I was able to get an old fridge from my wife aunt it's an old one the only plastic was on the door,the drawers and drawer holders the inside is all steel :banana_smiley:. I have all the plastic pulled out I didn't touch anything else left the insulation in it. I plan out putting the firebox on the outside.
The questions I have is this the inside is 46'' tall by 20 3/16'' wide by 15'' deep.
How big should the firebox be?
and what should the exhaust size be?
I was going to use 6 inch chimney pipe for to connect the firebox to the fridge and the same for the exhaust/chimney.
Thanks in advance
drewan

This an OLD fridge with that small little area for a freezer or a modern older fridge with a freezer on top? Got a pic of it?

6" to connect the firebox sounds bout right, but I don't I would go over 6" for the chimney. Maybe go with something like 4" for that.

This an OLD fridge with that small little area for a freezer or a modern older fridge with a freezer on top? Got a pic of it?

6" to connect the firebox sounds bout right, but I don't I would go over 6" for the chimney. Maybe go with something like 4" for that.

Thank you Meat Hunter here are some pics of the frige.

Ok, cool, an oldie. Have one myself that I have been working on. (for the past year :whistle::lol:)

There are a few fridge conversions on here, do a search and see what route they took. As far as what size firebox needed, not sure. I have seen a few though that use something as simple as a firebox off one of the Char Grill smokers placed as low as possible. You plan on going with charcoal? :thumb:

If going with charcoal, for some ideas, you might want to check out BBQ Engineers smoker. Basically it's a fridge style smoker, with a charcoal basket on the bottom. Works really well. If you can't find his thread on it, let me know and I'll see if I can find it or maybe someone who reads this knows where it's at and can post it.

Thanks MH I will give that a shot.

what fuel do you want to use? mine was nearly identical to that and I ended up with a 2' cube for a firebox. it's bigger than I needed, but as it sits, i have plenty of room to use full 18" logs if i desire, plus I have enough room for a good sized charcoal basket. you'd be surprised how much fuel they use, but once it's warmed up, it stays that way for days... literally. lol

mine has a 12" long pipe, 6" in diameter between the firebox and fridge. i then have a 4" flue out the top with a damper in it to control the air flow. for your intake, try to stay with something around 12-18 square inches of free area. mine is 22"x4" I think, and at the 100% closed position, i still have WAY too much air flow. keep in mind, mine is actually a supply air register for a commercial HVAC project, but they are supposed to be tight in order to help control airflow through a building. i guess they just aren't tight enough... sounds like a good winter project. lol

Later,
Andy

what fuel do you want to use? mine was nearly identical to that and I ended up with a 2' cube for a firebox. it's bigger than I needed, but as it sits, i have plenty of room to use full 18" logs if i desire, plus I have enough room for a good sized charcoal basket. you'd be surprised how much fuel they use, but once it's warmed up, it stays that way for days... literally. lol

mine has a 12" long pipe, 6" in diameter between the firebox and fridge. i then have a 4" flue out the top with a damper in it to control the air flow. for your intake, try to stay with something around 12-18 square inches of free area. mine is 22"x4" I think, and at the 100% closed position, i still have WAY too much air flow. keep in mind, mine is actually a supply air register for a commercial HVAC project, but they are supposed to be tight in order to help control airflow through a building. i guess they just aren't tight enough... sounds like a good winter project. lol

Later,
Andy

Thanks Ac I plan on either using wood or charcoal not sure yet :noidea: the first smoker I ever made was an old outside ice freezer from a gas station. used carcoal and worked great no bottom so i don't know lol.

Thanks Ac I plan on either using wood or charcoal not sure yet :noidea: the first smoker I ever made was an old outside ice freezer from a gas station. used charcoal and worked great no bottom so i don't know lol.

as long as you are going for charcoal or wood, the specs are going to be almost identical... they are both combustion fuels, so you are going to need air flow, enough room to hold them while they burn, and something that can withstand the heat. like i said, my firebox is a 2' cube, plus the insulation that I added to mine. you don't need the insulation, but mine was free and I wasn't about to go without it... i burned the piss out of my hands one too many times... i figured it was only a matter of time before my daughter did the same...

typically, when you order a cord of wood, they will come in 18" lengths +/-. I wouldn't go any less than 18", unless you know that you will be cutting your own fuel down the road. Also, my fridge will typically run for about 16+ hours on a weekend-long smoke-a-thon. taking this into account, I will get one basket of charcoal going, then just add wood chunks/logs to it as required to keep the heat and smoke going. my coal basket is big enough to hold a full 18 or 20 lb bag of charcoal, plus a couple of logs... this will typically last anywhere from 8-12 hours, depending on the exact situation, ambient temps, etc.

