Smoker Restoration

[Jtwade1989]

Hey everyone. Long time lurker. First time poster. Was wondering if you could help me put.

Unfortunately I had a good friend of mine pass away a month ago from cancer and his wife has asked me too do a favor and restore his smoker.

As he got sicker naturally he maintained it less and less and it is in pretty rough shape. I think she is wanting me too try and restore is for sentimental purposes so i am going to do the best I can but I am not sure where too start.

I took the main grate and the side box grate to a fabrication shop to get fixed but the main chamber and side fire box is pretty rough


Any suggestions? Or is it done for? I really wanna do what I can to help her

 

[SmokinAl]

I would think if you have the skills to restore that smoker, it certainly would be a great tribute to your friend.
Al

 

[Jtwade1989]

I would think if you have the skills to restore that smoker, it certainly would be a great tribute to your friend.
Al

Any ideas in where i might start? I have no clue

 

[HowlingDog]

So sorry about your friend and it is nice of you to take this on.

It is hard to tell from the pictures, but how thick is the metal?

First thing I would do is take a wire brush/scraper to it and clean off all the accumulated grime and rust. Wear gloves and a mask (ask me how I know ).

Once you get the surface clean, take a small hammer and lightly tap any areas that appear to be heavily rusted to see if it is still nice and solid or deeper pits. If it all looks and sounds good, take an angle grinder with a wire wheel and give it a good cleaning almost down to the original metal, both inside and out. Sandblasting would work too if you have access to one. If it is a thick/heavy smoker, probably easier to clean it in place.

Once it is all cleaned, make a nice fire and burn it out and start re-seasoning it. You can paint the outside with a high temp paint.

The fabricator should be able to make new grates.

 

[Jtwade1989]

So sorry about your friend and it is nice of you to take this on.

It is hard to tell from the pictures, but how thick is the metal?

First thing I would do is take a wire brush/scraper to it and clean off all the accumulated grime and rust. Wear gloves and a mask (ask me how I know ).

Once you get the surface clean, take a small hammer and lightly tap any areas that appear to be heavily rusted to see if it is still nice and solid or deeper pits. If it all looks and sounds good, take an angle grinder with a wire wheel and give it a good cleaning almost down to the original metal, both inside and out. Sandblasting would work too if you have access to one. If it is a thick/heavy smoker, probably easier to clean it in place.

Once it is all cleaned, make a nice fire and burn it out and start re-seasoning it. You can paint the outside with a high temp paint.

The fabricator should be able to make new grates.

Awesome. Thank you so much. Yea the metal is not terribly thick. Probably an 1/8 of an inch