I had to snap pix for a woman on another site whose son is building her one after seeing mine, so I thought I would share them here. Many thanks to Mike Sell, whose site is unfortunately now down, for the invaluable help the site provided me in the design. I am honored to have been able to see it while it was still up. I never met you or talked to you, Mike, but you helped me out!
Materials:
3 -- 55-gallon closed barrels of similar design (1 is used to make the smoke chamber door, so it overlaps the cutout, and for the diffuser panel OR you can use the cutout metal for the diffuser panel.)
3 -- 3" door hinges
2 -- fixed casters
2 -- swivel casters
1 -- barrel stove kit (Vogelzang)
1 or 2 -- double barrel stove adapting kit
(You can buy 1 kit and order an extra damper from Vogelzang, or buy 2 kits and use the dampers from both, with extra parts left over. If, as I did, you buy the kits on end of heating season closeout, you will save buying the two kits over ordering the parts.)
3 -- racks (available from Wal_mart or other grill parts outlets...I had to cut one in half)
10 feet -- 2" angle iron
8 feet -- 1" angle iron
Nuts and bolts to put it together (each Vogelzang kit will have all nuts and bolts for its parts).
1 -- grill thermometer
1 kit -- door gasket rope (attach this to door with JB Weld, not the glue provided)
16 or so -- Firebricks to line the bottom barrel, halfway up.
Something for a handle, which may be as simple as 1" conduit bolted to the lid.
I welded some parts of this up, but you can just as easily bolt it all together. I bought all my stuff on closeout or end-of-season discount, except I ordered the extra damper, which cost me more than just buying the second kit. I have right at $180 in my smoker. Your costs may vary, especially if you find free barrels and scrounge other items I had to buy.
Be sure you burn a fire in the smoker at around 350 degree before using it, to take care of any contaminants in the barrels and season it in a bit. Like all smokers, it will get better the more you use it.
The pix are kind of self-explanatory. If you build one and have questions, let me know. I will try to help.
Comment