Well, time for an update!
I got back in the shop today, and made decent progress.
First off today, I started fabricating a flange for the top of the cabinet opening. Just tacked in place here:
I was happy with how it was all fitting up, so I went ahead and welded it out, then had to spend a while with an angle grinder and flap disc, making all the fitted edges and corners smooth. There will be a matching flange on the door assembly. There'll probably be some Nomex gasket between the two flanges to seal it up nice and air tight.
You can see a notch I cut out of the front-facing part of the flange. That's to allow the cooking grate to slide through.
To ensure that the door assembly and the cabinet flanges match up perfectly, I built the door frame in place on top of that cabinet flange.
Just tacked together here, then I'll move it over to the welding table to weld it out.
Door frame all welded out. Again, I ran a flap disc over all surfaces where it matches up with the cabinet flange...and where the outer skin of the door assembly will be welded to the frame.
Test fit. It matches up with the lower flange real well!
And just to get an idea of what it'll look like when I get the outer skin all welded to the door frame, I laid the top panel in place.
Last thing I worked on today was the FB access door. Got it all framed out with 1 1/2" flat bar. I forgot to get a pic of it, but I did test fit it in the door opening, and it fits good
This build is moving along faster than I expected! I've still got a bunch of little jobs to complete, but I don't think it'll be long until I can build a fire in it!
Still on the To-Do list:
Get the door assembly skinned out; Make a cut in the top of the door assembly and install an exhaust stack and damper; Cut out the openings for the intake dampers in the side of the lower cabinet, and get those dampers installed; Fabricate a bunch of handles (CC door, ash pan, coal basket, cooking grate); Fabricate a handle and latch system for the FB door; Weld on the hinges and get the doors hung; Build a cart and mount it on casters; Install a thermometer; Build a FIRE!!
That's all for tonight - it won't be long now!
Red
I got back in the shop today, and made decent progress.
First off today, I started fabricating a flange for the top of the cabinet opening. Just tacked in place here:
I was happy with how it was all fitting up, so I went ahead and welded it out, then had to spend a while with an angle grinder and flap disc, making all the fitted edges and corners smooth. There will be a matching flange on the door assembly. There'll probably be some Nomex gasket between the two flanges to seal it up nice and air tight.
You can see a notch I cut out of the front-facing part of the flange. That's to allow the cooking grate to slide through.
To ensure that the door assembly and the cabinet flanges match up perfectly, I built the door frame in place on top of that cabinet flange.
Just tacked together here, then I'll move it over to the welding table to weld it out.
Door frame all welded out. Again, I ran a flap disc over all surfaces where it matches up with the cabinet flange...and where the outer skin of the door assembly will be welded to the frame.
Test fit. It matches up with the lower flange real well!
And just to get an idea of what it'll look like when I get the outer skin all welded to the door frame, I laid the top panel in place.
Last thing I worked on today was the FB access door. Got it all framed out with 1 1/2" flat bar. I forgot to get a pic of it, but I did test fit it in the door opening, and it fits good
This build is moving along faster than I expected! I've still got a bunch of little jobs to complete, but I don't think it'll be long until I can build a fire in it!
Still on the To-Do list:
Get the door assembly skinned out; Make a cut in the top of the door assembly and install an exhaust stack and damper; Cut out the openings for the intake dampers in the side of the lower cabinet, and get those dampers installed; Fabricate a bunch of handles (CC door, ash pan, coal basket, cooking grate); Fabricate a handle and latch system for the FB door; Weld on the hinges and get the doors hung; Build a cart and mount it on casters; Install a thermometer; Build a FIRE!!
That's all for tonight - it won't be long now!
Red