New Smoker Design

[mbolzies]

Attached are some drawings of a Smoker I'd like to have built. I'm moving away from the simple barrel smoker.
I just want to see if anyone thinks it needs any major modifications before I have it built. (My brother-in-law owns a sheet metal corporation and can have it built in the scrap shop.)
I think it will probably be made out of stainless steel. Not sure.

The firebox measures 16'', and the top chamber measures 30 or 32'', with 4'' for the legs, making the whole unit stand about 50-52'' tall.
Above the firebox is a thick gauged steel shelf that will have a layer of firebrick on top that surrounds the baffle. There will also be room for a layer for firebrick on the bottom of the unit.
It will have room enough for 3 removable racks, with an optional hang bar at the top.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...kerFront1a.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...idDivide3a.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...mokerTop4a.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...erBottom2a.jpg

Anything in particular that looks like it needs fixing anyone?

 

[Dutch]

Looks like a good design idea to me, my only concern is with the doors. How are you going to set up your doors for the upper chamber? And you might want to go with a larger door on the fire box for ease of fire building and clean out, if you look as some commercially built units you will find that the fire box door is almost as big as the side of the fire box its self.. You will also want a good grate that will be high enough off of the floor to allow the ash and embers to fall through with out having to worry about the ash build up interfering with your air intake flow.

 

[mbolzies]

Good point, that back door should definitely measure longer. I'll probably have them cut a full door on both sides for the firebox.

Another question, is it wise to put a few layers of fireproof screen in between the firebox and the baffle to prevent ash, or would that just lead to more problems with cleaning down the road? I figured the baffle would prevent most of the ash from making it into the top chamber, but I'm not sure, I'm not experienced with wood smokers

 

[smokewatcher]

Looks like you have a damper on the exhaust port. I would remove it as it should be fully open at all times, to prevent the smoke from getting stale inside the cooking chamber. Heat should be controlled from the inlets only.