Welding a Weber kettle ring to a barrel - HELP?
 

I'm trying to rig my drum (which is just a tad larger diameter than my Weber kettle) so that I can use a kettle lid on the top and get more headroom to allow me to smoke turkeys and other large items on my top rack.

I've decided to cut a 2" section off the top of an old throwaway kettle (i.e. the lip and a couple of inches of vertical) and have a buddy weld it to the top of my drum. That way the kettle lid will sit right on the actual lip that it was made to fit. But when I describe it to him, he's worried that the barrel and kettle aren't heavy enough to take the weld and that they'll warp and curl.

I was certain that some of the Brethren on here have done this -- any help you can offer is appreciated!

Of course you know the porcelain coating will have to be ground off before welding. Then weld a short bead (1-2 inches) at different areas around the circumference to prevent overheating the metal which causes the warpage.
Your welder friend should also know to turn down the amperage of the welder to match the thickness of the metal.

Dont toss the bottom of the Kettle. You can use it as an ash basket. Just cut the legs off to 3", Buy a piece of 3/8 threaded rod and bow it and attach it to the kettle for easy removal then put a Smokey Joe coal grate in the bottom. Tried it on my last UDS and got a 12 hour burn out it. It works.

^^^ Good idea!

You really don't need to weld it. I just used Rutland gaskets from Ace Hardware. After you use it a few times it seals right in.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...oke/Gasket.jpg

it is a soft wood . you will get a lot of reasen and tares from it . stick to the hard woods

I think you might be posting in the wrong thread. LOL, bro, welcome to the forum! :-D

I ended up having a piece of flat stock welded in. Using a part of the bottom kettle was too much of a pain.

Attachment 72537

Attachment 72538

And place the firebox right in it? Does the firebox get enough air?

Fasten the weber kettle ring to the drum with Pop-Rivets.

The way I fit a Weber kettle lid to my UDS is by cutting out all but about 1 inch (outside diameter) of a 55 gallon barrel flat lid that the Weber kettle lid sits on. Simple and removable.

Here is a pic of my 30 gallon open drum that had no lid.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/IMG_4978.jpg

I cut the lip off a rustbucket 18" Weber Bar-B-Kettle and used some Permatex High Temp silicone to secure a length of Rutland gasket to the "flange" and my neighbor tack welded some beads around the perimeter.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/IMG_4980.jpg

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/IMG_4975.jpg

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/IMG_4976.jpg

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/IMG_4977.jpg

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/IMG_5074.jpg

+ 1 on using pop rivets. I used an aluminum 2" flat bar held by the u-bolts for the rack to keep it clean. I then added 1/2" flat bar riveted to that for the Weber lid to fit just right. No welding. Good luck!

What about cutting the top off of the kettle? Grinder or recip saw with metal blade?

I hope this doesn't sound wrong, but I feel like I read this same thread weekly, and while its great that you guys seem to make these things work, wouldn't it be easier and better to just start with the right size drum?

If you take a weber lid with you when drum shopping, look at the open top (or "ring top" drums) and flip them over, find one that the lid fits the bottom perfectly, it also makes it very simple to remove the bottom while building, and you can change the lid if it ever rots or to simply clean the drum out.
Don't forget to scrape off and throw away the rubber seal!