Finally got the ole UDS together

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jarnold

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 9, 2016
11
20
Virginia
Well for months maybe even a year I have been craving a smoker and truly had my heart set on a WSM, but began looking and admiring some of the Ugly Drums that people on here as well as You Tube have done so I thought I would give one a try and see how it turned out. I started with a drum that was well used and a little rough but hey, you have to start somewhere. I, like most other guys think bigger is better, so I chose to run my down tubes in 1 inch black iron with ball valves.


I also welded all of my fittings into the drum since I had that capability which turned out ok, but I am not sure I would do that again. I also added shelving hangers for a small table to set my digital thermometer on or anything else you might need and I welded a bracket on the side for tools, gloves and accessories.


Not sure if the pictures show it well or not but I also opted to weld shelving brackets on the inside of the barrel so I could use shelf hangers to make my racks easily adjustable. Once I had all of my welding and fabrication work done next came the burnout and the inside the drum cleaning process.


This picture was taken after the barrel was burned out and then thoroughly cleaned on the inside and again you can see better the shelving brackets . I then started cleaning and sanding the outside for the pretty work. I do own an automotive collision repair facility so the pretty work was the fun part. I painted the drum black and assembled it with my wheels and shelf.



I had a Chevrolet sign that had been cut out with a plasma cutter that I had thrown in the corner and I thought it might look pretty cool on the front of the ole UDS so I chose to paint the sign, the air tubes, and my lid gold like you would find in a Chevrolet bowtie. I then accented my lid with blacked smoke stacks that are made from black iron pipes, floor plates, 45s, and a cap to control air flow. I haven't got to season it yet or burn in it to see how well the temperature holds and is controlled, but I sure do have my fingers crossed since I have a good amount of time and money involved and I don't want the wife to kill me. I think I am going to add a wood handle to the lid to match my side table if I can find one and call it complete. Hope ya'll enjoy and happy smoking!!!



 
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So I am curious: Is there an advantage/ reason to do the raised air intake pipes like that as opposed to just a slide or hole damper on the side of the base? I see the pipes on most pro drum smokers, but haven't been able to figure why they are any better or different than the old fashioned turn disk that most grills/smokers use?
 
So I am curious: Is there an advantage/ reason to do the raised air intake pipes like that as opposed to just a slide or hole damper on the side of the base? I see the pipes on most pro drum smokers, but haven't been able to figure why they are any better or different than the old fashioned turn disk that most grills/smokers use?
 
I think it's as much for looks as it is functional but I do think it has purpose. If your trying to smoke on a breezy day it is less susceptible to the wind driven into the smoker if it was windy. If you think about it just a slide vent would be hard to control the natural drafts of wind unless you turned it away from a breeze.
 
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