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RF Smoker Planning (and the Build)

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I was trying to figure out the exhaust plenum yesterday. I'm thinking of making the opening from the top rack to the bottom rack and as wide as my stack. That would be 8" tall x 6.5" wide. I can cover part of the top or bottom with a piece of flat later to tune a little if needed. Does this sound about right or not? I can't find much on measurements of plenums I have seen built here.
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Rasimmo,  I think the size would work out fine.  I think that it would work best if it comes off the cook chamber at about a 45 degree angle and then steps up again to the vertical.  Not just straight out at 90 degrees and turn straight up.  Are you using a round pipe for exhaust?  If so you may want the plenum a little bigger to make the transition from square to round easier.  Coming out on the end instead of straight up will give you extra space in your cook chamber which I know is important to you.  It also will make the pipe more pronounced and call attention to it so the detail will be important to the look.  Just my .02 worth.  Joe
 
Thanks Joe. Yes it will be round, 6" pipe. The bottom will be angled up. I have an idea how I want it, but I'll have to play with it and see how it works. Thinking of splitting the bottom 4 inches of pipe. Using the pipe as the back of the plenum and tying the angled bottom into it. Then box the rest of it off to cover the opening in the cook chamber. It will probably be harder to build this way, but I might try it and see how it works.
 
I finished welding the RF plate yesterday and put the stack on. I still have to finish boxing the bottom of it in to make the plenum. I know this is a little backwards, but it's the easiest way to do it with my idea for the plenum. We will have to see how that works out. I took some pics, but they are on my phone and I have no way of getting them on the computer at work. USB ports are blocked from using external devices. I don't have any cell service out here to email them to myself either. I will post them when I get home.

I plan on finishing the plenum, installing the cooking grates and building the FB door next week. I should be able to get that done and build a fire in this thing. I am ready to see smoke coming out of it.
 
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Yesterday's project was finishing up the tree I started cutting up a couple months ago and loading it up. I should be able to fuel this thing for a little while with this oak. I have some pecan and cherry I have to go haul too.
 
Here are last weeks pics I forgot to post.
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I am going to cut the bottom somewhere close to the chalk line and box it into theCC. I have some help coming tomorrow to get this thing where it is usable. I plan on cooking a small pig Sunday. I will post more soon.
 
Thanks guys. The pig is about 25 lbs. he's still walking around right now. We don't need all 5 of them for the trip in may so one gets to be the test dummy.
 
We got a fire in it yesterday! Lit it just before dark so the pics ain't great. I'll get some more today.
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I piled it full of wood just before I went to bed to try and burn out good. I have to finish welding the expanded metal to the grate frames and put in some anti-tip pieces. Then I'll fire it up and season it.
 
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I had to run to town yesterday and get another spool of wire for the welder. This thing has about 13 lbs of .035 flux core wire on it already.
 
Got a fire started at 6 and got Bacon ready. That's what my mom named this one while she was feeding it.
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It wound up being bigger than I was told. It weighed 50 lbs yesterday morning.

I got the smoker seasoned yesterday and ready to go.
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Smoker leveled out at 225 and pig on at 7.
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I still have a ton of work to do on this build, but I can't wait any longer. I have to see how it cooks. I hope it works like I planned. I have 25 people to feed this afternoon. I'll try to keep their paws off of it long enough to take some pics.
 
Here are pics of the building from Friday that I have not posted yet. Too excited about cooking and forgot this was the build section.
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Door handle and thermos done.
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FB door and hinges done. This handle is temporary.
All this needs some cleaning up, but it works.
 
The pig turned out great. Smoker holds temp without adjustments. Just add a piece of wood about every 45 minutes or so. The bottom 2 thermos will run about 5 degrees apart. The top 2 are 30 or 40 higher than the bottom. I figured this would happen. I have a few ideas to try to even that out.
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I didn't think about taking a pic until I had cut both halves up and put it in this pan, sorry. The slide out grate really makes that task simple though.
 
I finally got back to this build. It's been a couple months since I have worked on it. I added some latches to the FB door. I still need to figure out what I am going to do for a permanent handle.
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My bottom intake did not move very smooth. That C clamp was binding it. I made a different design using another old C clamp. It works smooth now.
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I worked on the wood box. It needs a little more work, but I ran out of time.
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I did not like having to squat down and reach under the smoker to work the air intake. I came up with a way to adjust it without all that with a gearbox and PTO shaft off of an old finish mower. I still need a wheel for the input shaft, but this works.
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I have not forgotten about yall. I have just been busy. I have made some progress on the build a little at a time though. I got the stands made for my 2 jambalaya pots, supports welded in for the toolbox to sit on, handles for the bottom grate in the smoker, stack cover made and installed, and a couple other little things. I have pics on my phone, but I aint got any service out here. I will post pics when I get back in from work. I siad my goal was to have it done by Thanksgiving. That pln is still in place and closing fast, so I need to tighten up a little and get this thing done.
 
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