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Another drum. This time it's MINE!!!

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  • Another drum. This time it's MINE!!!

    As some of you know, a while back I built a drum, but that was for my neighbor. Well I finally did it. Built my OWN drum. Been using the one I made for the neighbor a few times and had to get going on my own.

    Started out with a food grade drum, straight sides, no rings. Slightly larger diameter than a standard drum. 23”. Contained Cocanut oil.
    Marked the holes and drilled. This one will have 2 racks for smoking and a third for either beans, water pan or whatever on the bottom.

    Inside view.


    Was going to go with the lid that came with it, but a few weeks back, my neighbor found a Weber kettle. He kept the lid and I took the bottom.

    Didn't much care for the holes that were there so I took some steel discs, sorta like the knock outs that are on electrical boxes and tacked them over the holed. Used a carbide cutter bit, like the one used for porting engine heads to remove the enamel coating. What it looks like from the outside.

    Inside view.


    What to do with that unsightly mess? Well thought about using bondo, but didn't know if the high heat would mess with it so I went with Welder in a tube, AKA, Liquid Steel. A little harder to work with than bondo and you have to wait longer for it to set up, but it worked well.


    All smoothed out, ready for a coat of paint. Going with a 2" ID PVC for the chimney.


    The bottom was smaller than the diameter of the drum, so I took a hammer, flatted the rolled lip flat, and sat that inside the lid that came with the drum so I could use that lip. Perfect fit. Welded the Weber bottom to the drum lid then I cut the bottom of the lid out.
    Bad pic, sorry.

    Here is a pic of the Weber bottom sitting inside the original drum lid but before welding.


    Here you can see the lid welded to it before I cut out the center.


    Lids after I cut the center out.


    Kinda hard to see the 2 lids, but if you look just below the blue area, that is the lip on the kettle bottom that I flattened out. The blue area and the area just above it are the original drum lid. The weld is on the other side.


    Installed the gasket.


    My firebasket.

    Feet. Just some round stock I bent in a V shape.

    My idea of a heat sink. This is a heavy 5/8" plate a bit larger diameter than the basket. I figure this will absorb and hold a good amount of heat to help in recover when the lid is removed or help maintain even temps if windy or cold. Also, the heat goes thru the center as well as around the sides. We'll see how well it works.


    I wanted some sort of table for this drum as there never seems to be enough room to set the meat down, your beer, the therms, so I built a cart for it. However, this one the drum is not welded to the cart, but mounted on some carriage bolts that come from the bottom with a few nuts on them so the drum is actually bolted down. Drilled holes in the bottom of the drum and sat it over the bolts. The drum is approx 1/4" from the framework. If the drum ever burns or rusts away, I can simply remove it and set a different drum on it. Also, it made for easier painting as it would be hard to get paint in those tight areas and I didn't want any rust to start forming.




    And now, (start drum roll, no pun intended), I give you the finished UDS.





    AND, as an option on this particular model, I came up with this.

    I like to do Turkeys and would like to do some hams, but don't want them on the racks. I would prefer to have them in those netted stockings. So I made this dome shaped rack. Pretty much follows the contours of the lid. Simply hang whatever it is your smoking from the center. We'll see how well that works too, but I think it should. At least is sound good in theory

    Well that's it. Hope you enjoyed my build as much as I did. The paint was still drying as I posted this and I will be firing it up here in about 15 minutes to cure the stove paint as well as season the inside.
    https://youtu.be/ZcqprrIlbcIli

  • #2
    Nice looking drum, Todd! Let me know when you get mine done...
    sigpic
    Smoke Vault 24

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    • #3
      I CAN NOT WELD!!!!!


      Nice Job!!!!!!!!!....... I like the heat sink idea & turkey hanger also.... I will be watching for reviews....

      Last edited by Fishawn; 10-07-2010, 08:19 PM.
      sigpic

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      • #4
        I am not sure that qualifies as a UDS. It's mighty perty. I think it is a PDS.

        Nice job, but where is the Q? Need to stop foolin' around and get to smokin' something in that thing!

        “Fairy tales don't teach children that monsters exist. Children already know that monsters exist.
        Fairy tales teach children that monsters can be killed.”
        - G. K. Chesterton

        Char Griller 7474(w/SFB), UDS, WSJ Mini-drum conversion, MES 30

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        • #5
          Ya know...Ain't never seen a drum dat nice! Just a fine job Cat Daddy! Scale clickin worthy!
          Sunset Eagle Aviation
          https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunse...888015?fref=ts <... We sure could use some likes!

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          • #6
            Ya know I think that is point worthy
            If ever a post was
            2-22.5'' weber
            1-18'' weber
            1 smokey joe
            22.5'' wsm
            24'' smoke vault
            1-outhouse
            Certified,Smoked Meat Sausage Head
            Smoked meathead #135

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            • #7
              That is one cool drum. You did a hell of job on that.........

              Comment


              • #8
                DAG-DRUM-NABIT!! That bad boy is DYN-O-MITE!!!
                Sure is a real nice clean build Meat Hunter. Kick ass build
                Thanks for sharing
                Ryan

                I have a very strict gun control policy: if there's a gun around, I want to be in control of it.
                Clint Eastwood

                sigpic

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                • #9
                  Beautiful job.

                  Lots of nice features.



                  A few things come to mind though.

                  I'll be curious to know how the heat sink works out in the long run though. Drums don't have a problem with temp recovery. In fact most of them overshoot on recovery since they get a big blast of oxygen when the lid is lifted. Yours probably won't though because you're covering so much of the basket which will inhibit the updraft -- a good thing when lifting the lid. Also, since the heat sink is so heavy, being able to retain so much heat may counter act the efficiency hit that covering that much of the basket will cause.

