jul 12, 2017

 

[kam59]

Nice set up there for sure. I would lay a piece of expanded metal across it to help keep your smaller embers from falling through or cut the spacing down to about 5/8" between the bars.

 

[12ring]

I bought a entire sheet of Expanded metal and will have plenty left over. If I'm going to use the expanded metal, is there really any need to use all that round bar? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to just weld some angle iron to the expanded metal and call it good?

 

[kam59]

Over time the expanded metal will burn out and have to be replaced. Either will work fine no doubt just plan for the future and save a bottom for later use. :)

 

[daveomak]

Think about having more than 3" for ash collection... 

 

[kam59]

If more than 3" puts your coal base or fire into your tunnel I would stick to the 3" area.
Lay it out with a piece of bar first to get a visual of what you'll end up with. You kinda lose ground fast in a 19" firebox.

 

[12ring]

Brnhort is Keeping me motivated seeing his progress. I picked up some pipe for my stack. I also cot out all the pieces for my plenum.

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• 12ring
• Jul 23, 2017

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• 12ring
• Jul 23, 2017

I ran into a issue though. My buddy brought his welder over but I can't plug it in anywhere. It's a 50 amp welder so I don't have a plug for it. My cousin is a electrician and told me I can simply re wire the plug on the welder to fit my dryer plug but then I will only be able to run the welder at about half power or it will trip my breaker. He also said I can pull my electrical panel off and hard wire the welder to my oven thing. He said it's easy but I don't want to shock myself or burn down my house. Option 3 is he can come wire me the right outlet for the welder but it will cost about $50. I hate to spend $50 on something I'll only use once. I'm probabaly going to re wire the welder and use my dryer plug and see if that gets the job done. If it doesn't I guess I'll have to have him put me in a outlet.

 

[kam59]

Very nice work on the plenum 12ring I like it. :) 

I would have my buddy wire the plug and whether you use it again at a later date or not it is the best way in my opinion. Just think down the road you may get a sweet heart deal on a welder and you will be ready to go.

 

[brnhornt]

Wow...the plenum looks great...if mine comes out even close I'll be happy :)

I agree with kam...have your cousin wire up the right outlet.  You'll spend 20 bucks just on the plug alone to re-wire the welder...might as well do it "right" the first time and then you never have to worry about it.

Now...that said...I am running my 220 inverter stick welder off of my dryer outlet.  The dryer outlet is a 30-amp 3-prong plug.  My welder is a 50-amp 3-prong plug.  So I ran to Lowes and picked up a 50-amp external outlet/box, some 10-3 wire, and a dryer-wiring kit (they didn't sell a dryer plug).  On one end, I spliced the dryer-wiring kit's cables to the 10-3 wire and on the other end I wired up the 50-amp outlet.  Plugged everything in and turned the welder on.  She hummed...no pops...no issues.  For extra caution I let it sit for a few minutes and then felt the wires....cool as a cucumber.  Ran some test beads at about 100amps.  No issues.  Again checked the wires and everything is good.  Never bothered going much higher than 100amp cause I'm getting good penetration....but I'm not popping breakers.

So that work around worked for me...but unless your comfortable with the electrical and wiring up the two hots and a neutral correctly...I would lean on the cousin.  Plus again...I have probably 45 bucks just in wire and parts...so if you have an electrician willing to do it correctly for 50 bucks...that's a no brainer :)

Good luck!!!

Kevin

 

[12ring]

Thanks for the input fellas.

 

[motolife313]

Depending on if u have to run a extention cord that wount help. With all outside corners on ur plenum u made it won't take much heat. Just grind the mill scale off, that stuff will make life much more difficult on u if you leave it on. And have at it. Might have to let the thin dryer wire cool a little to in between passes. I used to use the dryer outlet it's 30 amp. I could weld 100 amps D.C. For about a minute or so. On ac it would pop at half that time. Just practice on some scrap steel first and have fun

 

[12ring]

I'm having a hard time getting together with my buddy who welds so I'm thinking about doing it myself. Because I haven't welded in a long long time and I wasn't good when i did, I'm thinking about doing a V bevel and then grinding it flat so my ugly bead doesn't show. What do you think about that? Here's a pic of my practice welds and then a picture of how I plan to Bevel it.

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• 12ring
• Jul 28, 2017

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• 12ring
• Jul 28, 2017

 

[daveomak]

When you butt weld 2 pieces of metal, you want to leave a gap between them...  That helps with warping...   Grinding adds a lot of work and expense.. I leave them...   Paint over them..  It's another signature you made it...   Once they taste the food, they will forget about the welds...

 

[brnhornt]

 
Once they taste the food, they will forget about the welds...

I agree....I'm a novice welder as well.  Heck...this project is the first time I've ever touched welding...I'd be happy with the weld you posted :)

 

[12ring]

I welded some tabs on the inside of the cc to make it easier when putting my door back on. I thought my door sprung a little bit when I cut it out but now that I put it back on, it looks to be flush everywhere.

There's only a very thin gap between the door and the cook chamber. It's as thin as the width of the grinder cutting wheel. Is that going to be enough room or will the metal expand when it heats up and seize the door shut on me?

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• 12ring
• Jul 28, 2017

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• 12ring
• Jul 28, 2017

 

[kam59]

Your welds look fine to me. Unless you are wanting full penetration a gap is not necessary in your vee weld. If you want a "Clean no weld" look then grind down your welds you are thinking correctly by creating the vee to allow enough penetration so that you can clean up your weld but still maintain its integrity and not crack.

For your door gaps you are correct in being concerned with too tight a fit. If your hinge is a bit sloppy your door will hang. I like about 3/32" gap on all for edges the door strap will easily cover that.

I hope this helps. :)

 

[motolife313]

Ya that weld is cold. U don't really want welds like that but then again it's just a smoker and not really getting beat around or vibrating so it should be ok as long as this don't turn into a Tralier build. The weld is not wetting out on the side like it should. It is shriveled and looks like a worm . U need to crank up the heat more. With mig u gota know what ur doing and how to set the machine because ur feeding rod as so as u pull the trigger. The base metal was not warm enough for the low heat u used. If u used more heat it would be much better. Crank up the voltage. Just practice more before attempting to weld on ur smoker. Try welding actuall joints up because thats what u will be doing on the smoker. Practice on getting the same amount of weld natal on both sides of the joint to. That would be called the leg height. The bevel up top is perfect btw. It's much easier to put a weld in the bevel like the pic above and easy to see. Have fun!

 

[12ring]

Welded up you plenum. I knew there was no way I was going to have pretty welds that close to gether on all those corners so I chose to bevel the edges, weld it and grind it.

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• 12ring
• Aug 2, 2017

 

[12ring]

im trying to keep up with brnhort but he's running circles around my progress.

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• 12ring
• Aug 2, 2017

 

[12ring]

I'm struggling to post more than 1 pic at a time for some reason and they aren't very clear.

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• 12ring
• Aug 2, 2017