Ugly Drum Smoker

Dude, don't sweat the galvanizing. If you are really concerned, just do a high temp burn. Or better yet, buy something without it.

Reality is, you gotta ingest a lot of zinc (like eat a kg) to have toxic effects. Some welders have symptoms from excessive exposure to zinc vapors in high temperature welding situations. But smoking in a drum with a couple of zinc coated nuts and bolts? Not gonna happen...

UVaJester said:

What size U-bolts are the best to use..?? I'm collecting my parts right now... Already cut the lid out, have a cooking grate, and a dome lid for the top... Hopefully going to do the burn out this weekend.

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I was thinking that these look good:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#29535t11

You can use concrete etching acid to remove the zinc as well, but then you have to dispose of the stuff safely too. So, I just bought some SS parts to hold the grates but will be using zinc coated nuts and bolts everywhere else they are needed.

When heated to temperatures nearing boiling point (1600 degrees F), zinc oxide fumes are produced. It has to boil, not just melt, as I understand it.

If you are using a weed burner to light coals and the flame is near zinc, it is conceivable that it could heat zinc to a temperature to produce zinc oxide.

Did you know that some candles have zinc in their wicks and are safe? Here is a quote from the National Candle Association (Yeah, who knew there was one of those?),

"Cored Wicks. These braided or knitted wicks use a core material to keep the wick straight or upright while burning. The wicks have a round cross section, and the use of different core materials provides a range of stiffness effects. The most common core materials for wicks are cotton, paper, zinc or tin. Cored wicks can be found in jar candles, pillars, votives and devotional lights."

http://www.candles.org/elements_wicks.html

Now, I am not offering any council on whether or not to use zinc plated hardware, I'm just mentioning some interesting facts. It's up to you to do the research and make your own informed decision to use zinc coated nuts and bolts or not.

AJP said:

It's a brand new lid, just not sure I want to do that just yet. Seems like a lot of work also.

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Geeeeeesh just beat away on it. I took a perfectly good brand spanking new SS Domed lid and beat the crap out of it to fit my SS drum!! :biggrin::biggrin:

Paul B
SS UDS

Rodney said:

Yeah, I know it should be open during cooking, just didn't know if throttling it served any purpose. So far I've deduced that it should be big enough to not act as much of a restriction to flow, but small enough that it ensures one-way flow, as opposed to (let's say) a 12" exhaust that would allow some air to swirl back into the drum and feed the fire. I guess a chimney would mainly just achieve this goal during very low temp smokes, and would also probably create a suction that would draw more air into the smoker (which you'd just throttle back anyway, so no benefit there, right?)

Good call on the acorn nuts... Yeah, I have a whole parts list put together for hardware and handles from McMaster, and it's getting pricey. ;-) Might downgrade to Home Depot hardware. As for the zinc plating, I would expect that it'd be fine everywhere but on the charcoal basket, as you're not going to get enough heat into the zinc to oxidize it anywhere on the drum... Right?

-Rodney

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Ace hardware has a great selection of ss and not to shabby on price.

Paul B
SS UDS

Paul B said:

Geeeeeesh just beat away on it. I took a perfectly good brand spanking new SS Domed lid and beat the crap out of it to fit my SS drum!! :biggrin::biggrin:

Paul B
SS UDS

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Pictures?????

You DO know how to beat, don't you?

schellter said:

Pictures?????

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Pre beat:


Beaten, not shook...:biggrin::biggrin:


Paul B
SS UDS

Wish I had a ss drum. There was a guy in another thread that was going to bury one half way in the ground and cook in it. Whats this world coming to.

Paul B said:

Pre beat:

Beaten, not shook...:biggrin::biggrin:

Paul B
SS UDS

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What are the bolts for that are sticking through the beaten flat lip? Also and chance you would post a close-up pic of how the lid sits on the drum? I have a SS drum that I'm trying to decide what I'm going to use for a lid.

Mirage_Man said:

What are the bolts for that are sticking through the beaten flat lip? Also and chance you would post a close-up pic of how the lid sits on the drum? I have a SS drum that I'm trying to decide what I'm going to use for a lid.

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IMO, this is the best way to make a dome lid fit
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78156

Rodney- That's the size U-bolt I went with. You don't need the plate, though. I've used the same thing in black oxide, which is loads cheaper, and I use SS acorn nuts on the outside. After it gets seasoned, I don't think anything inside the drum will rust. I'm of the 'build it right, build it once' school, so I usually spring for SS on the outside parts. McMaster-Carr is a great source for all kinds of hardware, and they are usually cheaper, although sometimes you are stuck buying a larger quantity. Titanium UDS parts, anyone?

MushCreek said:

Rodney- That's the size U-bolt I went with. You don't need the plate, though. I've used the same thing in black oxide, which is loads cheaper, and I use SS acorn nuts on the outside. After it gets seasoned, I don't think anything inside the drum will rust. I'm of the 'build it right, build it once' school, so I usually spring for SS on the outside parts. McMaster-Carr is a great source for all kinds of hardware, and they are usually cheaper, although sometimes you are stuck buying a larger quantity. Titanium UDS parts, anyone?

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I agree with the " 'build it right, build it once'" mentality. I'll be using stainless hardware on mine as well. As to titanium? I work almost exclusively with titanium in one of my other hobbies and plan to incorporate some into my UDS build somewhere :biggrin:.

I have 0 tools.....Well I only have screw drivers, hammers, and nails...maybe sand paper.

I have my eyes on a 55 gallon with a removable top, but havent pulled the trigger just yet. I'm calculating costs first.

What tools do I need to buy to build a super simple UDS?

I know I made a build thread on this.. but though some might want to check it out... so anyway here you are.

VERY nice setup, hath! I love the covered but extremely handy intake, as well as the huge side table. What is the counter top made from?

I've yet to build my UDS, so forgive the uninformed question... do you notice any problems arising from the intake air all rushing in from one side? Uneven burning? If it was burning unevenly, would you even be able to tell? I've been meaning to ask this question... ;-)

-Rodney

PitBully said:

I have 0 tools.....Well I only have screw drivers, hammers, and nails...maybe sand paper.

I have my eyes on a 55 gallon with a removable top, but havent pulled the trigger just yet. I'm calculating costs first.

What tools do I need to buy to build a super simple UDS?

Click to expand...

im pretty sure you could get by with just a drill. you would have to buy a hole saw bit to cut the holes though. i saw a fire basket someone used that was sold in the clost section at home depot,( so no welding ). ask your neighbors if you need something you dont have. oh you'll need a tape measure.

I finally got a chance to cut the top of my drum... Cleaned up the edges with the angle grinder and I'm picking up a BGE vent tomorrow. Pallets are piling up and I'm ready to do the burn out this weekend...

PitBully said:

I have 0 tools.....Well I only have screw drivers, hammers, and nails...maybe sand paper.

I have my eyes on a 55 gallon with a removable top, but havent pulled the trigger just yet. I'm calculating costs first.

What tools do I need to buy to build a super simple UDS?

Click to expand...

Mostly you need to be able to drill a number of holes of various sizes. There are small ones for the bolts or whatever that you're going to use to hold your grates in place, then there are larger ones for intake and exhaust. You can control the size of your intakes with magnets. I suppose if you were going to 'McGyver one, you could punch holes with the hammer and screwdriver, bringing 'ugly' to a whole new level!

If you can beg/borrow/buy a cheap drill motor, Harbor Freight sells step drills for like $14 on sale that will drill all of your various sized holes.

your gonna love it