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

So, the smoker's done, and here are some pics. The propane tank sat for a while, but once it was cut, it just took a few weeks to finish.

I wound up using nitrogen to purge the propane tank when I cut it, and it was a nothing burger. No sparks, no nuclear explosions, no nothing. I did flip the tank upside down, and vented it from the bottom, so the nitrogen could push the heavier air out the bottom. The safety issue was well worth the cost of the nitrogen tank rental.

This is the sled, tank, and firebox prior to welding.


Doors cut


Smoke stack added, and doors trimmed and hinges installed. I really wanted to build this whole smoker in house, so I wound up cutting the spring handles off, and made my own. I did buy 3 horse shoes though. 2 for the lid supports, and one for the vent cap lid.


I put top racks on both sides, and added hangers for chicken or pork belly.


DONE!!

Very nice Al!

Sweet! Slide it down to Oakwood please. Good looking and hope it cooks good for ya!

AMAZING!

Wow! Very nice!!!

You'll be able to feed the whole village in one go with that thing. Very nice!

Looks Great! How are the ribs?

Art!

Thanks guys.

Bob, ribs are in the freezer waiting their turn. Today, I'm playing with the diffuser plates, and treating the grates with tallow. The side of the tank closest to the firebox was 30 degrees hotter than the stack side, which is normal. I adjusted the plates, and now the firebox side is only 10 degrees warmer.

Getting the heat to level out is a project and you probably never will get it completely equal, I built a whole hog rotisserie and trust me, I had to do a ton of test runs, trial and error before I got it reasonably close, which actually works decent for me because I put the ham end of the hog closest to the firebox end and therefore it works out pretty good, because the thicker meat takes a little more heat or longer time to cook. I will have to post a picture of the way I built my lid to cam over and makes it pretty slick to open.

I played with the plates once I got it to a steady cooking temp (270-280), and finally got it to a 5 degrees difference. I'll call that good.

gehajake, post your pics. I'd like to see a DIY whole hog rotisserie.

So glad I saw this. Outstanding work Al, proud of you.

FireIsHot,
I’m going to show my friends this. Absolutely amazing job!

Hay's cut and put up, fish feeders are slowing down, and bucks are on the rut, so it's time for another winter project.

I have a fabrication table, but I needed a bigger one that was comfortable with abuse. All the sticks are cut, now it's cleanup time.

Al, how many times have you used that smoker in the past year and a half? Post pics of the table as it progresses. How thick is the top?

Scott, I use it about once a month. It loves 250 degrees, and it'll hold that temp for 45-60 minutes which means far less baby sitting than I'm used too.

The top is 3/16". I spent my money on the square/rectangular tubing and hardware, so the top can be replaced when metal gets cheaper. I'd love a 3/4" top, but I ain't gonna spend $1,300 for it.

Thanks. I don't see ANYTHING going down in price much over the next few years, if ever. I've seen some pretty amazing welding tables, and I'm afraid to ask what they cost. One has holes all over the top to allow you to use clamps wherever needed.

What size will it be?

I picked up 2 welding tables from a former member here that have tops that are 1/2" I believe. I have to use a Presto hydraulic stacker to pick each table up to move it. They are HEAVY!

I put 1/4" thick angles on the top (back and one side) and made sure that they are 90°, using "C" clamps to hold them to the table. Then I can clamp pieces that have to be welded at 90° to them. I also ran a round rod between the legs on one side to hold the welding clamps out of the way but close to where I am working.

I guess I missed this response, I will try to dig up some pics of my smoker in action.
To say I did it from scratch is maybe almost misleading, I owned a welding and a machine shop for years with my brother, I had all the tools to work with, including a roll form. press break, sheet metal shears and all.
I have a big heavy old welding table that I got for a deal in the past and absolutely never set it up or used it, its about 5' by 8', six legs, extremely well built, all it needs is the top on it, Id make somebody a pretty good deal on it.

Al, you have a trailer, it will save you a lot of fab time! LOL

Scott, the table is 4X8.

Also, the fab tables can get awfully expensive. Price Siegmund tables while siting down. I have a 30"X54" Certififlat table and love it. Much, much cheaper than other tables, and makes square welds effortless. This one has a 1/4" table top.

Al, I was corrected, the guy that I bought it from still reads the posts here. The larger table is 3/8" HR steel, the smaller table is 5/8" HRPO Laser Grade Plate. The smaller table is over 400#. no idea how heavy the bigger table is but it's HEAVY. Your 3/16" top weighs 245# all by itself.

Prices have came way down from a year ago. We was paying up to a dollar a pound 4 flat steel. It's down 2 around 45 cents a pound now.

If you don't need a huge sheet go to a scrap yard. We ( company i work 4) throw away (scrap) sheets that would b big enough 2 do anything you want. We get paid 17 cents a pound 4 it. Not sure how much they would sell it 4.

Just cleaning up a thread. Here's the table, and it's one of the best shop additions I've done. Being able to level the table out, and raise it up to my fab table makes me happy.


Clamps and the leveling socket wrench is on this side. The storage buckets are restaurant dirty dish tubs, and they last forever if they're kept out of the sun.


Grinders, tube benders, and cutoff saws on this end. Everything is powered off of the table.

Beautiful table, I just finished up this little fixture table for the shop. 3' x 5' x 3/8" with all being laser cut out. Just had to ream the holes to size. Still gotta add an electrical outlet and a few other odds and ends.