Greetings Forum!
Well it's been a while...like 5 years since I posted anything. Back then I was beginning a RF smoker, then moved, had a kid, got professional, and the partially done smoker sat in dusty pieces for the duration. In a fit of productivity and motivation, I dove back into the build with the incentive of hunting season around the corner (and the obvious elk I'm going to sleigh;) ha!...).
The numbers:
CC: 10,048 cu in
FB: 3,357 cu in
FB-CC opening: 27 sq in
FB vent opening: 10 sq in
Now for the questions:
What dia chimney stack should I go with? Would generic 4" galvy work? (calculated chimney volume by multiplying FB cu in 3,357 x .5 = 1,678.5 cu in. If I use 4" stock, I need about 33" in length to achieve the 1,678 cu in or so.)
Can RF plate be removable? or does it need to be airtight? I managed to get quite a good scribe on the RF plate to CC walls (1/16-32nd gaps at most) , including the curved scribe of the domed end of the CC (see pic). It took hours of scribing and grinding. I managed to get about a 1/2 slope in the RF plate relative to CC, will "dam" the low end towards the camera. I obviously had to remove the domed opposite end of the CC to fit the RF plate in. I have a daydream of tacking on a ledger of sorts in the CC and then cutting the RF plate in 2 so it is removable...would allow me to clean greasy end...then again, cutting it would allow grease to slip between the sections and find its way into the (soon-to-be) unreachable, un-cleanable nether regions in the bottom of CC. What to do??
Some random thoughts here:
1. If I weld in the RF plate in location in the CC, I need to install my grease drain just before the dam on the low end of the RF plate so the drain then needs to go out the bottom of the CC. All fixed permanently (welded)
2. If the RF plate is removable, it can't have a fixed drain that links out the bottom. Perhaps a short 2" drain on the underside of the plate that drips to a fixed funnel on the bottom of the CC that then exits via an exterior valve.
3. Or still working with either option (cut-in-half removable or permanently welded RF plate), do I skip the dam on the low end and just let the grease drip off the "V" channeled end of the plate to a beneath fixed funnel and exterior valve on the bottom of the CC?? Seems like this might eliminate some welding and tricky fitting...grease just dripping off the slope at the v, falling into a funnel an inch below and then out. Maybe an abbreviated dam with V'd space left open...I sort of like this idea of the grease catch funnel beneath because I wouldn't have to cut a round hole in the acute v of the channel...(thinking outloud)
Another nervous thought:
The CC is not very thick material...1/16 in or so (see pics). The little scrap wood jig it is currently sitting in is helping it to keep it's shape. The RF plate is significantly thicker material and it's weight wanted to deform the cylinder. Also, any deformation of the cylinder would make welding on it's domed end impossible. Instead of just adding legs under the smoker, I might have to build a metal "cradle" to nest it in, similar to the wood one seen.
That said, If I weld the RF plate in permanently while it rests in the wood cradle, the plate itself would help keep the shape by acting as a collar tie across the cylinder...
So many questions...thank you to anyone who can shed some light on my queries
Well it's been a while...like 5 years since I posted anything. Back then I was beginning a RF smoker, then moved, had a kid, got professional, and the partially done smoker sat in dusty pieces for the duration. In a fit of productivity and motivation, I dove back into the build with the incentive of hunting season around the corner (and the obvious elk I'm going to sleigh;) ha!...).
The numbers:
CC: 10,048 cu in
FB: 3,357 cu in
FB-CC opening: 27 sq in
FB vent opening: 10 sq in
Now for the questions:
What dia chimney stack should I go with? Would generic 4" galvy work? (calculated chimney volume by multiplying FB cu in 3,357 x .5 = 1,678.5 cu in. If I use 4" stock, I need about 33" in length to achieve the 1,678 cu in or so.)
Can RF plate be removable? or does it need to be airtight? I managed to get quite a good scribe on the RF plate to CC walls (1/16-32nd gaps at most) , including the curved scribe of the domed end of the CC (see pic). It took hours of scribing and grinding. I managed to get about a 1/2 slope in the RF plate relative to CC, will "dam" the low end towards the camera. I obviously had to remove the domed opposite end of the CC to fit the RF plate in. I have a daydream of tacking on a ledger of sorts in the CC and then cutting the RF plate in 2 so it is removable...would allow me to clean greasy end...then again, cutting it would allow grease to slip between the sections and find its way into the (soon-to-be) unreachable, un-cleanable nether regions in the bottom of CC. What to do??
Some random thoughts here:
1. If I weld in the RF plate in location in the CC, I need to install my grease drain just before the dam on the low end of the RF plate so the drain then needs to go out the bottom of the CC. All fixed permanently (welded)
2. If the RF plate is removable, it can't have a fixed drain that links out the bottom. Perhaps a short 2" drain on the underside of the plate that drips to a fixed funnel on the bottom of the CC that then exits via an exterior valve.
3. Or still working with either option (cut-in-half removable or permanently welded RF plate), do I skip the dam on the low end and just let the grease drip off the "V" channeled end of the plate to a beneath fixed funnel and exterior valve on the bottom of the CC?? Seems like this might eliminate some welding and tricky fitting...grease just dripping off the slope at the v, falling into a funnel an inch below and then out. Maybe an abbreviated dam with V'd space left open...I sort of like this idea of the grease catch funnel beneath because I wouldn't have to cut a round hole in the acute v of the channel...(thinking outloud)
Another nervous thought:
The CC is not very thick material...1/16 in or so (see pics). The little scrap wood jig it is currently sitting in is helping it to keep it's shape. The RF plate is significantly thicker material and it's weight wanted to deform the cylinder. Also, any deformation of the cylinder would make welding on it's domed end impossible. Instead of just adding legs under the smoker, I might have to build a metal "cradle" to nest it in, similar to the wood one seen.
That said, If I weld the RF plate in permanently while it rests in the wood cradle, the plate itself would help keep the shape by acting as a collar tie across the cylinder...
So many questions...thank you to anyone who can shed some light on my queries
