Finding a drum

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hi Deano,

I had the same issue, I was purposly trying to find a local company and stumbled across a company called mesh direct (http://www.meshdirect.co.uk) which were based with stoke,  so i was able to have a wander down there and had chat with the guy and explained what i what i was doing, he was very helpful, say has a lot of BBQ but always turns them away as he is unsure.

Not sure how safe copper is I'm sure one of the more experienced guys will chime in, I played it safe by going with Stainless Steel for basket, only just started to play with it today but I think i have put the Grate to low.

 
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Are you sure the other mesh is copper ? Lots of mild steel wire products have a thin coating of copper applied to them to stop them rusting, try a magnet on it. A basket made of copper mesh would probably sag or collapse once it got hot. Your stainless basket should be perfect, why not unfix ( is that a word ?) the base and refix it about three inches higher up, that would give you air space and somewhere for the ash to go ?

Graeme
 
 
Are you sure the other mesh is copper ? Lots of mild steel wire products have a thin coating of copper applied to them to stop them rusting, try a magnet on it. A basket made of copper mesh would probably sag or collapse once it got hot. Your stainless basket should be perfect, why not unfix ( is that a word ?) the base and refix it about three inches higher up, that would give you air space and somewhere for the ash to go ?

Graeme
Also noticed the cable ties - perhaps not the best idea around hot charcoal etc... :P Stainless is best, it may be more initially but will last you a lot longer than any equivalent

On a side note and not wanting to hijack but if there is anyone in the Sudbury, Suffolk area there is an old boy at Rodbridge Corner near Long Melford that sells loose head 45 gallon drums (yay, no cutting) for £6 each and they are clean as you like, hardly look used at all.
 
Hi Will, 

the Cable ties were only temporary fixings just to hold the grate place for when I was wrapping the mesh around...the mesh is bent over now at the bottom and bolted in.
 
Managed to get some mesh off a friends work so going to give it a bash tomorrow, he reckons the steel is just mild steel so may be no use when the charcoal heats up and melts the steel but can act as a test run for when I get some decent mesh! Looking into buying a steel mesh bumper grate to use as I can't seem to find stainless steel mesh anywhere at all!
 
Managed to get some mesh off a friends work so going to give it a bash tomorrow, he reckons the steel is just mild steel so may be no use when the charcoal heats up and melts the steel but can act as a test run for when I get some decent mesh! Looking into buying a steel mesh bumper grate to use as I can't seem to find stainless steel mesh anywhere at all!
The mild steel is fine, the drum itself is more than likely mild steel. However it is much more susceptible to rust than if it were stainless. The inside of the drum can be seasoned with oil etc which builds up protection from rust and the outside can be painted but the mesh is in contact with the burning charcoal so no amount of treatment can prevent it from rusting.

I'd say it would last at least a year so long as it's kept dry when not in use
 
Thanks Danny, ive been tryin to do this build on the cheap thats why I haven't bought any new, its finding scrap or finding a friend of a friend who has some thats been the problem.I got some mesh of a friend today I'll attach a photo to see what u think? The holes are small so I dont want to use it for the bottom so I'm out hunting today for a 12 or 15 inch grill grate to wrap the mesh round.

B&Q and the likes seem to have took all bbq supplies of the shelves for the winter so it's gonna be a long day:( I thought about using a pizza pan with a lot of holes drilled in it, u think this would work?

Thanks again for the help
 
Deano,  try asda or tesco's or B&Q's and look for portable BBQ's,  I stumbled on a 12" portable BBQ in a clearance, used the base as the ash pan and the grill for the grate for the fire basket,  they should be selling them off if they have any left....

The mesh, I could not find any expanded mesh locally so had to settle for woven mesh,  I folded about an inch under the basket and then used tie wrapped to hold it place,  yours should easier than mine as yours looks woven and was moving all over place when trying to wrap it around the Grate



 
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Good shout on the portable BBQ adenjago but I had no luck[emoji]128542[/emoji] I got a carbon steel baking tray on with holes in it and tie wrapped it all together to see how it would look. Handed it to a friend today to get it all welded together so hopefully get it back at the weekend and get the first smoke underway!

Think I'll use a jigsaw to cut out some straight lines between some of the holes to help the ash fall out as I'm a bit worried it may clog up with the holes being quite small, what d'you
guys think!?
 
