Thanks man! Nice smoker! I considered leaving the natural look and just oiling the exterior…but in end, I already have the paint, so I’m using it!
Red
Red's 24x46 Reverse Flow Patio Build
- Thread starter seenred
- Start date
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Thanks man! Nice smoker! I considered leaving the natural look and just oiling the exterior…but in end, I already have the paint, so I’m using it!
Red
ME too! With a little notice I can be your way from Memphis in about 6-8 hours with a slab of ribs!
Jim
You are welcome, I'm a huge braise cook or gravy pan cooking and most smokers just don't have this option.....I'm even going to mod my Recteq this summer to have a similar 3" slot as my top rack is too high for large items.
dog1234
Meat Mopper
First off, thanks for the kind words. No...it's not complete yet. I just updated the build thread last night with pics of fabricating the cooking grates...and commented in that post that I still have several steps to complete before it's finished. Perhaps you haven't read the entire thread?
Thanks buddy! It has taken me longer to finish than it might have because I've gone slow...trying plan out every step ahead of time, hoping to eliminate a boneheaded mistake that might cost me more time and money. Just plodding along...
Thanks Peachey!
Yep
Thanks for picking up my slack Keith! Red
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hi Red, I'm designing a smoker with dimensions almost identical to yours.
I was wondering how much distance did you keep between top surface of baffle plate and top surface of main cooking rack (where the meat is placed).
In my design now I have roughly 3 inches, but I don’t know if this value is good or not.
You want as much space as you can get... The height of the opening from the firebox to the cook chamber will pretty much dictate the height of the reverse flow (baffle) plate...
Like Keith (
JckDanls 07
) said, the baffle plate’s position is pretty much predetermined by your FB opening. You have a little discretion about how to position the main cooking grate, but if you’re like me, you’ll want it as close to the dead center of your barrel as you can get - for maximum cooking grate area. On the whole, I’d say 3” is pretty good…that’s a bit more than I got.
When you get your build underway, I hope you’ll post a build thread here so we can follow!
Red
dog1234
Meat Mopper
Good Sunday, SMF Brothers and Sisters!
The progress on the build has slowed down some - partly because it's hot as hades in my shop in July and August...but also because I've been occupied with a few family things. One of which is a vacation to the Grand Canyon with Mrs. Red and her mother...which I'll probably share in a "Blowing Smoke" thread sometime soon.
Anyway, here's where my current progress stands. It's getting real close...just a handful of small steps to get done, then paint or oil finish.
So I think the last step I posted was fabricating cooking racks. Next job was fabbing a log rack for the FB, and welding in some runners so it can slide in/out.
Next I worked on a storage rack for the bottom of the cart.
Welded in a couple of cross braces for added support, then expanded metal cut to fit, and clamped in place so I could spot weld it.
Next I worked on the smoke stack. Plasma-cut out the opening in the top of the smoke collector, then tacked on the stack. It's 4x4 square tubing...I think 11 ga. wall and 24" tall.
Stack all welded out.
Time to work on the main CC door assembly. First, I went ahead and applied Nomex gasket around the entire door assembly. Important to do this step before welding on the hinges. If you wait and add the gasket after the hinges are mounted, the door won't fit correctly.
Next I fabricated a door handle. To save some time and trouble, I bought a pair of laser cut handle brackets from a smoker parts supplier, then just welded in the round bar stock with the stainless cool-touch spring handle.
After taping some shims to the bottom and sides of the door opening - just to make sure the door is centered in the opening, I strapped the door in place so it couldn't move around while I worked on the hinge placement.
Next, time to get the hinges lined up, plumbed, and tack in place. I used a length of threaded rod to line up the hinges nice and straight.
Got the hinges welded out. The hinge installation on the main CC door is a step I'd been dreading. Lots of ways to screw this up and end up with bound-up hinges or a door that's not straight. I'm actually very happy with how it turned out. Door is centered and the hinges work well!
The hinges I bought - probably from the same supplier where I got the handle brackets - are made with a built-in stop...so I don't have to fabricate a stop to hold the door off when it's open.
Unless I'm forgetting something, here's what's left on the to do list.
- I want to fabricate some kind of pull handle for the left end of the pit. Probably gonna just use some sq. tubing to make that.
- I've got to drill a hole and mount the thermometer in the door.
- I found some small heat proof knobs I'm gonna mount to both FB dampers so you can adjust the inlet dampers without burning yourself.
