Wampus
somebody shut me the fark up.
So Pastor Dan (chambersuac) asked me some time ago if I would be willing to build a UDS for a friend of his in northern IN. I obliged, and originally thought I'd have the project whipped out in no time.
HOWEVER.....I think this project started in May or June and I just got done with it. Between work and all the other things I'm involved in, I just haven't given it as much time as I'd have liked. I finally finished it up tonight, though, and Dan's buddy happened to be near Indy and came out to pick it up.
I was able to get a lot of the parts either for free, on sale or off of CL, so this was a fairly cheap build.
FREE PARTS:
3/4" ball valve
3/4" short nipples
Misc steel parts for cooking grate tabs, etc.
Expanded metal for fire basket
1/2" rebar for fire basket and hook
3/4" square stock steel for the handles
A buddy helped me do the welding All parts are welded on, no bolts at all (well, except for the lid hinges).
CHEAP PARTS:
I bought a UNIFLAME grill off of CL for $10, from which I was able to use the charcoal grate for the bottom of the firebasket, the cooking grate and the lid and lid hinges.
The drum itself I picked up for $5. I had to buy 5 for $25 total, but I think I may know what I can do with the other 4 drums......:roll:
NEW PARTS/SERVICES:
I had to splurge on a new 22 1/2" Weber cooking grate for $15.99 (most expensive single part of the build)
12" - 3/4" long black nipple
2 - 3/4" CI nipple caps
$30 sandblasting out the liner and off of the paint
White and Red High Temp Spray Paint (5 cans total @ about $6.50 ea)
Misc bolts/nuts/washers, etc. for hardware
TOTAL COST was right about $80 to build
Here's some photos I took just before he took it away....
The white cross was masked off with tape prior to the red paint application. Hey.....Dan's buddy was a Lutheran Pastor!!!
I really wish MY UDS had a hinged lid like that!
The firebasket....
It features 2 cooking grates. The top is 2" below the lip of the drum, and the lower is 6" below the top grate.
The firebasket (as you can see) has a place that the provided rebar hook can lift and lower it in and out of the drum with (hook not pictured). The basket measured 15.5" diameter, and has 6" sidewalls and 3" tall legs.
The hinged lid turned out great. The Uniflame grill has these cast aluminum hinges with stops on them that hold the lid just past upright. This is one feature that I really wish my drum had! The lid also has 2 grommeted holes at the back, that were for an extra warming shelf on the grill. I didn't utilize the shelf, but these holes will be put to use since Chris (the new owner) has a dual probe maverick thermo.
The ball valve is raised to prevent bending and it's also easy to see how much the vent is open this way. Sometimes I have to nearly kneel down on the ground to get a good look to see how much mine's open (especially if I just want it BARELY cracked open).
I had to do some slight modification to the lid flange to widen and flatten it a bit so it would sit snuggly to the drum top. This will allow it to be weather tight and seal up nicely. Since this cracked the porcelain coating, it required painting to prevent rust, so the whole lid ended up getting painted, which looks nice anyway.
Time to build one for me with some of these features!:thumb: (I have 4 more drums left)
Thanks for lookin!!
HOWEVER.....I think this project started in May or June and I just got done with it. Between work and all the other things I'm involved in, I just haven't given it as much time as I'd have liked. I finally finished it up tonight, though, and Dan's buddy happened to be near Indy and came out to pick it up.
I was able to get a lot of the parts either for free, on sale or off of CL, so this was a fairly cheap build.
FREE PARTS:
3/4" ball valve
3/4" short nipples
Misc steel parts for cooking grate tabs, etc.
Expanded metal for fire basket
1/2" rebar for fire basket and hook
3/4" square stock steel for the handles
A buddy helped me do the welding All parts are welded on, no bolts at all (well, except for the lid hinges).
CHEAP PARTS:
I bought a UNIFLAME grill off of CL for $10, from which I was able to use the charcoal grate for the bottom of the firebasket, the cooking grate and the lid and lid hinges.
The drum itself I picked up for $5. I had to buy 5 for $25 total, but I think I may know what I can do with the other 4 drums......:roll:
NEW PARTS/SERVICES:
I had to splurge on a new 22 1/2" Weber cooking grate for $15.99 (most expensive single part of the build)
12" - 3/4" long black nipple
2 - 3/4" CI nipple caps
$30 sandblasting out the liner and off of the paint
White and Red High Temp Spray Paint (5 cans total @ about $6.50 ea)
Misc bolts/nuts/washers, etc. for hardware
TOTAL COST was right about $80 to build
Here's some photos I took just before he took it away....
The white cross was masked off with tape prior to the red paint application. Hey.....Dan's buddy was a Lutheran Pastor!!!
I really wish MY UDS had a hinged lid like that!
The firebasket....
It features 2 cooking grates. The top is 2" below the lip of the drum, and the lower is 6" below the top grate.
The firebasket (as you can see) has a place that the provided rebar hook can lift and lower it in and out of the drum with (hook not pictured). The basket measured 15.5" diameter, and has 6" sidewalls and 3" tall legs.
The hinged lid turned out great. The Uniflame grill has these cast aluminum hinges with stops on them that hold the lid just past upright. This is one feature that I really wish my drum had! The lid also has 2 grommeted holes at the back, that were for an extra warming shelf on the grill. I didn't utilize the shelf, but these holes will be put to use since Chris (the new owner) has a dual probe maverick thermo.
The ball valve is raised to prevent bending and it's also easy to see how much the vent is open this way. Sometimes I have to nearly kneel down on the ground to get a good look to see how much mine's open (especially if I just want it BARELY cracked open).
I had to do some slight modification to the lid flange to widen and flatten it a bit so it would sit snuggly to the drum top. This will allow it to be weather tight and seal up nicely. Since this cracked the porcelain coating, it required painting to prevent rust, so the whole lid ended up getting painted, which looks nice anyway.
Time to build one for me with some of these features!:thumb: (I have 4 more drums left)
Thanks for lookin!!
