This is not only my first RF build, but my first build in general. I've been creeping around SMF for several months now looking for ideas and playing with the online calculator and finally decided to get started. A friend gave me an old propane tank that someone had made a homemade trailer for so I had a head start on my design.
She's a jewel ain't she? haha
I decided to do a RF design with the firebox at the rear of the trailer with a warming box above the firebox. Originally I wanted to make my RF plate completely water tight so that I could put 3 or 4" of water on the plate to not only get radiant heat from the plate but the steam as well. As anyone knows that takes on a project like this, things change and I'm not planning on doing it just like that anymore, but I thought that was worth mentioning now so that maybe the method to some of my madness may make a little more sense.
As far as my tools for this project, I'm using a 110v Lincoln MIG welder and when I started didn't own a cutting torch so I used a 4.5" angle grinder and a sawzall to make most of my cuts. But I've got some pretty cool friends that give me access to better tools if I really need them. For materials I'm trying my best to use as much scrap as possible that I can pick up at my local metal scrap yard, they are really good to work with and I can buy scrap steel for $0.25/lb.
First order of business: Cutting the doors.
I bought these awesome stainless steel hinges from our local scrap yard
I decided to screw them down using self tapping screws trying to hold off on welding until I got the doors completely cut to prevent as much warping as possible. That was a good idea until I realized that the doors are a lot more likely to warp when I welded the flat stock around the edges later on. Live and learn haha.
Both doors cut.
Now to cut the end off the rear of the tank:
I took the end of the tank that I cut off and welded 3 legs made of 1" tubing to the bottom and presented it to my wife as a heavy duty fire pit for the patio. .
She's a jewel ain't she? haha
I decided to do a RF design with the firebox at the rear of the trailer with a warming box above the firebox. Originally I wanted to make my RF plate completely water tight so that I could put 3 or 4" of water on the plate to not only get radiant heat from the plate but the steam as well. As anyone knows that takes on a project like this, things change and I'm not planning on doing it just like that anymore, but I thought that was worth mentioning now so that maybe the method to some of my madness may make a little more sense.
As far as my tools for this project, I'm using a 110v Lincoln MIG welder and when I started didn't own a cutting torch so I used a 4.5" angle grinder and a sawzall to make most of my cuts. But I've got some pretty cool friends that give me access to better tools if I really need them. For materials I'm trying my best to use as much scrap as possible that I can pick up at my local metal scrap yard, they are really good to work with and I can buy scrap steel for $0.25/lb.
First order of business: Cutting the doors.
I bought these awesome stainless steel hinges from our local scrap yard
I decided to screw them down using self tapping screws trying to hold off on welding until I got the doors completely cut to prevent as much warping as possible. That was a good idea until I realized that the doors are a lot more likely to warp when I welded the flat stock around the edges later on. Live and learn haha.
Both doors cut.
Now to cut the end off the rear of the tank:
I took the end of the tank that I cut off and welded 3 legs made of 1" tubing to the bottom and presented it to my wife as a heavy duty fire pit for the patio. .
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