First Post - First Build - Thanks!
First off .. thanks all for all the hard work, tried and true research, and time invested in posting all these fantastic ideas for the UDS. Ideas and associated names are way too many to list but the ideas from BigMista, FordMan, N8Man, and especially the dimension / build post from NorcoRedNeck
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=662611&postcount=86 are a few that come to mind as I take time to thank all for their contributions to this post.
A buddy from work and I will build our first UDS's tommorrow (11/15) Nothing like a cool sunny Saturday, Work buddy, cold beer, and a home project using tools .. should be fun!
We wimped out; bought new unlined, open-top drums .. took the easier route. Did the firebox last weekend .. design posted by NorcoRedNeck; came out really nice .. very heavy duty.
Also figured an easy template for the 1/2" vent holes in the top lid. I used the glass carousel plate from the wife's microwave. 16 1/2" diameter 8ea holes 6 1/2" apart for a perfect template.
Used a sharpie to make marks, layed the plate centered / face side down onto the drum top.
Transferred the 8 marks to the top .. voila .. 8 easy / perfectly spaced marks to drill the 1/2 vent holes. Cool thing about this is the marks are easily removed from the glass plate with a little soap and scrubber pad .. placed back in the microware before the wife realized what had happened. (Shhh .. dont tell!) :icon_blush:
Will post pics of the final product tomorrow evening .. wish me luck!