Ugly Drum Smoker

Actually mine is an "invert" so I can get it from both ends . That didn't sound too good did it ?
Raz

Bbq Bubba said:

IMO.....if your getting drums that have had the bladders or food grade materials inside, save the burn and just go straight to the wire wheel.
Saves a burn and all that black ash and the liner comes out pretty easily!

Then you don't have to repaint the outside either! :lol:

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Help me understand this as I hope to have access soon to a food grade drum with the bladder inside. My question is if the inside is clean why do you go to the wire wheel ? What does the wire wheel do in this situation. After the wire wheel and cleaning would you then coat side with pam or lard ?

If the inside is bare metal and had a bladder they your good to go coat the inside and season. But if there is a liners as well then with the bladder you should be able to wire brush the liner off easy. You want bare metal inside for the cooking area.

RazBarlow said:

Actually mine is an "invert" so I can get it from both ends . That didn't sound too good did it ?
Raz

Click to expand...

I tried a barrel with a bottom with one of those cheap blaster did an ok job but wasn't long before there was so much dust hard to see the barrel. But yours might be a little easier.

my barrel is open on both ends too. I burned the liner out with a weed blaster, and wire brushed and sanded down to bare metal. I set up a small fan to blow the dust away while I was working on it. That helped a lot. Of course the fan would not work with a closed end barrel.

It is much easier to reach everything with both ends open.

Jerry
www.uglydrumsmoker.blogspot.com

Well, I learned a valuable lesson...read the entire thread before beginning constuction.

I read about 80 pages, skipped to the back and found the picture thread of how to build one and raced out find a drum. First one was a bit ( well perhaps more than a bit) rusty but it was only $10 so I brought it home and started gathering parts.

I was quickly informed by the wife,that she did not care what I did to it, she would not be eating out of a rusted out drum that I did not or could not tell what had ever been in it. This after the head shaking and eye rolling about why, when there are 3 variations of smokers and grills in the back yard would I need another.

So, read a few more pages, heard that you were safe with food products and found one that had vegetable oil in it with a red liner, much better shape, $25.00. I think there was some beer involved while I skimmed a few pages and it "appeared" all you had to do was burn the liner out...built a big fire with some pecan wood and get it so hot you could almost see through the drum with flames leaping out of the top. Well, as you all know...the liner was still there.

Came back read some more. Decided my time was a bit more valuable and I was not interested in as some one put it.."looking like a chimney sweep", upon completion. So, decided to purchase a brand new drum. $80.0

So, for drums alone, I'm a bit over the allocated budget...

Moral of the story is.. read all 129 pages, then start your build. I'll post pics upon completion.

Ya know it would be amusing to post pictures of your wife's reaction to go with that post. lol

I bought one of those water tight connectors for my probe wires but I got a 1/2 one. So for a 1/2 conduit I would want a 3/4 hole correct.

3/4 is tight, takes a little filing to start. 13/16" is a clean thread in.

Do they make a 13/16 hole saw?

Good lord. This thread has really grown since I read the whole thing back in March of last year. I don't know what to say now. Information overload. Good thing I took notes.:shock:

fordman said:

I bought one of those water tight connectors for my probe wires but I got a 1/2 one. So for a 1/2 conduit I would want a 3/4 hole correct.

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Dang, thats a big hole!!

Try this....

Need a handle and paint the wheel bracket then done.

mooey bueno

I apologize if I missed something in the 129 pages I read, but my question is about a single intake running to the center of the drum. Can anyone say if that takes care of the hot spots that others reported with a single intake? Also, I thought it seemed a bit odd that those with 3 or 4 intakes said they had more even temps yet they would have one or two of the intakes closed. How is that making the draft even resulting in fewer hotspots?

No biggie. Maybe nobody can answer, but thought I would ask. I would like to do a single intake (to keep it simple) running to the center.

Sweet Drum fordman!

Love the wheel set up. I've been wrestling with how I wanted to do wheels on mine and that looks great.

What did you use for your probe hole?

Did you drill out the rivet on the Weber vent then replace? I also used an old Weber lid but didn't drill out the vent so you can still see the red paint in some spots on it. It's Ugly so that's okay...but I'd like to clean it up a bit if possible.

bigabyte said:

I would like to do a single intake (to keep it simple) running to the center.

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Like a 2" pipe that runs through the side of the barrel along the bottom to the middle of the bottom?

I dont recall anyone using that method but it should work. Plus, you could turbocharge that with something like this thing I made with 2 PC fans:

Here's another atypical approach:

Mark said:

Like a 2" pipe that runs through the side of the barrel along the bottom to the middle of the bottom?

Click to expand...

Exactly. As for the other option of putting a butterfly style intake on the bottom of the barrel, that is Plan B. It also makes it simple in that it not only serves as air intake, but a way for the grease to drip out!!!:biggrin: I could put a coffee can or something underneath the unit to catch the drippings. Actually. The more I talk about it, the more I like that idea!:idea:

I would be afraid the butterfly type intake on the very bottom mite have a tendency to get clogged and would have to be move every so often to clear its self. I did see someone on another forum that put wsm type intakes on the sides that could work.
Dave