My First UDS Build...

I have been wanting to build a UDS for awhile now but just never had the time as other projects kept getting in the way. after collecting all the parts and supplies I needed, I finally made the time to start my build. I wanted to keep it simple and not stray from the basics that I learned from the great UDS threads here. Although I did (as I always do) ended up doing a few things different along the way as the work started, I think it turned out pretty good....


This is what I started with:





Then picked up this weber with some extras from CL for CHEAP!





The drum was bought new and painted before I got it, So I had to get busy with the wire wheel on the inside.





I Ended up scoring another Weber Kettle (freebie!) and decided to use that one for this project as it was blue and I wanted to keep the black Weber. My kettle lid did not fit my barrel very well so I had to figure out how to mount it. Well one thing led to another and I tried using the bottom to the weber kettle and liked the way it looked with the extra headroom, and the vents being dead center on the top.

I decided this was going to be my lid and this is how I made it work:









I cut the nubz off the dome and went a little deep to get rid of some rust, so I used some JB weld to smooth/fill the area.





The bottom of the lid is damm heavy, so I had the idea of hinging it....In the end it turned out awesome and was totally worth it, but it added A LOT of time to my build.

I started by using the handle already on the kettle and welding on a 4" metal hinge...









It took on a life of its own after this as I continued to build as needed.

I call it "FrankenHinge".





I built in a stop to hold the lid open as well.



Time to burn it out!

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After the burn the outside got sanded and then a good cleaning.





Then I painted her with some Duplicolor gloss black engine paint.



There was a 3/8" gap that need to be sealed between the ring for the lid and the drum so I used some stove gasket to keep it leak free. I finished this with black high temp RTV, oiled up the rim of the lid and closed it tight for a couple days so the RTV would form a nice tight seal around the lid. The outcome was better then I expected before I started... The lid closes and seals perfectly!






DONE!!!







Thanks for looking!

Thanks for all the comments.... I hope to season it this weekend and get to learning what a UDS is all about!

cirk said:

That is sweet! After all that work you need beer and fire!

Click to expand...

Hoping to make that happen later today!

Thanks again for all the comments....

Here's a couple pic's I forgot to post.

I made a hook to grab my charcoal basket out of an old sprinkler wrench (?) I had laying around.

Before:


After:




I also plan on adding some wheels and side shelves for some work space !