                  Unless a drum leaks, wind really doesn't bother them either.

                  Sometimes I find it necessary to lift, tilt the drum to clean some gunk off the bottom or get rid of ash. Having it bolted to the cart seems like it would be a pain. That cart is EXCELLENT by the way.

                  Since it has a hole in the center and your chimney is in the center, it seems as if you might have a WICKED hot spot there.

                  Again, fantastic job on the drum and I'll be following your future cooks to see how it's working.

                  Originally posted by Fishawn View Post
                  I CAN NOT WELD!!!!!
                  You don't need to, silly.

                  You can run a drill, wrenches, pliers and wire cutters, can't ya??

                  Dave
                  CUHS Metal Shop Reverse Flow
                  UDS 1.0
                  Afterburner
                  Weber Performer
                  Blue Thermapen
                  Thermoworks Smoke with Gateway
                  Thermoworks Chef Alarm
                  Auber Smoker Controller
                  Proud Smoked-Meat Member #88
                  -
                  "All welcome, take what ya need, share what ya know. " -- Richtee, 12/2/2010

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                  • #10
                    great job on the drum great lookin bead on the weld too
                    sigpic
                    Brinkman Pitmast Deluxe (with alot of mods)
                    Great Out doors grill
                    Brinkman verticle
                    And one great UDS
                    Crooked Creek Viszlas

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                    • #11
                      Now that is one fine piece of work.
                      I love the heatsink idea.

                      But I can't be the only one thinking....

                      ...This needs a motor and steering !
                      Drive your drum to the comps !

                      I CAN NOT WELD!!!!!
                      lol neither can I but I keep looking at them cheapo little electric welding kits and thinking I could probably learn
                      Also here in dollars :-)
                      Last edited by curious aardvark; 10-08-2010, 02:45 PM.
                      Made In England - Fine Tuned By The USA
                      Just call me 'One Grind'



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                      • #12
                        Nice drum, great job.
                        sigpic

                        Char-Griller Outlaw w-SFB & (mods)
                        30" Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse

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                        • #13
                          That really turned out great. Love the cart and the turkey hanger too. Can't wait to see some great Q from it.

                          Couple questions. Is the hanger welded in, or can it be removed? How do ya lift the lid without handles?
                          S-M Misfit #16

                          If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy. ~ Red Green

                          It's a shame stupidity isn't painful.

                          GOSM Propane
                          CharGriller Kamado Cooker "The Akorn"
                          New Braunfels Bandera
                          UniFlame Gas Grill
                          Lil Chief

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                          • #14
                            Thank you everyone who commented and gave me points. Ever since I built that one for the neighbor, I was so impressed with the simplicity and proficiency of the UDS I had to own one. It really is a set it and forget it smoker.


                            Originally posted by Bassman View Post
                            Nice looking drum, Todd! Let me know when you get mine done...
                            I should fab one up for ya, the least I can do for the starter. Will be in debt to you for that for a long time to come

                            Originally posted by DDave View Post
                            Beautiful job.
                            I'll be curious to know how the heat sink works out in the long run though. Drums don't have a problem with temp recovery. In fact most of them overshoot on recovery since they get a big blast of oxygen when the lid is lifted. Yours probably won't though because you're covering so much of the basket which will inhibit the updraft -- a good thing when lifting the lid. Also, since the heat sink is so heavy, being able to retain so much heat may counter act the efficiency hit that covering that much of the basket will cause.

                            Unless a drum leaks, wind really doesn't bother them either.

                            Sometimes I find it necessary to lift, tilt the drum to clean some gunk off the bottom or get rid of ash. Having it bolted to the cart seems like it would be a pain.
                            Yeah the big hunk of metal is pretty much an experiment. The center hole is about 4" dia, and it extends over the edge of the basket approx 3" all around. I was thinking how well a heavy plate works in my reverse flow, wanted to see what if any impact it has on a drum. As far as maintaining temps, I was thinking it would help if it were windy and the drum is so thin walled, it would help to maintain heat if the winds were to strip the heat away, if that makes sense. Gonna do a few smokes here shortly, a couple with and without the disc. Will post updates on that as I do em.
                            I thought about the ability to clean it out, but I have a device I made for my sand blast cabinet. It is basically the same setup as a gold dredge. A small tube hooked to a larger tube that is hooked to my shop vac. It will vaccumm all the junk out and dump it outside, not in the vac itself.

                            Originally posted by curious aardvark View Post
                            Now that is one fine piece of work.
                            I love the heatsink idea.

                            But I can't be the only one thinking....
                            ...This needs a motor and steering !
                            Drive your drum to the comps !

                            Big block Chevy already on order, ready to drop in
                            Originally posted by RowdyRay View Post
                            Couple questions. Is the hanger welded in, or can it be removed? How do ya lift the lid without handles?
                            Yeah I should have taken a close up of that. What I did was take some 3/4" angle iron and cut off about 3/16". Welded the corner of that to the bent round stock. The angle iron just sits on top of the bolts that hold the cook grates. Easily removed.
                            https://youtu.be/ZcqprrIlbcIli

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Meat Hunter View Post
                              Yeah I should have taken a close up of that. What I did was take some 3/4" angle iron and cut off about 3/16". Welded the corner of that to the bent round stock. The angle iron just sits on top of the bolts that hold the cook grates. Easily removed.
                              I figured it was something like that. Pics weren't real clear. Would have been a b!&(h to get a cooking grate in and out of there if you welded it in. It's a great idea. Should work out nicely.
                              S-M Misfit #16

                              If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy. ~ Red Green

                              It's a shame stupidity isn't painful.

                              GOSM Propane
                              CharGriller Kamado Cooker "The Akorn"
                              New Braunfels Bandera
                              UniFlame Gas Grill
                              Lil Chief

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