filing cabinet smoker - finished pics

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Nice work, I've seen a few file cabinet builds but your is the best one so far. Good idea converting the drawers into doors.
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Now that's thinking! I did a freezer to smoker build once. I never would have thought about a files cabinet build.
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I have one of these things, I cut the bottom of the drawers out and put expanded metal in the place of the solid bottom. I used C-perlin to build a fire box that went into the bottom drawer and then of course made a smoke stack out the top using pipe and a flat piece of metal that rotates over the end of the pipe. The only thing I didn't like about it is having to tend the fire so often. I liked the drawers since you could pul them out all the way and the back of the drawer seals up the smoker box and you could tend to whatever was in the drawer then just slide it back in.

Now I am a MES fan, I got it and never looked back.
 
Aloha I got a question for you guys, I noticed that the filing cabinet is painted still, my question is is it safe to eat the smoked meat etc due to the paint still on the inside of the filing cabinet? I thought you needed to take off the paint due to it might having lead? Just curious cause I have a old gym locker with the same color paint but other peeps on this forum said I probably will have to strip the paint etc. what's your guys take on this?
 
Started my build tonight at work. Started with the tin snips for about five minutes and realized there has to be a right tool for this job. Dug around the machine shop for a bit and found a little gem called power shears. Theyre scissors on steroids basically and you can cut out the bottom of a drawer in under 30 seconds. I used a hole saw in the four corners, flipped the drawer upside down and it cuts like butter. Nice straight lines without the hacked on look. I have OCD so straight is a must.
 
Looking to start a file cabinet smoker build soon. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated since this is my first smoker build.
 
I learned about the right tool for the job. Electric shears are highly recommended. Cuts the drawer bottoms out like butter. Academy had adjustable grates that fit into drawers perfectly. The one I tried with was too thin of a metal and wouldn't hold heat very well. Plus all the grease used for the drawer slides is a pain to get out so its kinda tedious.
 
i recently just built a file cabinet smoker. turned out great! my question though is i noticed the plastic wheels for the drawers are riveted in and cant be removed easily. i saw in some of the pics on this forum that they left the wheels in. I turned my propane all the way up to burn off any paint and noticed the wheels beginning to melt. just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this issue and is there an easy fix? i plan on painting the whole cabinet with high temperature grill paint. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Thanks! The wheels on mine actually started to melt! I think i'm going to have to remove the plastic wheels. It's probably since i'm using propane and it gets hotter then electric. i'm hoping it doesn't stop the shelves from opening and closing. i think i'm just going to just cook off any paint on the inside and paint the outside with grill paint. Thanks for the reply i've been having a hard time finding anything about this online.
 
You could try drilling them out and replace with metal washers. That's what I was thinking about doing if I have that problem.
 
Yeah i think i'm going to try to use a dremel tool to grind them off. i don't want to take any chances with plastics in the food. Metal washers would be a good idea!
 
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