Hello Deano.  I thought had looked at some of the other UDS builds!  I thought you knew from the pictures in the other builds, the charcoal basket MUST be round.  Because of the way the UDS is designed the air flows upward in a sort of vortex motion.  The square corners disrupt that motion and this causes the smoke and heat not to be properly drawn up and out of the UDS.

Danny
 
I was gonna leave that last post until you had time to read it Deano.  Man, I just didn't have the heart!  Yes Deano, that last post WAS takin tha piss!  
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  Sorry Mate!  That basket should work fine.  The holes at the bottom may be a bit small.  Drilling or cutting some larger may help.  Also remember you need space between the bottom of the basket and the ash pan.  Keep Smokin!


Danny
 
So not cool Danny![emoji]128533[/emoji] I actually read the first post then frantically went away to find other posts because I knew I had seen square baskets before haha my heart sank a little for a minute!

I originally tried to bend it into a circle as I had wanted it to be circular just to look a bit more snug inside, but the mesh was tough as hell! Gave up after about a half hour a took the kinks out of it then cut it. I have feet made out of stainless steel rod on the bottom about 3" long with the valves about 1 1/2" from the bottom on the drum so should be plenty of space. Do you find it easier to just place the basket on the ash pan or is it worth welding it to the bottom of the feet?
 
HEY! Ya gotta like that vortex B.S..  It took me a while to come up with that one and make it sound "sort of" plausible.  
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  If it makes you feel better when the Missus read it she gave me a whack and called me some very choice names I'll not repeat on a family friendly forum.  
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If the ash pan is attached to the basket, when you lift out the basket the pan comes along.  It's gonna be tough to reach to the bottom of the drum for the ash pan.  Either way will work, just a convenience thing.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
Hi Deano..

When I read Danny's post, I had double check that date ensuring that it was not the 1st April.....I did nearly reply to his post..

I echo danny..first basket I made was not attached to the ash pan so I found my self half hanging inside the drum trying to get it out without dropping the ash out.

After attaching the ash pan....I made a makeshift handle just out of piece of stainless that fell off when I was cutting the mesh...it makes a big difference as you can get the basket in and out easily while its still lit with a handle....

I have just looked at my fire basket pics and you can't really see the handle its just a straight rod like stainless bent over in a half circle and attached to the side

Ade
 

Finally got the basket back all welded up and attached my ash pan today![emoji]128556[/emoji] that's me all finished and ready for seasoning after a few fine tweaks. The grill grate I got for £2 out of homebase so think ill need to get a better one as it's a bit flimsy, but I'll keep this and use it as a second grate for a drip pan or extra meat when I get a decent drum in the summer time.

I'm a bit concerned the top of the basket is pretty close to where the meat will be smoking, how close is your grate to your charcoal basket guys? I've got a spare pizza pan with holes in it from when I was originally going to make a circular charcoal basket so I could sit that on top of the basket to use as a baffle to stop the meat getting as much direct heat?
 
Hello Deano.  IF you MUST use a square charcoal basket.  Just teasin!  IF I read this correctly; the distance between the top of the basket and the grill with the meat isn't really important.  Maybe I read this wrong.  Please correct me if I read it wrong.  It's the distance from the coals to the meat and the air flow inside your UDS.  Slam this sucker together and start smokin some meat!!!!    That's really the only way we can start to "tweak" it, although I don't think there will be any need.  I think this smoker will be a dream.  I did start to give you a big bunch of B.S. about the distance from grill to charcoal basket but I just didn't have the heart!  You better come to the meet next year just so you can kick 5 bells outta me.  I deserve it!!!  
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  I will stop now!!  The advice is sound.  I may take tha pi** and leave you hanging for a time but I would NEVER knowingly give you bad info.  Come on down to next years meet!  We will have a great time.  Keep Smokin!


Danny
 
Haha Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

I did want a circular basket but the stuff was not for bending with what I had at hand ( I tried ALOT) . I'm pretty happy with how this first build has turned out, since I was scavenging for most of the parts including the drum the whole thing has only cost about £40 and I've found a place that sells drums that are ready to use for £30 on amazon so once summer comes I'm going to strip this first attempt down and have an all singing all dancing UDS for about £70!:yahoo:

I was reading the thread about the meet the other day but I don't get my new shift pattern for work until January so I'll just need to keep my fingers crossed until then! Unless this whole meet is another one of your elaborate wind ups.... :jedismily:
 
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