I've seen this question more than once, I warped a lid and was able to straighten it out by clamping it to the drum with 3 pipe clamps and heating it red with a torch to stress relieve it , the lid stayed flat after cooling down.

I have read through the first 300 and the last 100 pages and only have one question. Has anyone seen any difference between using a square or a round fire basket? I have a welder and can easily whip a square one up but if round is better then I will go that route. Thanks

I am new here and working on building my first UDS. In addition to Rockycoon's question I have read where people have displaced the center of their fire basket with a cylinder or pipe. Does it really make a difference? Is it worth trying?

I have a square one and it works great!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...726_175355.jpg

JP7794 what size is your basket? Thanks

Square, round, I don't think it matters. Mine is an old milk crate, put some legs on it and some hardware cloth to keep bricks from leaking out and go to town.

Paul B
SS UDS

My new UDS
 

I'm a little late getting these posted... ok, about 3 weeks late; but here's my new UDS. A friend of mine put it together and did a great job I think. These shots were taken just after the seasoning burn.

http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps51c9cb36.jpg

Based on experience with his UDS, my friend made mine with a deflector shield.

http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps2d888048.jpg

The basket is large enough to hold a full 20lb back of charcoal.

http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps02a7ecc2.jpg

hello this is Buck
 

pictures of Buck from K.I.S.S. to what he's grown into today
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/images/attach/jpg.gif
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/images/attach/jpg.gif
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/images/attach/jpg.gif

BUFORD #1 Restoration

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps9ec22f0a.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps00df621a.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps52429819.jpg

Been Studying this monster thread for a few weeks now. Wow, what a compilation! Anyway, I went ahead jumped in and put together my own version. Got the Barrel for free. The inside was lined w/ the translucent brown coating. Removing that was by far the hardest part. Otherwise everything else was pretty simple. Didn't get pics of the coal basket. I'll post pics of it later. It is a store-bought basket (from Garden Ridge) mounted to a cheap disposable charcoal grill from Wally World. The basket is about 11" to 12" in diameter and about 9" to 10" tall. My first seasoning burn was good for about 7.5 hours. The first hour was just dialing in the temp and getting it stabilized. So really it was only good for about 6.5 hours. I plan to build another larger basket, for longer burns. Also plan to 'personalize' a little more....

Thanks for all of the insight, brethren.

-JEG-

https://u18nxq.bn1.livefilestore.com...517.jpg?psid=1

https://u18nxq.bn1.livefilestore.com...528.jpg?psid=1

https://u18nxq.bn1.livefilestore.com...537.jpg?psid=1

https://u18nxq.bn1.livefilestore.com...552.jpg?psid=1

Nice looking drum. I started on mine just have to get the expanded metal for my basket and get a rack. been looking for a weber but those are hard to find here so just going to start with a single rack and upgrade later.

Great looking UDS! Question: what length of pipe did you use for the intake risers? Does it give you enough airflow during cooks?

I am guessing those are 18" risers like everyone else, including me, uses.

It has been said that the elbows cut the air intake by as much as 50%. I do not have any issues with mine but on windy days, mine is pretty much a no go. I thought about loosing the risers and adding more exhaust to mine.

Mr. Bludawg, I believe it was him, has posted numerous times the math involved in figuring intake and exhaust.

I seem to recall that they are 18" black pipe. I'm going to remove the heat defuser first to see if it fixes my draft problem. It is large, and I can see it really slowing the air flow. If it doesn't fix the problem, I'll be looking at reworking the inlets. I'll probably go to using the elbows on the back only on really windy days. But I think without the defuser and the elbows off the back, it will have sufficient air flow. I'll be practicing with a chicken again this weekend; I'll post the results.

Some people extend the lever of the valve up to where it is more easily reached. See this post.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...0&postcount=11
Perhaps someone can post a photo.
Found one.
http://imageshack.us/a/img136/3990/newvds001wt3.jpg