MINI DRUM FOR MY SON

[JckDanls 07]

looking good poppa sow ... just a note... with that shelf on there it will be more prone to tipping over ... more so when set on uneven ground ...

 

[Sowsage]

looking good poppa sow ... just a note... with that shelf on there it will be more prone to tipping over ... more so when set on uneven ground ...

I totally agree. I think tomorrow if I get time I'm going to put one on the other side to even things out. Then I think I might build some kind of footing for it with some casters to roll around. I definitely want this thing stable for him!

 

[Smokin' in AZ]

WoW sowsage, that looks awesome.

Nice start for your son.

John

 

[Sowsage]

WoW sowsage, that looks awesome.

Nice start for your son.

John

Thanks! I cant wait to watch him use it!

 

[thirdeye]

That's a nice build, and it looks like the lid is a good fit. The charcoal basket is just right, I bet there will be 7 or 8 hours of burn time. Your son will love this cooker.

Years ago I built a mini WSM with the tamale steamer pot conversion on a 14" Weber Smokey Joe and it's a cool baby smoker. I use it often. It's also small enough to take on a camping or fishing trip.

Back to this build, are you planning on building a hanging rack for vertical cooking? It will allow more items to cook at once, and there is less handling. I think you are right about a second shelf to improve stability, or kick out the castors a few inches. And something to think about on future builds would be to take a narrow band of some thinner gauge steel and radius it to fit the drum. Then weld your shelf to the band. This will allow you bolt the shelf to the drum instead of welding directly to the drum. Sometimes a weld plays havoc with thin material and can cause an early failure or as a minimum... a point for rust to start.

 

[Sowsage]

That's a nice build, and it looks like the lid is a good fit. The charcoal basket is just right, I bet there will be 7 or 8 hours of burn time. Your son will love this cooker.

Years ago I built a mini WSM with the tamale steamer pot conversion on a 14" Weber Smokey Joe and it's a cool baby smoker. I use it often. It's also small enough to take on a camping or fishing trip.

Back to this build, are you planning on building a hanging rack for vertical cooking? It will allow more items to cook at once, and there is less handling. I think you are right about a second shelf to improve stability, or kick out the castors a few inches. And something to think about on future builds would be to take a narrow band of some thinner gauge steel and radius it to fit the drum. Then weld your shelf to the band. This will allow you bolt the shelf to the drum instead of welding directly to the drum. Sometimes a weld plays havoc with thin material and can cause an early failure or as a minimum... a point for rust to start.

I hadn't planned on a hanging rack because most things he will start out cooking will probably be small stuff that is short cooks to keep his interest. But deffinatly a possible addition down the road .And your right sometimes weld areas are very prone to rust. I'm planning on cleaning the welds up good and using an epoxy(corrosion resistant) primer prior to painting. Ive done this before and had good results. The part that usually fails first is down at the bottom . thats where it gets real hot and a lot of paints dont hold up. Even the. Really high temp stuff fails at some point. Ive been thinking a lot about this. Not completely sure what route I'm going to take for paint yet.

 

[Hawging It]

Making a little progress on the mini drum for my son today. Got the intakes done and the charcoal basket built. And the bolts in place to hold the racks. Still need to get a thermometer and an exhaust pipe put in yet.View attachment 426352View attachment 426353View attachment 426354

He will love it!!

 

[thirdeye]

... I'm planning on cleaning the welds up good and using an epoxy(corrosion resistant) primer prior to painting. Ive done this before and had good results. The part that usually fails first is down at the bottom . thats where it gets real hot and a lot of paints dont hold up. Even the. Really high temp stuff fails at some point. Ive been thinking a lot about this. Not completely sure what route I'm going to take for paint yet.

