14 gauge thick enough?

[tango87]

I have an 1/8th inch fire box built and wondering if 14 gauge steel is thick enough to build a smoke chamber out of

 

[solaryellow]

Why so thin?

 

[tango87]

Price of the steel. I could probably go as thick as 12 gauge. Would there be a real difference in heat loss from the two? I tried making a 55 gallon drum smoker and it doesn't like to hold heat at all cause I thought I was getting an 18 but ended up with a 20 gauge barrel.

 

[daveomak]

Tango, morning.....  Heat retention, in the form of thermal mass, is the primary reason for using thicker material..... Corrosion from salts and burn through from heat are also something to think about.....  I would use at least 3/16" for the cooking chamber and line the fire box with 1" fire brick splits.....   The 1/8" fire box won't last very long with fire against it.... The fire brick will hold a more consistent heat..... and provide a lot of thermal mass and provide longevity to your build.....  There's $0.02 thrown into the ring.....   Dave

 

[solaryellow]

I agree with Dave. Another option is insulating and then use thin sheetmetal for the outside covering.

 

[tango87]

Thank you all for your help, unfortunately I already built the fb so that will have to do for now but I will defiantly pay the extra and go thicker for the smoke chamber

 

[alelover]

14g is only .075 thick. That is entirely too thin I would think. I don't think it would have the structural integrity to hold a lot of weight. (ie. Lots O meat) I wouldn't go less than an 1/8".

 

[tango87]

Ok so I'm going with the 1/8 inch for the chamber. Should I do direct fb attachment to the bottom or drop it down 8-12 inches and run stove pipe insulated?

 

[solaryellow]

Directly attached.

 

[tango87]

Ok sounds easier to manage. A few more questions for the build, should the fb top hole be round or square or doesn't matter and how big of a hole, the fb is 18 inch square. And how big of a gap should I have at the ends of the baffle plate, I was thinking 2 inches on both sides. And last how big of a exhaust pipe would be best 3 to 4 inch or bigger? The placement should be below the food grates in the center I believe.

 

[tango87]

Any suggestions?

 

[alelover]

https://statich.smokingmeatforums.com/2/26/263fc1bf_timplatebbqformsquarefb.octet-stream
Here is a calculator to determine pit, firebox and exhaust pipe size. Good luck.

 

[tango87]

Thank you all for the help, photos are on the way on what I have done so far

 

[tango87]

I have a picture up on the work i've done so far. Now i have a solid baffle to cover the hole from the fb. how high off the hole should i go? I was thinking 2 inches. would that be to little or to much?