I've been pondering the lid seal too. Red silicone is good to 600 deg. F but probably not ideal if its a large gap. I happen to have about 50 pounds of fiberglass rope remnants. I plan to put down a bead of red silicone and then stick some fiberglass rope on it. If it don't work. I'll just peel it off and try something else; or not even worry about it.
Building my own
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I've been pondering the lid seal too. Red silicone is good to 600 deg. F but probably not ideal if its a large gap. I happen to have about 50 pounds of fiberglass rope remnants. I plan to put down a bead of red silicone and then stick some fiberglass rope on it. If it don't work. I'll just peel it off and try something else; or not even worry about it.
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- Jul 28, 2007
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- Crowland...
Tried the lid on last night, will look summat like this:
Just imagine the drum stripped and painted, probably black, and raised off the ground on it's custom dolly
Just imagine the drum stripped and painted, probably black, and raised off the ground on it's custom dolly
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- Jul 28, 2007
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- Crowland...
Quick update on 'progress', I'm still assembling my kit of parts but will soon commence construction. Double-time at work is nice but when it only gives you one-and-a-half days off between shift sets it's a royal pain in the jacksie
Anhow, managed to source some grilles finally. I was balking at the cost of Weber ones as they're £18.99 each new and this kindas punched a hole in the whole 'build it fer next to nowt' ethic that is core to the UDS ethos, but managed to buy some from a company called Rectella International who sell Bar-Be-Quick grills and smokers. Their 22 inch kettle looks like a Weber knock off, but the food grilles are only £5.87 each posted so I got two quick! More of a pain in the posterior was trying to get summat suitably robust to make the firegrate out of. I'd settled on 12mm mild steel bar to cut into various lengths to make a circular grate from, but 12 metres only cost £9.00, and the steel stockholders minimum order is £20. Not even the offer of cash in hand, off the books could sway it, so I had another look round work. Came across several 3 metre lengths of inch OD by about 4mm wall boiler tube, sat rusting gently outside of one of our outside storerooms. Asked and was told "if it's outside, take it!" so I'm gonna. Tomorrow night's task at work'll be to cut the various lengths of pipe and if time permits weld them into a grate. If I get time Saturday night I'll carry on removing the lip at the top of the drum which was left when I cut the lid off with a nibbler. I've also 'obtained' some stainless 10mm bolts for the food grille supports. They're a bit OTT for the job but they were all my 'supplier' had on the shelf that were long enough:-D .
After that, all I'll need to do is get the lid deburred, cut and fit the vent in said lid and polish the whole thing, get the charcoal ring rolled by a local fabricator, weld the ash pan on, make the frame, fit the wheels, make the handle brackets and handles and paint the whole thing, not much really :-D
Anhow, managed to source some grilles finally. I was balking at the cost of Weber ones as they're £18.99 each new and this kindas punched a hole in the whole 'build it fer next to nowt' ethic that is core to the UDS ethos, but managed to buy some from a company called Rectella International who sell Bar-Be-Quick grills and smokers. Their 22 inch kettle looks like a Weber knock off, but the food grilles are only £5.87 each posted so I got two quick! More of a pain in the posterior was trying to get summat suitably robust to make the firegrate out of. I'd settled on 12mm mild steel bar to cut into various lengths to make a circular grate from, but 12 metres only cost £9.00, and the steel stockholders minimum order is £20. Not even the offer of cash in hand, off the books could sway it, so I had another look round work. Came across several 3 metre lengths of inch OD by about 4mm wall boiler tube, sat rusting gently outside of one of our outside storerooms. Asked and was told "if it's outside, take it!" so I'm gonna. Tomorrow night's task at work'll be to cut the various lengths of pipe and if time permits weld them into a grate. If I get time Saturday night I'll carry on removing the lip at the top of the drum which was left when I cut the lid off with a nibbler. I've also 'obtained' some stainless 10mm bolts for the food grille supports. They're a bit OTT for the job but they were all my 'supplier' had on the shelf that were long enough:-D .
After that, all I'll need to do is get the lid deburred, cut and fit the vent in said lid and polish the whole thing, get the charcoal ring rolled by a local fabricator, weld the ash pan on, make the frame, fit the wheels, make the handle brackets and handles and paint the whole thing, not much really
:-DMasterbuilt also makes a Weber clone and I called for a replacement grate: $9.95 (before shipping)
From amazon.com
Weber 72801 Replacement Charcoal Grate: $9.99
Weber 70915 Replacement Hinged Cooking Grate:$16.99
+ free shipping for orders >$25
From amazon.com
Weber 72801 Replacement Charcoal Grate: $9.99
Weber 70915 Replacement Hinged Cooking Grate:$16.99
+ free shipping for orders >$25
PS: As for insulating, it depends.
1. Do you have to pay for fuel? I use all wood that's free.
2. Will the UDS be under cover? Rockwool batts are relatively inexpensive/fireproof but they loose nearly all of their insulation if wet.
