Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Metal to Metal

I only use the table for smaller stuff... the majority of what I do in the shop would never fit on a table haha.

Al and Bob, those look great. I need to get with the program and get the shop organized.

I've been bored lately.

If BBQ talk makes you sleepy, then pass on what's below.

After 6 years of cooking briskets, pork ribs, and turkey, I decided to upgrade my stick burner. I've taken a few classes, and went all over Hill County last Fall to spend more time talking to the men that cooked, and not the "famous" guys that owned the BBQ restaurants. My best stop was to Snows BBQ, which had been ranked #1 several years ago. I left the hotel at 3 am, and got in Snow's line at 5:10. I got my food around 9 am where smoked turkey breasts was already sold out. I also went to Burnt Bean Co barbecue, which was #1 last year. Texas Monthly magazine does the rating BBQ restaurants, and our local Slaughters BBQ made the top 50. There are 4,327 BBQ restaurants in TX, so Dave was extremely excited. Only a few years ago, Dave was working out of a trailer and had to borrow water from a feed store parking lot. He's been a huge help for me, and here's what I learned.

If you're cooking by smoking specifically, a finished 12-15 pound brisket can take more than 10 hours at 275 degree. Most restaurants take 2, and even 3 days for the best brisket. Day one is prepping the brisket by trimming off unneeded fat, and wrapping the seasoned finished brisket in the refrigerator until the next day. Keeping the fat can get you nice smoked tallow to help the moisture during the 3rd day. The second day is when the brisket is cooked at near 300 degrees and cooked until its center, the flat and the point, hits 203-210, not 190-195.

The 3rd day would be wrapping the brisket and slowly let it cool down to 140, and keeping that level for health safety. Coolers with towels, ovens, or some type of hot box is all you need. Eat it until you can't eat any more.


This is just starting, and adding 2 more temperature gauges so that all 4 shelves get the correct temp. The bottom left is the coolest, and the top right is the hottest. The shelf on the bottom of the pic is just finished, and I'll add it later.



These are the arms and each will support a 6"X30" 3/8" flat plate. They're heavy, I mean they're really heavy. All 4 arms were rolled singularly, and that was a pain. Also where to add it to the doors. I decided to have the arms to be directly over center top, and that worked well. You'll see the small spring handles later, and one finger is all that's needed, not the full bar.




Here it is with the plates. It was a pain for sure.




The folding shelf is up on the left, and the small handles are on the doors. I think I'll renew the old wood rack too, and then we're done. That is unless I find a 500 gallon propane tank. Just sayin'.

Damn! That looks great!

Occasionally a 1,000 gallon one will show up at the local auction. The ones without ID tags still attached don't even get a bid because they can't be filled.

Awesome job!

When Godzilla invades Texas looking for some good BBQ, I now know where to direct the Air Force and Kong.

Al, to calculate how much a piece of steel weighs, here's the formula. length in inches x width in inches x thickness in .001" x .2833 = pounds. The plates weigh 19.12# each.

Ok, this is it. I finished these before my Arkansas fly fishing trip, and I'm pretty happy with all this. The trip was a home run.

I've added an expanded back to make the wood sit correctly. The little left section was for short splits and small limbs to get the fire coals going. Having the car tire rollers made it very easy to move.


I added a little water protection at the top that were leftovers.


Bricks and cement are both settled and leveled. Grabbing wood splits will be easier than going to the IBC totes before.The diagnal angle iron on the back of the top is to keep from getting heads cut by the snipped tin.


OK, I may have one more thing, so Pat, you might have wished this next deal was something we both needed years ago. It's already done and used, but I haven't made any pics yet.

You know I can't do math. I used a weight scale.

Dang, that looks GREAT! So you now have a mandrel square tubing bender?

I know you and flip flops. Fingers and toes to count, fingers and toes. Beats an abacus any day of the week!

No, I had a metal company send me the bends. I've bought metal twice, and I'll try to find it. I do like that they will allow you to control the bend and the length away from the bend. I also have a Harbor Freight bender that have extending wings that work well from SWAG Off Road equipments, and all the round and a square tubes correct sizes I have. I also have a bender for up to 1/2 metal rod for bending.


I made this flower trough 5-6 years ago. Getting the square tubes curves cut and still making it level was pretty tough.

Looks great though!!!!

I am in the process of making a 4' square trailer to hold a 60-65 gallon sprayer, folding 12' boom and foam marking system to show where I sprayed. Adjustable height tongue to fit 2 different pieces of equipment. 2"x2"x3/16" Sq. Tubing. sealed welds - no openings for liquid to get inside tubing to freeze or create rust. No suspension, golf cart tires. I had to shorten the axle 16".

Then I'm retrofitting propane tank holding brackets for a fork lift to hold O2 tanks on the haul trailer.

I modified 8 AR500 1/2" thick steel targets, converting them from solid flat facing targets to targets that are now angled at 30° and movable so they move when hit. Different animal shaped targets was teh biggest PITA. The rectangular shaped targets were easy. They vary in height from 6" off the ground to 50".