Later,
Andy

as long as you are going for charcoal or wood, the specs are going to be almost identical... they are both combustion fuels, so you are going to need air flow, enough room to hold them while they burn, and something that can withstand the heat. like i said, my firebox is a 2' cube, plus the insulation that I added to mine. you don't need the insulation, but mine was free and I wasn't about to go without it... i burned the piss out of my hands one too many times... i figured it was only a matter of time before my daughter did the same...

typically, when you order a cord of wood, they will come in 18" lengths +/-. I wouldn't go any less than 18", unless you know that you will be cutting your own fuel down the road. Also, my fridge will typically run for about 16+ hours on a weekend-long smoke-a-thon. taking this into account, I will get one basket of charcoal going, then just add wood chunks/logs to it as required to keep the heat and smoke going. my coal basket is big enough to hold a full 18 or 20 lb bag of charcoal, plus a couple of logs... this will typically last anywhere from 8-12 hours, depending on the exact situation, ambient temps, etc.

Later,
Andy

Thanks Andy,
I welded the rack holders in last night that was a chore and a half with the porcelin on it lol not proud of the welds since I was a welder for many years and was always complimented on my welds by both buyers and dealers of the machines I made but I got-er-done. My sons been helping me every night which is awesome since our intrests are worlds apart lol .
I know I'm putting the cart before the horse but I can already taste ribs,chicken, and other goodies :drooling:.
I was thinking about using a chunk of an old hot water tank for the stove and the steel for the stove for the door.
Question can you give me some ideas on where to find the fiber glass gasket by the roll or foot? I can only find it in the packages and it's not much enough for a stove door and draft door if I have to go this route it'll cost me about 60-70 bucks. just for gaskets.
Thanks in advance,
Andy

www.MSCdirect.com is where I got mine. no matter where you go, it ain't gonna be cheap. however, other than any metal you may have to buy, the gasket will be the most expensive part of the build. I got mine from MSC since I have an account with them already and have a small discount, but you can also check Graingers, McMaster-Carr, and/or just about any other industrial supply house. I know Ace also carries stove gasketing for wood stoves, but i have heard you need to buy at least 2 kits and they don't tend to hold up very well since the smoker will be stored outdoors.

honestly, if you are going to spend the money on one part of the project (since you know welding), spend it on the gasket. get a nice 1/2" tadpole gasket with at lest a 1/2" tale to screw the gasket to the door or fridge. I have a basic rope gasket on mine (5/8" diameter, which is a bit too much without adjusting the door), and I had to fire-caulk it and screw through the rope to get it to stay on the door. wherever the screws go through the gasket, i have a leak-point for smoke and heat. granted, they are small, but they annoy me. lol

Later,
Andy

Ac,
What size tadpole tape would you use? 1/2 inch ? I am on there website now and what bulb size to get?
Man am I a noob lol.

Ac,
What size tadpole tape would you use? 1/2 inch ? I am on there website now and what bulb size to get?
Man am I a noob lol.

if I were buying it now, i would probably get a 1/2" diameter for the round part, and at least 1/2", up to 1" wide for the "flange" portion. that should give you plenty to screw to.

when you go to install it, this is what you will want...

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6046&d=1302811414

when you sandwich the flange of the gasket between the door frame and the inner door skin, the flange has less of a chance to tear or otherwise become damaged. plus, it's just a cleaner look.

Later,
Andy

I don't mean to piggyback on someones thread. I'm new to the site and to smoking and had some quetions on frige smokers. Can I make one out of a small "newer" type frige? Not planning on an internal/external fire, more of a electric hot plate. Would this even be worth trying? Would I have to strip out the plastic and insulation or no? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

I don't mean to piggyback on someones thread. I'm new to the site and to smoking and had some quetions on frige smokers. Can I make one out of a small "newer" type frige? Not planning on an internal/external fire, more of a electric hot plate. Would this even be worth trying? Would I have to strip out the plastic and insulation or no? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

plastic and insulation would have to go. after that, you can either leave it bare (if you leave it bare, flip it on it's back and burn it out), or re-insulate it and add a liner. then you can add your hot plate. it'll work... many have tried it and had it work just fine for them. the biggest problem you may have would be if the hot plate is too close to the food racks, you my turn your low-n-low smoker into a hot-n-fast grill...

Later,
Andy

I don't mean to piggyback on someones thread. I'm new to the site and to smoking and had some quetions on frige smokers. Can I make one out of a small "newer" type frige? Not planning on an internal/external fire, more of a electric hot plate. Would this even be worth trying? Would I have to strip out the plastic and insulation or no? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

Some folks would get upset I'm not one of them unless the question doesn't have nothing to do about the thread. We are here to learn and meet no people.