I suspect you'll change your mind once I get the gold paint on it, paint the top dome into a football helmet, put the number 10 front and back along with some Mizzou emblems. :-P

Thanks for the compliment and tip but I imagine I just got lazy and forgot to click the insert image button.

I prefer the shop-vac mod :-D

A Mutiger in Fayetteville? You are a brave soul. Why don't you paint the top to look like a basketball instead...er, nevermind :heh:

Shouldn't be a problem at all. I did the same and mine seals up SO well that it did a 24 hour burn at 225* and only about 8 lbs of charcoal were used..... I say Smoke Away!!!

looks good p man, wifey found the wallyworld thermometer, gonna pick up nipple, cap and12" pizza pan tomorrow punch some holes in it and test it out sunday with some chickens and a couple fattys. now that i have the long thermo i feel alot more confident on my heat control. il post picks when i finish the heat shield and let u know the the sunday results

Messing around with my first build, I know its not going to be pretty. I have to fix the edge, messed it up when cutting the lip off..... Anyway.

So I decided to play with my new Propane Torch and melt away some of the black paint off this Old drum I took home from work. And underneath the paint read the following:


http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5027517_n.jpg


I had plans to paint it Cubs blue and throw some Cubs logo's on it, now I just feel like leaving it ugly if the "Hot Charcoal Only" survives the burn this weekend.

I cant say this for sure, but this drum may be from the 1940's. My company leases an Old Factory building on a military base, the building we are in used to manufacture Tanks and other War Machinery during WWII. Its been used for some other manufacturing since, but thought this was neat enough to share.

hendunesia I think you have the 1 in a trillionth! :-P

this is how i cut my lid,hammer and chisel then the angle grinder this way no sharp edges to worry about

first post
 

this is my first post.. i have been reading through this monstrosity of a post now for the past week.. getting ready to start my build next week.. i have secured a unlied referbed open top barrel and am looking forward to some nice smokey meat.. On a side note.. i am new to smoking too.. but something i have wanted to get into..

few questions..

with regards to the intake vents... it seems the accepted practice here is the 3" holes with the pipe nipples.. 2 capped and 1 ball valve.. with that said.. is there a performance differnece between having the ball valve intake short and stubby right off the barrel vs having it elevated along the side of the barrel? or is it just a cosmetic / not bending over preference?

for the stack.. i was planning on utilizing the 2" bung hold in the lid and threading in a section of pipe and adding an adjustable damper to it.. is that enough of a vent.. i see some barrels have about 8 holes drilled in the top

besides cost.. is there any reason to use Black pipe nipples / caps vs copper?

with Seasoning... is it just spraying PAM on the inside and running it through a burn cycle?.. low and slow or hot?

and my last question.. (for now)... water tray.. i see some people use them.. some don't.. I know there are arguments for direct heat source vs indirect.. i am new to smoking.. is there a preference?

thanks for all your help.. i will post pictures when i start

I hope you meant 3/4" vents. Instead of having three separate vent openings a single 1.5" ball valve should also do the trick. The 1.5" ID vent gives you more intake volume, somewhere close to having four separate smaller vents. I think this approach gives you more latitude from a single vent.

yeah i did mean 3... 3/4" vents..

now with using the 1 larger vent.. does that have any impact on the fire since all the air is coming in from one side as apposed to spread out aroudn the bottom?

Absolutely no difference IMO.

Even with the smaller vents once the temperature settles you'll be controlling intake from one single valve only. I don't think it matters which direction the air is coming from, it'll find its way to the rightful coals.

But cost wise, the bigger ball valve and its fittings will be a lot more expensive so that's something to consider also. And also the bit to open up a hole that big.....but there are other ways to get around that.

I'm using a length of pipe screwed into the bung hole for the vent. do not put a damper on the exhaust, control the temperature with the intake valves. shutting off the intakes and leaving the exhaust open will still snuff out the coals.

what about the ability to close it when its not in use.. to keep water out?

cut the top off your last beer can you drank while smokin and put it over the stack