[lehdeman]

Feels a little silly chiming in on a 6 year old thread (like I could possibly contribute any new thought! lol) but I'm joining in on the fun! I was inspired by this site and all of you guys on this thread to build myself a UDS. I started this week and am about half way done. I got an old "Oil Stabilizer" barrel that is in really good shape. Its nice because its significantly thicker than the other barrels I looked at. So far I have spent two hours washing it with degreaser and dawn (cleaned up great! doesn't have any oil smell and haven't even burnt it out yet). Then I took it to a car wash and pressure washed it. (Don't laugh, I thought it was innovative! lol) I have since wire wheeled it and pre-drilled my holes for my two grates and bought and used a step bit for the bottom. My next step is burning it out then making a paint decision. I am between satin black with a cool red pig painting OR leaving it the wire wheeled metal, painting the pig, then clear coating. I would also accept some advice on the hugely debated question of 8-1/2" holes or using my 2.25" bung hole for an 8" smoke stack... I love the idea of the smoke stack, but dont want to lose any quality over "hot spots." I have read a ton on each method but am having trouble pulling the trigger on either. I am on a really tight budget so if anyone has any cheap smoke stack ideas for 2.25" I'd like to hear them!