A good quality paint system (especially the primer) will really help. I have drums that are 10 years old and the bottoms are in great shape. Stay away from the 500° paints. Rust-Oleum makes a 2000° primer, and a flat black. They also make a 1200° semi-gloss that lays down very nice from a spray can. I would recommend doing a 'stripe coat' with the primer and top coat. This means that first, lightly paint all the areas where paint will have a harder time covering, for example all edges, around your shelf attachment welds, on seams etc. Let that cure, and repeat on any areas where you got poor coverage. Let the touch up's cure. Then prime the remainder being careful to fade the paint so you don't create hi-build areas. After another curing period, repeat the same procedure with the top coat, lightly stripe the hard areas, then paint the rest of the drum.

 

[Sowsage]

A good quality paint system (especially the primer) will really help. I have drums that are 10 years old and the bottoms are in great shape. Stay away from the 500° paints. Rust-Oleum makes a 2000° primer, and a flat black. They also make a 1200° semi-gloss that lays down very nice from a spray can. I would recommend doing a 'stripe coat' with the primer and top coat. This means that first, lightly paint all the areas where paint will have a harder time covering, for example all edges, around your shelf attachment welds, on seams etc. Let that cure, and repeat on any areas where you got poor coverage. Let the touch up's cure. Then prime the remainder being careful to fade the paint so you don't create hi-build areas. After another curing period, repeat the same procedure with the top coat, lightly stripe the hard areas, then paint the rest of the drum.

Thats all great advice! Ive been painting in a collision repair shop for 20 years and all of those things you pointed out are very important steps to create a nice durable finish. I think the lower third of the drum will be an extremely high temp paint like what you mentioned. Everything else I'll use automotive paints on. I did my first drum with all automotive paints and it all held up except the very lower part where the higher heat is.I have a airbrush artist that comes into the shop from time to time and he owes me a favor. May have to have him do a little somthing on this when the time comes.

 

[Sowsage]

Well I did get some time in on the mini drum today and added the second shelf. I think it looks a lot better now

 

[thirdeye]

That is looking sweet. Try a Google search for "ugly drum smoker paint" and you will see plenty of paint themes to get ideas from. I like the ones with a top border of flames around the top.

Something to think about would be adding a hole at the bottom so a wiggle rod, can reach in under the charcoal basket, and sneak in to wiggle the coals. It only takes a gentle motion to knock some ash off, and this wakes up a sluggish fire. Take some stiff wire and put an "L" on one end. Size the hole so an electrical panel plug can snap in.

 

[Sowsage]

Something to think about would be adding a hole at the bottom so a wiggle rod, can reach in under the charcoal basket, and sneak in to wiggle the coals.

That's a great idea. I have three air inlets . one with a valve and the other two with caps. I bet I can make a rod to go in through one of the inlets with the cap. I can put a hanging loop on it and it can hang on the side of one of the shelfs along with other cooking tools.

 

[thirdeye]

Here are some wiggle rods, the T handle one is handy because it gives you a reference to know what position the L is in, and you just need a gentle rocking.... not violent enough to allow ash to draft up to the food.

 

[Sowsage]

Here are some wiggle rods, the T handle one is handy because it gives you a reference to know what position the L is in, and you just need a gentle rocking.... not violent enough to allow ash to draft up to the food.

Awesome. Thanks! I'll get to work on that next week with the rest of the build. ....you know i was going for "simple nothing fancy" but apparently I cant do that lol!

 

[Sowsage]

Well I have not had a lot of time to put in on the mini drum but I figured I would update . I made a base for it so its good and stable. Planing on putting wheels on the four corners next. I also made the hooks for hanging utensils on the sides of the shelves but need to weld them on yet. In the picture it looks more narrow than the shelves but its actually the same width.

 

[Bearcarver]

Looking Great!!
Won't be long now the little guy will be Smoking Away!!!
Like.

Bear

 

[Sowsage]

Looking Great!!
Won't be long now the little guy will be Smoking Away!!!
Like.

Bear

Thanks for the like Bear! I dont get a lot of time to work on extra stuff like this but I'm pusbing for spring. Perfect time to get it to him when the weather breaks.