Bending Weber lid for UDS

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Wh1skey6

Knows what a fatty is.
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To all of you out there who have bent their Weber lid to fit a UDS, a few questions:

1) If I understand the technique correctly, you are flaring out the bottom ridge of the Weber lid so it fits around the lip of the barrel, right? Or are you flattening out the ridge and by doing so, making it fit over the lip?

2) What was the fit like BEFORE? I can balance my Weber lid on the UDS and I don't see any gaps. I'm just worried that I wont be able to bend it out enough to cover.

3) After you bend it all the way out and bend it back OVER the lip, how does it look?
 
I bent the lip around my drum. It looked bad with the porcelein knocked off but I just reapplied paint :)
 
Mine just sits on top after bending. not enough lip to bend back down and kinda ugly but it doesnt blow off and it mostly seals. I would use flat stock on the barrel if I had a do-over, but it works fine.
 
Thanks everyone. That is exactly the advice I needed (bend or use flat stock). My stupid @$$ went to the scrap yard and picked up a 5ft piece of flat stock. I was thinking in my head "I only need a 44" piece". That number was the circumference of my fire basket, not the drum.

Back to HD to get a 6ft piece.
 
I used a pair of channel locks and bent the lip but wear safety glasses as the porcelain will take an eye out as it breaks. I used a rubber hammer to gently tap the lip back in place as it fits on the drum.

Remember the lid doesn't have to be perfectly sealed on the drum so if you see some smoke coming out especially after you first fire it up don't be too concerned as it will get a better fit the more you use it and build up a good layer on it.
 
Not trying to hi jack the thread, but my lid fits almost perfect if i bump the side of the drum with my hand. In y'alls opinion, is it worth screwing with or just leave it be?
 
See how the bottom fits
sa7e7a6y.jpg


Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2
 
First off, do you have a closed or open top? Basically, did yours come with a removeable top or did you have to cut the top out. There a several ways to go about mounting a weber lid to each style of drum.

Mine is a closed top. Carefully grinded lip until the top fell into barrel. Then ground outside of lip, stopping every so often to test fit lid. Got mine to fit pretty nice. Once you cook on it a few times the seasoning will help it seal. If you decided to go this way, I'll describe more in detail.

Btw, if you do decide to do any grinding, use a soft or "floppy" disk. Not the harder, thicker kind. I learned that the hard way. I ruined the lip on an open top. Hard disk wants to bite in to the lip and gouge. Soft disk conforms more to the radius. :)
 
peaspurple said:
I flattened mine out then put on the drum and hammered down around it. This way it made a new lip.

Perfect fit
Click to expand...

Yep. I did the same thing. Flattened out the lip on the driveway pavement, put the lid on the top of the drum where I wanted it, and held it in place while I bent the lip back down around the top of the drum with a rubber mallet.

Worked awesomely. For the first two years, the thing literally "snapped" into place. No leaks whatsoever.

Did have to repaint it, but I was going to do that anyway, so no big deal.
 
I have an open top drum. There's about a 1/4" gap from the edge of the lip to the edge of the lid.

I didn't want to ruin the weber lid because I am planning a UDS/WSM combo build. I got a piece of 72" x 1/8 x 2" flat bar for $4.50. I used three c clamps and worked my way round the top and bent the flat bar.

Just a note, the exact size is 72.25" for the drum's ID. I should have a small gap but my BIL will weld that for me.
 
We flattened it out the. Reshaped it around the drum. A very small amount of smoke comes out but its not a big deal. There is already 3 or 4 holes in lid :)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
polkaholic said:
See how the bottom fits
sa7e7a6y.jpg



I used the bottom of a weber on mine for the lid but ended up welding the lid upside down inside the UDS then sitting the bottom of the weber inside the lid. Maybe I over thought this as was in a hurry to get it built since gotta do a 40 pound turkey for Thanksgiving..I think I should have welded the bottom of the weber to the original drum lid for a better fit..
Click to expand...
 
mcrent said:
polkaholic said:
See how the bottom fits
sa7e7a6y.jpg



I used the bottom of a weber on mine for the lid but ended up welding the lid upside down inside the UDS then sitting the bottom of the weber inside the lid. Maybe I over thought this as was in a hurry to get it built since gotta do a 40 pound turkey for Thanksgiving..I think I should have welded the bottom of the weber to the original drum lid for a better fit..
Click to expand...

40 lbs??? How hot and what style of smoking? With that big of a bird, I would be worried it stays in the danger zone too long.
Click to expand...
 
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