Design Ideas Please

[Phesant]

Now that's looking great.... can't wait to see the finish

 

[82muchhomework]

Beyond cool! Those doors are very nicely shaped and the way they open is perfect. Its coming along great.

Are you going to make it portable? Its going to cook a metric ton of meat. Might have to find more mouths to feed.

 

[HumboldtSmokeBBQ]

I like the hanging hooks idea ...like an old native american smoke house.

 

[big brother smoke]

This is getting better and better. I too look forward to your progression.

 

[The_Kapn]

ET--Phone home!! :lol:

That is just so cool and unique!

I personally would just put it on legs (or a small trailer :lol: ) with a drain in the bottom.
Side firebox as you have started.
I can envision a small baffle to route the heat to the middle and even it out from side to side.
Also to keep grease from draining back into the firebox.

Would be super tough to service a bottom fire in that rig.

Looks like pull out or rotary shelves would work fine from what I can see.

Any idea how much that sucker weighs??

Damn fine work there.
You should be proud.

TIM

 

[countyliner]

Thanks for all the replies. Still hashing out the firebox and lazy susan design.

Wampus:
Having no flat plane to weld the hinges onto was, and continues to be, my biggest concern. The hinges I used were given to me by a neighbor. They are very heavy duty and are almost as thick as the tank walls. I welded the hell out of them but they still flex when the door opens. I'm concerned that over time the hinges, or the weld, will fail and the door will fall off. The doors are heavy and could cause serious injury to toes, feet and ankles if they did break off. Two buddies have told me that as thick as the hinges are and the amount of weld I put on, the doors will never break off, and that I'm too worried because of the accident I had as a kid. But, for my own peace of mind, I want to beef them up a bit…or a lot.

I've got two ideas on how to do it.
One way would be to grind the hinges off and then cut a notch into the tank wall for the hinge to fit into. This would give it a more integrated fit and allow more flush contact to weld to. I would also be able to weld from both the inside and out. Notches would also be cut into the doors. I think it would be a lot stronger, but also very, very tricky to get it just right. It would also be very difficult to cut the hinges back out for a second try if the alignment was off.

The other way, and probably easier, would be to take the hinges off and then start running beads on the tank and door to build a flat surface for the hinge to rest on. Bead and grind, bead and grind until I had a nice flat surface. Not as strong as the notch but easier to fix if I screw up.

Another option would be to just weld the two doors back together and make a lift up lid. If I went that way, though, I would have to put some sort of counter weight on it to keep it from slamming back down (that’s how I got hurt as a kid) and that would ruin the spherical shape. I’m not going to sacrifice safety for looks, but if I can’t have the round outline, I’d just as soon weld a square frame into the opening and install two flat doors.

I probably am being too paranoid, but I would never forgive myself if the doors did come off and I had to rush a friend (or even worse, their kid) to the emergency room with a couple of toes on ice.

Ideas??

Norco:
I’d like to have both a smoker and a grill and I think your idea of a flip up section of the lazy susan will enable me to do that. When smoking, I’ll use the firebox. When grilling, I’ll flip up part of the rack and put coals on the baffle.

JamesTX:
I hadn’t even thought about clean up until you asked about it. Thanks! At this point, I’m thinking about a small, drop down door opposite the firebox. I think I could easily reach in with a broom and sweep out the ashes or just spray everything out with a garden hose.

Kapn:
No idea about the weight,,,but its heavy. Before I started cutting holes in it, I just rolled it off the trailer, down to the shed, and back into the garage. I can't do that now though, don't want the doors flopping around and bending the hinges.

Homework and Kapn:
At first, I was thinking of building a permanent brick pedestal on the patio for this thing to sit on. But, it would also be cool to put it on a trailer so I could haul it around to parties and ball games and such. Would be one hell of a tail-gating cooker, wouldnt it? Haven't decided yet, but it will probably end up on some sort of trailer.

Humboldt and Jonboy:
I plan on having a fixed upper rack above the lazy susan. I could easily hang meats and sausages from that.

Jeff:
How about black with ACME in big red letters and Wiley Coyote on one side holding a match and the Roadrunner 'beep beeping' on the other?? lol

Again, I really appreciate all of the replies, everyone. They're helping to keep my energy focused. Please keep the ideas and suggestions coming.

 

[ABQ]

I don't know if this is possible, just thinking "out loud"...could a slide rail be installed in the inside (or outside) and the doors slide open. If anything failed, the slides would hold the doors.

