Building a stick burner

Great lookin start!
Here are a couple of shots of how I handled my tuning plates. First a shot of the rig for perspective. I built it so I can do reverse flow or a traditional offset; in retrospect I do mostly reverse flow.
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Next, the tuning plates set up for reverse flow. I had my steel shop cut the plates on a shear so they would fit together tightly. Each tuning plate is 17X6X1/4". The deflector and first tuning plate is welded in in place.
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Last shot, the tuning plates spread out a little for traditional offset flow.
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Good luck with the build.

PS: Your tanks look great - are they new? Where did you find them?

What I do if your phone has a web browser go to the forums, log in, user cp, upload pics.

thebbqkid said:

dwfisk and nra4life thanks for the build pics
I can't figure out how to measure my inlet opening from the fb to the cc, I want to do a half moon the inlet opening has to be 15.77” and the opening area has to be 97.71, but how do I figure out how to measure the opening for both tanks.
Thanks the kid

Click to expand...

Here is what I would try, based on how I did mine.
1) Level and square both tanks in the relative alignment they will be in when finished (i.e. your FB tank about 16" up from the bottom of the CC).
2) Use a straight edge or level and sharpie to scribe a line representing the top radius of the FB tank.
3) Decide how far the FB tank will penetrate to CC tank (I did about 6"). A this depth from the end of the CC tank, mark the top radius line you just drew front & back.
4) Use masking tape to connect these endpoints and use it as a guide to mark with the sharpie.
5) Now you should have a line representing the top radius of the FB tank and where to make the bottom cut. DOES IT LOOK RIGHT & TEST MEASURE AGAIN?
6) If yes, cut out the CC tank and test fit.
7) At this point you have not made a cutout on the FB tank. You might be able to use the curvature of the FB tank as part of the deflector. I would mark where I want my deflector to end and where my baffle/tuning plates will sit (hopefully using the end curvature of the FB tank). This should be a horizontal line across the end of the FB tank and you can use the recently cut CC tank to scribe the remainder to the cutout of the FB tank.

Caution, after reading this I've decided I ain't that great at explaining geometry. It ain't like I can get my hands on it - IF IT DON'T LOOK RIGHT, DON'T CUT!

Looking good!

:thumb:

Were did you get your chrome stack?

That looks great! Can't wait to see more! keep updating us!

My only question is... is the firebox large enough to feed that cooker. Pics can be deceiveing. It looks really small. I am not being critical at all you have a nice cooker going it is only an observation

Not sure what a tuning plate is? Is it like building a reverse flow, but with holes throughout?

Firebox looks a little thin.. make sure when you get her done... always to clean the ashes out of her.. it will help it last longer!

JandJbuidasmoker said:

Not sure what a tuning plate is? Is it like building a reverse flow, but with holes throughout?

Click to expand...

Tuning plates are sort of like a Reverse flow plate with gaps in it to allow the heat/smoke to come thru between the gaps.. they are ideal on traditional offset smokers because it helps even out the tempurature across the smoking chamber.

thanks downhomeque! this helps! I'm building a 550 smoker. This is something that I should do.