Bling for the Jambo
 

As much as I love my Jambo Backyard, I did not like the handles. So I took this opportunity to make my own. Same with the damper. It was a flat plate that covered the smokestack and I wanted something more like what the "Big Boys" have.

Now I need to go cook on her!

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Nice job, looks real good

Nice mods!

Nice work:thumb:

Tell me how you did the damper please I would like to do that also.

Same here!
And how did you do the handles?

I think he took some stainless rod stock, bent it by hand around the handle a bunch of time, drank a can of motor oil, smashed it on his forehead and then hopped on his trusty, yet dangerous, buffalo and rode off into the sunset. :becky:

Well, that's the way to do anything, right!:thumb:

Nice work!

Nice mods, looks like a pro job.

He sent this to me in a PM i hope he don't mined if i post it.

For the damper, I got a sheet of steel at HomeDepot and cut it to the inner dimension of the exhaust. Then I got some 1/2 inch round bar (steel) and fit it to the stack width, with a little hanging out the back for a screw (to add tension so it won't rotate unless I move it). I turned both ends down and threaded them for stop nuts. Then I heated it with a torch and bent it 90 degrees. I should tell you that I have a friend with a mill, and we milled a flat spot on the bar for the plate to rest flat. I don't think it's necessary, but it did help. I drilled holes in the stack (looking at the bigger Jambos, I may have put it too low... dont' know yet if it matters) and slid the bar stock in, set the plate on it and marked the rod to drill the screw holes. I was going to tack weld it in place but my friend strongly suggested I screw it in, so when I pulled the bar out, I drilled and tapped it for 2 #6 screws. I hate tapping, but it worked in this instance. Frankly, I think you could also secure it with JB weld, since there is no force on it. One other thing I did is braise a steel washer on the tube where it buts up against the front of the stack. The plan is to but the washer to the front and on the back have a nut that tightens a spring to add the tension. Finally, at the bottom of the bar (where i had bent it down 90*) I added one more washer (braised into place) and a spring handle.

^^^ Thank you for posting that. Sorry... I've been off the site for a few days (I hate working...). That post may be a bit rambling, so if you need some pictures, let me know. I haven't tried it yet (...work, dammit) but really hope to this weekend.

For the handles (asked earlier), I got some 1.25" dia 303 Stainless from Onlinemetals.com. Now in reading, 303 is supposed to have the corrosion resistance of 304 but be easier to machine, and the machine part is right. We'll see about the corrosion resistance. I cut the bars to length (just over 7" in my case) and drilled and tapped each end for a 1/4-20 screw. I did this in a lathe. This is where the 303 stainless sure seemed easier than 304 stainless, because I hate tapping. Then I turned it on the lathe and added the two groves on each end. I just eyeballed the distance from the ends (3/4" if i remember right and about an inch apart) and depth, which was about 1/8". It seemed to work out well. Then I just used a polishing compound and it polished up very very easy. All in all, the handles were easier than I thought, but that's with a caveat.... I didn't use my lathe, which is a bit smaller, I used a friends, which had a deep enough chuck to hold the 1 1/4 diameter bar easily. If you can do that, it's a very easy project.

Note on the handles.... The way Jambo attached the "floppy" handles on the backyard is, there is a 1/2" chunk of steel rod that was welded into each side. That's what the tube rests on. Half inch. I say this, because to cut them off, I started with a hacksaw and never made it. Then I used an angle grinder and that worked, but it's not fun with that tube flopping around.

I'll try to smoke something this weekend and report back on the damper. If you guys have questions that I can help with, PM me, so I get an email and I can respond to you. And if you want, I'll shoot you some pictures.

Keith

Let me know how it works if you like it i may do the same.

Hey Keith! Good to see you around again brotha - the mods look like a total pro job - nice work!

Nice!!!