- I've got to design and fabricate a hinged damper/cap for the top of the stack. My current plan is to keep this simple, using a piece of 1/4" plate and welding it to a swiveling mount
- Haven't decided for sure, but if it'll fit, I might fabricate a front shelf - maybe 10-12 inches.
- Also considering drilling a hole in the end of the CC for a probe wire port...haven't decided for sure yet.
Other than that short list of small jobs, the last big thing to do is coating. My original plan was to paint it. I already bought a bunch of high temp paint...but I'm beginning to second guess the paint. First off, I hate painting! Plus, even high-heat paint doesn't hold up very well to the temperatures the FB reach.
I'm beginning to lean more towards applying a boiled linseed oil coating, and heat-curing it. It seems it'd be easier than painting, and I kinda like the look of most of the pits I've seen coated this way.
Any you guys done a linseed oil coating? If so, please give me some pointers on how to do it right. Can it really be as simple as applying a coat of oil, then running a really hot fire until the oil bakes in? Also, what about the cart? If I oil that too, is there a trick to getting it heat-cured?
I'd appreciate any tips! And thanks for checking out the build progress!
Red
The progress on the build has slowed down some - partly because it's hot as hades in my shop in July and August...but also because I've been occupied with a few family things. One of which is a vacation to the Grand Canyon with Mrs. Red and her mother...which I'll probably share in a "Blowing Smoke" thread sometime soon.
Anyway, here's where my current progress stands. It's getting real close...just a handful of small steps to get done, then paint or oil finish.
So I think the last step I posted was fabricating cooking racks. Next job was fabbing a log rack for the FB, and welding in some runners so it can slide in/out.
Next I worked on a storage rack for the bottom of the cart.
Welded in a couple of cross braces for added support, then expanded metal cut to fit, and clamped in place so I could spot weld it.
Next I worked on the smoke stack. Plasma-cut out the opening in the top of the smoke collector, then tacked on the stack. It's 4x4 square tubing...I think 11 ga. wall and 24" tall.
Stack all welded out.
Time to work on the main CC door assembly. First, I went ahead and applied Nomex gasket around the entire door assembly. Important to do this step before welding on the hinges. If you wait and add the gasket after the hinges are mounted, the door won't fit correctly.
Next I fabricated a door handle. To save some time and trouble, I bought a pair of laser cut handle brackets from a smoker parts supplier, then just welded in the round bar stock with the stainless cool-touch spring handle.
After taping some shims to the bottom and sides of the door opening - just to make sure the door is centered in the opening, I strapped the door in place so it couldn't move around while I worked on the hinge placement.
Next, time to get the hinges lined up, plumbed, and tack in place. I used a length of threaded rod to line up the hinges nice and straight.
Got the hinges welded out. The hinge installation on the main CC door is a step I'd been dreading. Lots of ways to screw this up and end up with bound-up hinges or a door that's not straight. I'm actually very happy with how it turned out. Door is centered and the hinges work well!
The hinges I bought - probably from the same supplier where I got the handle brackets - are made with a built-in stop...so I don't have to fabricate a stop to hold the door off when it's open.
Unless I'm forgetting something, here's what's left on the to do list.
- I want to fabricate some kind of pull handle for the left end of the pit. Probably gonna just use some sq. tubing to make that.
- I've got to drill a hole and mount the thermometer in the door.
- I found some small heat proof knobs I'm gonna mount to both FB dampers so you can adjust the inlet dampers without burning yourself.
- I've got to design and fabricate a hinged damper/cap for the top of the stack. My current plan is to keep this simple, using a piece of 1/4" plate and welding it to a swiveling mount
- Haven't decided for sure, but if it'll fit, I might fabricate a front shelf - maybe 10-12 inches.
- Also considering drilling a hole in the end of the CC for a probe wire port...haven't decided for sure yet.
Other than that short list of small jobs, the last big thing to do is coating. My original plan was to paint it. I already bought a bunch of high temp paint...but I'm beginning to second guess the paint. First off, I hate painting! Plus, even high-heat paint doesn't hold up very well to the temperatures the FB reach.
I'm beginning to lean more towards applying a boiled linseed oil coating, and heat-curing it. It seems it'd be easier than painting, and I kinda like the look of most of the pits I've seen coated this way.
Any you guys done a linseed oil coating? If so, please give me some pointers on how to do it right. Can it really be as simple as applying a coat of oil, then running a really hot fire until the oil bakes in? Also, what about the cart? If I oil that too, is there a trick to getting it heat-cured?
I'd appreciate any tips! And thanks for checking out the build progress!
Red
Last edited:
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