Hi, newbie here. Building my first UDS and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading everyone's posts, very helpful

PaulieG here, I posted in the newbie section to say hello and thought I would show all you VERY helpful members my last build. I love this site the information and the respect you Q'rs have make this the best Q site I have ever been on.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds8.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...tana/uds11.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...tana/uds10.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds3.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds9.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds4.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds7.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds2.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds1.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds5.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...atana/uds6.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...tana/uds12.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...tana/uds13.jpg

Paulie G, that's a good lookin' drum. There is a lot going on there.

I am pondering adding the gasket / seal for my lid. Have you been pleased with that mod?

Also, are you happy with the hinged lid? Thanks!

thanks- I have to tweek the lid a little yet I have found that the gasket works and seals better if it is attached to the inside of the drum and not fastened to the top. the pic shows it on top but I have not yet moved it down. not sure if it is need but I always put one on. The hinge system works great just make sure you buy the heaviest gauge you can find. I will season this drum over the weekend and give it a test run.

Sorry.... didn't read all of this. I actually started my drum build about two months ago. I found this site last week. I got the drum back home. It had the brown translucent liner in it. Found somebody locally to blast the liner out for $30. I patterned mine from the Popular Mechanics site. I got it put together Saturday, rubbed down with Crisco, and fired that puppy up for seasoning. It was windy yesterday and I couldn't get the temp over 330ish but it held that for 6+ hours. I went to bed and it was still puffing. And it was damn windy today, but I had to try it out. Lightly seasoned the ribs, 2 hours then 1 hour in foil, @230ish, and there's only one place I've ever had better ribs. I really want to try it in calm weather. I think my stand pipes are too high maybe(18 inches at 3/4 and theres 4 of em)? Not enough exhaust(old spinner of a kettle) .? Starter fire too small.? Not real sure what's going on but I'm real happy with my beginner's luck. I gotta get the temp up before i try a turkey though. I'll keep browsing here and experimenting.

BPS EDS Complete!
 

Here it is all complete! finally! Went a bit overboard lol but it kinda just got away from me! :becky: I burned and seasoned a re-conditioned drum. Sanded and painted the outside with 1200 deg BBQ paint and put a big poppa EDS kit on and finished it with an old gasser cart and a corian top. I was going to go with a wood top but a good friend is a foreman in a custom bar and restaurant interior shop and he had this piece of corian laying around.


Now begins the fun part of figuring out all the vents, time and temps! lol
http://imageshack.com/scaled/640x480/845/i4k4.jpg

http://imageshack.com/scaled/640x480/163/4my6.jpg

http://imageshack.com/scaled/640x480/15/rddu.jpg

sweet build!

Nice build.

Hello everybody,

I got a food grade tight head 55 gal drum with the red liner in it off of craigslist for 15 bux. I used. 2 cans of oven-off to remove the liner and it worked well. I am now burning off any of the leftover residue after cleaning the inside with dawn. I cut the lid off the inside edge of the drum and ground the sharp edges smooth. For the lid I went to a commercial cooking supply store and picked up a huge stock-pot lid that happens to fit perfectly. I am using 3 1" intakes with two of them having ball valves on them and one with a plug. I am grateful for all the good info on this site and can not wait to season it and throw a chuckle on it to test this baby out. I will post pics as soon as she is painted up and complete. Thanks again for all the good info.

Finally finished mine
 

Well, mostly finished.

and I don't subscribe to the K.I.S.S. theory:boxing:

I say if its worth doing, its worth over-doing :becky:

http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps52f1355d.jpg
http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb4a79a7d.jpg
http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc668c801.jpg
http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9dd8c573.jpg

I'll be posting a build thread probably next weekend.

during the seasoning run, I was able to adjust it between 300 and 450
with no problems, using 1/2-2/3 of a chimney to start it.

I have to admit, it started out at 13 degrees this morning, got to maybe 19 today with 20 MPH winds. I used 2 times the coal I normally use to smoke 2 butts as if it was warmer. First time I have seen that much difference!
http://imageshack.us/a/img845/6117/u0pl.jpg
Butts at 4 hrs into the cook
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/8421/fw11.jpg

HAndyman ... Maybe my ignorance is showing but what is the handle apparatus between the two temp gauges?

Air intake control.

Looks like he has Bicycle brake cables running to the intakes. Turning the handles pulls or pushes the cables operating the intakes open or closed.

Steampunked! Overkill is underated
 

:clap2:A big boiler gauge would be killer on this!