[Smokin'Ron]

OK, So I read the 300+ page UDS post and the information is invaluable. Awesome Ideas. Since mine is a work in progress and will probably take me a total of a couple of weeks to complete, I'll post updates as I go (hope this is OK). Sorry haven't figured out how to type between images yet so they are all at the bottom.

I drove 2 hours 1 way to get my 3 barrels with no lids for $10 ea. I was so excited to get the barrels since I couldn't find any local, I just grabbed what he had avaialable. As you can see 2 are the same and had Lemon Pulp in them, I initially thought they were unlined, but decided to take my drill will a sanding bit to them and sure enough they were coated with a finish. The green one was obvious as it was tan inside.

So, I'm not a shop guy and don't weld or have the general metal shop tools, but I do have some wood working tools and auto tools. I decided to build my first UDS with what I want from the wealth of knowledge I have found here. So I went to the store and grabed a 1" Metal whole saw for my drill, 3 3/4 nipples, 2 caps, and a Ball Valve. Figured this would get me started on my project.

Had seen many folks using steel brush wheels to clean the inside and some posted pics of what they looked like after. The wife mops the garage floor so I knew that was not going to work. I had purchased a nice little orbital sander for wood working that had a built in vacuum to a catch attachment. So I grabbed some 60 grit and went at it... also had a drill bit for sanding to get the cracks. Here are some pics of the process from raw barrel through the sanding process to nice clean and shiney.

Once completed with the sanding, I drilled my intake holes 1.5" on center from the bottom. Install 2 3/4" nipple with caps and 1 3/4" nipple with a Ball Valve. I regret not purchasing the unibit now, the hole saw made the 1" hole oblong with the drill and I believe it would have been more precise with the unibit. When installing my nipples, they were really loose. I decide to use loctite to get them set and figure the burnout would take care of that later...

Note the pics of my sanding pads, they have a lot of life left. Since the barrel is round, I was only able to use the edges, I ended up going through about 3 pads for the whole inside of the barrel.

I'm uploading what I personally felt comfortable wearing (and what the wife felt was funny enough to snap a few photos of) while doing this. The first few minutes I sanded with no protection, I started coughing like crazy...Note the color of the mask I wore, I put it on the cooler for a reason as that was the original color. I wore the overalls because they are cheap and easy to take the grime off with having to scrub my clothes.

So now, after getting the nipples and ball valve installed, I have the final pics. This is as far as I was able to get tonight after about 3 hours worth of solid work with a drink break every now and then. I'll be working on plans for the charcoal basket, maybe a heat damper and as you can see in a couple of photos, the Weber that will be the lid and top cooking grate.