Rook, your gonna love it!
I'm doing my first brisket tomorrow on mine. Can't wait. Its like a whole new inspiration for q for me. Thanks Norco again.

Dave, I forgot one very important step when we were talking about the build.



MAKE SURE you have plenty of beer on hand. It makes the build go faster and everything turns out perfect!!

HERE HERE!! I second the motion!

Building my 4th UDS tonight. Well, doing some of the work since the World Series is on. Have a TV in the garage, plenty of beer, wife loves to help, burned the barrel for the second time today, sanded, used metal conditioner and now drying in the garage. This one is for a friend that gave me a near new Bandera so making this for them. Will take pics later and try to finish up tomorrow. Depends on the amount of beer and what mama helps with.:biggrin: Life Is Good!

UDS and first cook pics.
 

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/f...=1stSpares.jpgHere are a few pictures of my first UDS and first spare, after i took the spare off the smoker i opened up all the intake holes and raised the temp. to cook 2 chicken breast and 1 sirlion steak all of which turned out very good. Not bad for a first time smoke. Looking forward to useing my smoker a lot. Held temps. with no problems. Wish i had known about the UDS sooner.http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...ethren/1st.jpghttp://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...weetBlue-1.jpghttp://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...thren/Temp.jpghttp://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...deBasket-1.jpghttp://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...en/MyUDS-1.jpghttp://i239.photobucke[IMG]http://i2.../InsideUDS.jpgt.com/albums/ff72/bbq-brethren/Resting.jpg[/IMG]http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f.../SweetBlue.jpg Hope this corrected post helps some other newbie who may need just a little push to get started. Enjoy the post.:wink::grin:

deeque -
Did you paint or oil your UDS? If that's paint, what kind & does it come in spray cans?


Smooookin' -
I think that we talked about the secret ingredient (beer), or maybe we just drank enough that all I can remember is beer, friends, beer, lots of damn good food, beer, even better friends, beer, ways to cook and/or make smokers, and, of course --- BEER!
Did I mention that there was alcohol involved?

Oiled the inside real good with PAM. The outside was painted when i got the barrel. It was a reconditioned model, not many miles on it. You can use Krilon High heat paint it works good, i've used it before with good results. Good luck and happy smokin with yours. May your smoke always be blue.

Rookie'48 if you can get yourself a step bit it helps with the hole drilling and can be used on later models. (UDS) IMHO

Anyone have any idea's on how to fit a rotis on these things? I have been throwing around a few designs, but nothing that is actually going to work. With my flat lid, it really throws everything off. If I could fit a dome lid on it, that would be ok, but I can't.

I found a used Weber rotisserie ring on eBay. I already had the motor and spindle. I haven't actually used the rotisserie on the UDS but I have used the ring a few times do add more space about the top rack. It worked fine.

would one of these work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/BIODIESEL-55-gal...QQcmdZViewItem

Yeah; but I'd still do a good burn out as it looks like the inside has been coated. I recently got a couple free drums here that held fabric softener (modified tallow & isopropyl alcohol) with the same color inside.

I made an extension ring by cutting off 1/3 of another drum. Fits great. Cutting a slot for a rotisserie and attaching a bracket to secure the motor would be all it needs. But I can't rationalize the value of a rotisserie when all that is really needed is to flip whatever once or twice.

Hoe Scoop
 

I visited with ChiliMacDaddy and Norco this week about the ash scoop I made for my BDS's last year and thought it would be a good time to re-visit the pictures. I basically ground the front of the hoe to match the radius of the drum, then took a strip of thin steel and welded it to the hoe to box it in.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...9bfa8566-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...S/9bfa8566.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...S/b9f9e047.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...S/1cdc9afc.jpg

As they say in the beer commercial......Brilliant!
Hopefully I will be getting a MIG in January for my birthday.

Questions on paint.
1) If using spray cans, how many do I need?
2) I have several HVLP guns, can I get paint to use in one of them to spary? If so what about thinning?

Thanks for all the great ideas !