I'm lucky enough to work at an automotive shop with some tools AND our shop is located next to a steel company
I used one of our old air compressor tanks (80 gallon) and all the metal was scrap metal from the steel company's dumpster. The only parts i bought was welding wire rolls, 3 cans of paint, and two thermometers. My firebox is a little undersized and i think my inlets to the smoking chamber may also be a little small. I shoulda researched the sizes, but i think they'll work ok. Did a curing/seasoning test run this morning and it worked great, had it up to almost 400degrees. My temp closest to firebox was about 30 degrees warmer than thermometer closest to stack. I re-modified my crazy looking tuning plate(aka buncha angle iron w/baffles), to try to cool it down a little on the one end. I can also remove it so i figured i could grill with it too. Gonna try smoking two small deer roasts at work tomorrow. Hope to share some pics of some meats tomorrow!
