Zombie Pit Returns, pt 2!!

[Mrhdvrod]

Just be careful, powder coat is set at a lower temperature, if the pit hits 350 degrees and up the powder coat may fail and start bubbling off. This is why most use a high temp paint or ceramic coating. You may always plan on running low and slow just hate to see a killer powder coat job go bad from a grease fire.

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Originally Posted by Mrhdvrod

Just be careful, powder coat is set at a lower temperature, if the pit hits 350 degrees and up the powder coat may fail and start bubbling off. This is why most use a high temp paint or ceramic coating. You may always plan on running low and slow just hate to see a killer powder coat job go bad from a grease fire.

Yea, I have a paint guy I'm going to talk to about that. Supposedly there is a high-temp powider you can use. I have to see what temp it's good for. Also, going to have to try and figure out how hot the fire box will get- might have to use a different product for it as well.

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Got some more stuff done yesterday.

Welded on the handles to the cooking grates.





Then decided to tackle the tank flange since my welder buddy couldn't stay late to help out- it wasn't fun. Couple of burn holes, couple voids I had to re-do and a big glob of weld I had to grind down. It ain't pretty but it's done.





Then I ground down the end of the rails that were sticking out. Before:



After:



I even rounded off the corners and beveled ends to make it easier to get the racks in.

I started to layout the opening for the air intake and cut that out.





Then I cut a rail for that and got it tacked up.



By that point I was out of time.

More coming next week. Thanks for lookin!

[Mike Twangzer]

This is like watching a good TV series that reaches the end of an episode and leaves you hanging for the next. Click .... next episode ....

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Originally Posted by Mike Twangzer

This is like watching a good TV series that reaches the end of an episode and leaves you hanging for the next. Click .... next episode ....

Like a fan favorite that got cancelled twice but keeps coming back?

[4ever3]

Lookin good!

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Man, it has been a rough few weeks. First my wife's grandmother died, then a couple weeks later my grandmother died, then a couple days later my wife's great aunt died.

Needless to say I've been a little busy.

Today I finally had time to stay after work and get a few little things done.

My buddy finished fabricating and welding the rails for the air intake door on.



Then I cut and bent a handle for the air intake door and welded it on.





While I was doing that, my buddy was torching off the rusty old plugs from the top of the tank.





Then He fixed a couple of welds on the bottom of the frame.



I started to tack and weld a piece of steel in the hole where the old air intake was going to be.





It warped the hell out of the front of the basket, but I think it'll be easy enough to fix.



While I was doing that, my buddy was cutting some blanks to weld over those 5 tank flanges in the top. This will keep the smoker low enough to fit into my garage.

We also cut some 3/4" lengths on pipe to make the exhaust stack caps.

That was all we had time for. I'm thinking about sneaking in to work for a few hrs saturday morning to weld those blanks over the flanges and work on the exhaust caps. We'll see how I feel.

Thanks for looking!

[SmokinAussie]

Such a lot of work but but looks well worth it!

[4ever3]

Keep it up and you’ll be loading meat in it before you know it!

[KClandcruiser]

Getting so close! I can't wait to see this bad boy blowing smoke

[Mike Twangzer]

Another great episode .... sure am glad the series wasn't cancelled !!!!

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Finally got some work-time in yesterday. My buddy couldn't stay so it was just me.

I decided to not bother trying to make the covers for the holes in the top perfectly round and just went ahead and welded them on.





Cleaned up.





Then I welded the covers on to the exhaust caps.





Since I was going over that way, I figured I'd cut some flat stock for the hinges.



Then I started to clean up the welds on the exhaust caps on the belt sander.



By the time I was done with that it was getting late so I had to quit for the day.

Stay tuned for another fun filled episode next week (hopefully)!

Thanks for watching!

[Gee Tee]

Most people don't realise (realize in the U S?) how long the little jobs take. It can get demoralising if you don't feel you getting on quickly enough. Keep at her, I promise you will look back at the work and think "worth it". Looking forward to the next installment.

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Originally Posted by Gee Tee

Most people don't realise (realize in the U S?) how long the little jobs take. It can get demoralising if you don't feel you getting on quickly enough. Keep at her, I promise you will look back at the work and think "worth it". Looking forward to the next installment.

Agree 100%

My wife & my boss both jokingly comment about how long it's taking to get done. My boss loves spreadsheets so I put this together to show him that I am making progress.

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Welcome to this episode of This Olde Pit.

I was able to stay and get a few things done yesterday.

First, I laid the smoker down so I could layout the doors, hinges and handles.





I realized a while ago that the handles I bought weren't going to work without some modification because the striker is too tall, even set at the lowest position. I'm going to make new strikers out of a piece of 3/4" or 1" bar stock and weld them on instead.




Once I had everything laidout, I finished fabricating one set of hinges by drilling the holes for the pins/bolts and rounding off the corners. I also finished grinding down the welds on the other exhaust cap while I was over there.



I set them back up on the smoker using a length of SS tubing to keep them lined up.






Then I tacked them on. You can't see it in the pictures but I unspooled some of the gasket I bought and laid it underneath the door to make sure I got the proper gap.








It was getting late, so I replaced the tubing with a couple of bolts and flipped the smoker upright to check the function- everything works just fine.





The door didn't move much at all and as still lined up pretty good to the lines I made.




For the other door I'm going to try to get the small parts of the hinges closer in size/roundness. No one else will probably ever notice, but I do.



Thanks for joining us on this weeks' This Olde Pit. We'll see you next time.


Thanks for looking!