johncsimpson
Wandering around with a bag of matchlight, looking for a match.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2017
- Location
- Bristol, TN
Fellas, long-time listener, first-time caller.
Several years ago I dug my mom's mid-eighties Kamado out of the backyard where it'd sat neglected. I didn't even know what a kamado was, that is until I found this forum and the good people on it. Well, I restored it once, using electrolysis on the metal bands and grill grate and a new charcoal grate. Loved it, loved the wonderful meat it cooked.
Then I went to seminary, where the good kamado could not follow, and gave it to my brother. He broke it, cracked the lid, probably from overheating. After graduating, getting a job, buying a house, I got it back, and found this.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192801&stc=1&d=1619578574
So I rededicated myself to the forums, learning from old masters like MayDay and Swamprb. I glued the firebox back together, eschewing the JB's for the Rutland's Furnace Cement.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192802&stc=1&d=1619578930
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192803&stc=1&d=1619578930
I buffed the heck out of the metal bands (and a few other things around the house) with the 3M paint and rust stripper attachment on the drill, then spray painted it with Krylon high temp, gave it a nice, glossy shine (not pictured).
Finally, I used Rutland's furnace cement on the lid, moistening it with a spray bottle. I slipped some newspaper under it then used the freshly painted bands to hold it tight in place. After a couple of days I flipped it upside down and set it in a small plastic planter for added compression, then filled in the cracks on the inside of the lid.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192804&stc=1&d=1619579349
My wife (who helped me with all of this, couldn't have done it without her and her eye for crafts and texture) and I put a fresh gasket on, too. Cleaned the rim with that same 3M pad. Used NakedWhiz's system of quartering and marking the gasket and the rim. She applied the gasket cement with a gloved finger every 6 inches while I laid the gasket, and our nine year VERY carefully laid some painters tape over it to hold it fast.
Finally this day, just a few weeks after the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord, this beautiful old pot sprang back to life! I used a homemade firestarter of paraffin from discarded candles (I work at a church), a crockpot, rolled up newspaper cut into five inch cylinders, and twine. Raised the temp over a couple of hours to 500, and it held it for four hours no problem, with just a sliver of vent on the bottom and top.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192805&stc=1&d=1619579546z
It was all I could do to hold it back.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192806&stc=1&d=1619579546
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192807&stc=1&d=1619579546
But, alas, this thread isn't about me. It's about you. You dedicated folk who posted your successes and failures (largely a decade ago) and left the evidence for me to scour. The first rack of ribs are dedicated to you.
Several years ago I dug my mom's mid-eighties Kamado out of the backyard where it'd sat neglected. I didn't even know what a kamado was, that is until I found this forum and the good people on it. Well, I restored it once, using electrolysis on the metal bands and grill grate and a new charcoal grate. Loved it, loved the wonderful meat it cooked.
Then I went to seminary, where the good kamado could not follow, and gave it to my brother. He broke it, cracked the lid, probably from overheating. After graduating, getting a job, buying a house, I got it back, and found this.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192801&stc=1&d=1619578574
So I rededicated myself to the forums, learning from old masters like MayDay and Swamprb. I glued the firebox back together, eschewing the JB's for the Rutland's Furnace Cement.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192802&stc=1&d=1619578930
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192803&stc=1&d=1619578930
I buffed the heck out of the metal bands (and a few other things around the house) with the 3M paint and rust stripper attachment on the drill, then spray painted it with Krylon high temp, gave it a nice, glossy shine (not pictured).
Finally, I used Rutland's furnace cement on the lid, moistening it with a spray bottle. I slipped some newspaper under it then used the freshly painted bands to hold it tight in place. After a couple of days I flipped it upside down and set it in a small plastic planter for added compression, then filled in the cracks on the inside of the lid.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192804&stc=1&d=1619579349
My wife (who helped me with all of this, couldn't have done it without her and her eye for crafts and texture) and I put a fresh gasket on, too. Cleaned the rim with that same 3M pad. Used NakedWhiz's system of quartering and marking the gasket and the rim. She applied the gasket cement with a gloved finger every 6 inches while I laid the gasket, and our nine year VERY carefully laid some painters tape over it to hold it fast.
Finally this day, just a few weeks after the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord, this beautiful old pot sprang back to life! I used a homemade firestarter of paraffin from discarded candles (I work at a church), a crockpot, rolled up newspaper cut into five inch cylinders, and twine. Raised the temp over a couple of hours to 500, and it held it for four hours no problem, with just a sliver of vent on the bottom and top.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192805&stc=1&d=1619579546z
It was all I could do to hold it back.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192806&stc=1&d=1619579546
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=192807&stc=1&d=1619579546
But, alas, this thread isn't about me. It's about you. You dedicated folk who posted your successes and failures (largely a decade ago) and left the evidence for me to scour. The first rack of ribs are dedicated to you.
