Double Barrel Build

themule69 said:

NO POLITICS HERE!!!!!!!!!!

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I apologize, just complaining about getting furloughed.....

Ok, so I know it has been awhile. but...I have good news! I made some more progress today! I got all the parts in and started on the bottom barrel. 

Started out with the fire box door...First I cut out the door. I used a jigsaw with a metal blade for most of it, but used the angle grinder with cutoff wheel for the bottom due to how close it was to the edge of the barrel. I wasn't able to get that close to the edge with the jig saw.


Got the door in place...no screws yet...


Door open...


At this point I moved onto the legs. The set right next to the firebox door opening was easy, the one on the other side...no so easy. I had to call over a friend because there was no way I was able to reach the bolts on the far end while squeezing myself through the hole and hold it on the outside. (side note: after I got the whole thing together I came to the realization that it would have been much easier if I had cut out the holes for the vent pipes BEFORE putting the legs on, gives you much easier access...)



Yes, I build my smoker with flip flops on! Don't Judge me!!!

Well got the bottom barrel mostly together, here it sits as of now.


I am planning on doing some more tomorrow, so I'll try to post again as soon as possible. By the way, this is my dry build, I'm planning on building it once just to make sure it all fits together real nice, and then disassembling it, sanding, painting, and reassembling. I know its a lot of work, but I decided when I started this thing I wanted to to it the RIGHT way (like Mike Holmes says  ). I have a habit of doing stuff "good enough" and that is not what I wanted to on this build...so stay tuned!

Cheers! 

Tom

Ribwizzard said:

Ive always wanted to play around with one of these to see what they can do. Its such as simple design, but everything looks to be in place for it to work well. I wouldnt get to carried away trying to modify it from the standard design until you cooked on it. I would think the heat would be fairly even as long as your fire was centered in the bottom drum.

Question though, ..how come you didnt plan your cut for the door to also eliminate the plastic fill cap?

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These are great, my dad built one before he passed and I've used that one a bunch. So, I've had some experience cooking on them so I am trying to incorporate some things I wish his had. It is really hard to get the fire in the middle of the bottom drum, it tends to be mostly right by the firebox door. That is why I put a damper on both the vent pipes connecting the fire box to the cooking chamber. It will make more sense when I get further in...

As for the plastic fill cap...in the instructions for the barrel stove kit it actually tells you to leave the 2" hole so that if you need more air flow you can unscrew it. Also, there are two holes on the drum and the door isn't large enough to cover both, so one needs to stay. I am working on getting metal bung caps from someone on here or a scrap yard, so they won't be plastic for long!

I didn't get to work on it today, a buddy of mine called me up and asked if i wanted to go fishing...I had to think about that for about 3 seconds. We jumped on the quads and headed out to the pond! Maybe I'll do some more tomorrow...its vacation, I'm winging it!!

Cheers! 

Tom

Black said:

"Cut out holes or slots",

If it was me I'd do this, I would go with holes, I would use a little bit and start with making 1/4 of total of the vent/input pipes,

holes.bmp

• black
• Jul 22, 2013

Then I could add holes were it is cold

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Interesting idea...so I have two 6" vent pipes going from the FB to the CC for a total of 56.52 sq in. So your suggestion is to drill enough holes to equal about 14.13 sq in? I just wanted to make sure I followed what you were saying. Why the 1/4 volume? Looking to learn here!!!

Cheers 

Tom

Thanks for all the input guys!

Black, I agree, it is MUCH easier to add more holes than remove them.

I had hoped to get a little more done but, well life got in the way. Monday I got a call from a buddy asking if I wanted to go out on the quads and do some fishing, how could I say no!? Then got home and showered and got a call from another friend asking if I wanted to go to the Red Sox game that night cause he had free tickets, again, how could I say no?! Was a great game against the Rays, even though they lost. I love going to Fenway! I even made it on TV!!


I'm the guy in the blue Red Sox jersey and hat! My 5 seconds of fame!

So got home real late from the game with plans to get up and work on the smoker some time Tuesday...well...a coworker of mine called on Tuesday morning. Tuesday is his furlough day and he wanted to go fishing...so, grabbed my poles and off we went. Didn't get much, just a couple small LMB. Here he is with his first catch...


So Tuesday was shot too, so now we are onto Wednesday and I have to leave today to go up to the New England Forest Rally (NEFR). It will be my first year at NEFR and I am volunteering on the sweep team. That means we run the stages after all the cars have don't their timed run and clear the stage, including but not limited to pulling cars out of the woods.

If any of you are around Maine this weekend you should check it out! It is a great time, especially if you like motorsports! Here is the link to the event page. You can find the spectator guide on there if any of you decide to come.

http://www.newenglandforestrally.com

I know this wasn't a real update on the build, but wanted to keep everyone in the loop. I will be gone till Sunday and have to go back to work Tuesday, so maybe I'll get some more done on Monday...we'll see.

haha, well, got home from the game around 0100 due to some confusion negotiating the T (Boston's subway). I was still pretty wound up so I didn't go to bed/fall asleep on the couch till around 0230-0300...needless to say I slept in pretty late! pretty much woke up got ready and headed out to go fishing...soooo....I'd say that was pretty good time management!