1. Do you have to pay for fuel? I use all wood that's free.
2. Will the UDS be under cover? Rockwool batts are relatively inexpensive/fireproof but they loose nearly all of their insulation if wet.
Probably not a good idea. SWAT mod.
It's OK. SWAT got no guns over there.............Do they?
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Full Fledged Farker
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- Jul 28, 2007
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- Crowland...
If it was gun shaped they'd probably sling me in Parkhurst for an indefinite stretch!
Being as it's going to look like something we'd hurl skywards on November the 5th (and I'm not planning to walk through the streets of Crowland with it) I should be OK. Plus, I like the idea of fins and a fuse, gives it a bit of a Wallace And Gromit's Grand Day Out look.:biggrin:
p.s. yeah, UK police have what they call ARS, Armed Response Squads, toting single-shot H&K MP5's and (I think) either Glock or Sig Sauer pistols.
Being as it's going to look like something we'd hurl skywards on November the 5th (and I'm not planning to walk through the streets of Crowland with it) I should be OK. Plus, I like the idea of fins and a fuse, gives it a bit of a Wallace And Gromit's Grand Day Out look.:biggrin:
p.s. yeah, UK police have what they call ARS, Armed Response Squads, toting single-shot H&K MP5's and (I think) either Glock or Sig Sauer pistols.
Wondering?
Just joined the forum looking for advice on building my own pit. Would it be possible to get pit building info emailed to me as well?
Thanks in advance
Brtlatjgt@hotmail.com
Just joined the forum looking for advice on building my own pit. Would it be possible to get pit building info emailed to me as well?
Thanks in advance
Brtlatjgt@hotmail.com
Norcoredneck
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2006
- Location
- Norco, Ca.
What type pit/advise were you looking for?
Pit type
I've got some 24" 1/2thick pipe. Some of the pits I've seen that I would like to duplicate have a main chamber 1 or 2 doors about 4 ft long w/ an upright smoke box about 2 x 2 x 40 approx. with firebox. Curious as to how far to put the tuning plates under the main grill. But any better suggestions welcome. Thanks
I've got some 24" 1/2thick pipe. Some of the pits I've seen that I would like to duplicate have a main chamber 1 or 2 doors about 4 ft long w/ an upright smoke box about 2 x 2 x 40 approx. with firebox. Curious as to how far to put the tuning plates under the main grill. But any better suggestions welcome. Thanks
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- Crowland...
Time for an update (jeez this is taking a long time to build:redface
Grate & charcoal ring are finished, lid air vent will be after work tonight (I get lots of free time on night shifts). To be truthful, the vent has been a pain in the posterior, for reasons which will become clearer when I post some pics, but it's there for pose value only and I like seeing how well I can fabricate things (not very it turns out:icon_blush::-D). I also hope to get the lid handle brackets made tonight, after which I can swap the filler wire in my MIG back to mild steel and start welding up the ash collector and trolley which the drum will be moved about on, hopefully should be quite quick to build. Anyway, here's the grate. It's made out of 37mm OD boiler tube, about 2mm wall, heavy as hell but easy to arc weld and should last a while. Why heavy boiler tube? It was free, that's why!
Grate & charcoal ring are finished, lid air vent will be after work tonight (I get lots of free time on night shifts). To be truthful, the vent has been a pain in the posterior, for reasons which will become clearer when I post some pics, but it's there for pose value only and I like seeing how well I can fabricate things (not very it turns out:icon_blush::-D). I also hope to get the lid handle brackets made tonight, after which I can swap the filler wire in my MIG back to mild steel and start welding up the ash collector and trolley which the drum will be moved about on, hopefully should be quite quick to build. Anyway, here's the grate. It's made out of 37mm OD boiler tube, about 2mm wall, heavy as hell but easy to arc weld and should last a while. Why heavy boiler tube? It was free, that's why!
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Full Fledged Farker
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- Jul 28, 2007
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- Crowland...
Need must N8man, as I said, 37mm boiler tube was all I could find lying around for free, and UDS's are supposed to be as low cost as possible, and over here we can't just blag free Weber kettles to butcher for parts when we want:wink:
It weighs a ton but shouldn't rust through in five minutes.
It weighs a ton but shouldn't rust through in five minutes.
Norcoredneck
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2006
- Location
- Norco, Ca.
:biggrin:
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- Jul 28, 2007
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- Crowland...
Who's counting?
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Have now finished the lid's air vent and handles, just need to varnish said handles and weld their respective brackets onto the lid. Might weld on a hanging hook to the lid so's I can dangle it off the drum a-la Weber kettle. Made a bottle opener out of stainless by tracing the shape of the inside of my mates keyring bottle opener onto 3mm stainless then drilling and filing the shape out. I've bent it to it's approximate finished shape, just need to check it works OK then weld it up. Pics will follow very soon!