 

[BigAl]

What about welding on a couple of chains to hold the doors up after opening them?

 

[voodooblu]

Pretty farking cool!!

 

[82muchhomework]

How about setting a few heavy duty bolts through the hinges and putting a support plate on the inside? You still have the scrap from the firebox hole. It should already fit the curve nicely.

That would sandwich the door (or tank wall) between two plates. I think your weakest link then would be the hinges themselves, not the welds.

If the doors are still too heavy, you could cut the existing doors in half horizontally and add two more hinges. You would have four small doors (two on top and two on bottom). This would also let you open smaller parts of the pit when possible so as to let less heat out (the upper doors are going to let all the heat come pouring out). There would be significantly less weight on each hinge too.

I think having barn doors is good for safety and functionality. If gravity keeps the doors open, then I think that is pretty safe.

Does gravity keep them open right now? It looks like it might.

 

[countyliner]

Damn, Homework!

I guess I was making it harder than it needed to be. Thats the perfect solution!

I may not have made my concern clear in my earlier post. I have zero worry that the hinges themselves will break. They are heavy duty enough to hold much more than the weight of the doors. My concern was that the flexing (or springing, or malleability, whatever the word or term is), would eventually cause enough stress that the welds would fail. Over time, through heating and cooling, and wear and tear, the hinges may eventually sag to the point that they need to be replaced, but that kind of thing is obvious. A cracked weld is not. Adding a bolt through each plate of the hinge may not prevent the flexing, but it will prevent the doors from falling off and hurting someone.

I can sleep easy now.

Many thanks!

 

[82muchhomework]

Damn, Homework!

I guess I was making it harder than it needed to be. Thats the perfect solution!

I may not have made my concern clear in my earlier post. I have zero worry that the hinges themselves will break. They are heavy duty enough to hold much more than the weight of the doors. My concern was that the flexing (or springing, or malleability, whatever the word or term is), would eventually cause enough stress that the welds would fail. Over time, through heating and cooling, and wear and tear, the hinges may eventually sag to the point that they need to be replaced, but that kind of thing is obvious. A cracked weld is not. Adding a bolt through each plate of the hinge may not prevent the flexing, but it will prevent the doors from falling off and hurting someone.

I can sleep easy now.

Many thanks!

Glad I could be of some help!

Thats just gonna be the purdiest pit, keep postin pictures and bumpin the thread. I keep lookin at it every day waiting for some more progress. You're a lucky man to have such a unique tank and to have the skills/tools available to make it into a piece of bbq art.

 

[Melon bros. catering]

that is amazing, truly good luck with it. i do hope to see you put it on a trailer. that would be killer at a tail gate or just a back yard q.

 

[millsy]

Great project cant wait to see it evolve

 

[countyliner]

Not much progress this weekend. (my weekends are Monday and Tuesday)

When they heard that I was going to be dusting off the welder, a couple of buddies brought some things over to be fixed. Ended up drinking beer in the garage all day.

I did, however, get the hinges finished. I ground off the sloppy tacks, re-welded the hell out of them and put a 1/2" bolt through the tank side of the hinge.

 

[countyliner]

Can't figure out how to add text after a picture.

Anyway..That’s what you call Gorilla welding. Its ugly but its strong.

After getting a good, solid weld all the way around the hinges, the doors didn’t have near the flex as they did when just tacked on. I don’t think they will ever fall off now, but I put the bolt in anyway.
　
It took a dozen phone calls to find a place that had the equipment to make a round steel band for the outer frame of the lazy susan. Went to talk with the guy to show him some pictures and sketches of what I wanted to do. He told me he could make the band for $73 or he could make the whole lazy susan (he drew up a very nice design) for $790.

Wow! Just the band please.

He'll have it ready by Friday.

 

[82muchhomework]

Keep the pictures commin'

 

[countyliner]

Progress Update

I still cant figure out how to post text, a picture, more text, another picture, etc. so here goes...text then pictures.

1. Got the materials from the metal shop:
A length of 3/8" x 1 1/2" straight bar, rolled into a 39" ring.
A 22" piece of 1 15/16" solid round bar for the post.
A 6" section of 3" OD x 2" ID (heavy wall) pipe for the collar.
A 6"x6" square of 3/8" steel plate for the center mounting plate.
3 pieces of 3/8" x 1 1/2" flat bar for cross supports and....other stuff.
4 pieces of 1/4" x 8" steel plate for baffle/tuning plates.
Section of steel piano hinge.

2. Pron of the 1 15/16" solid round bar. (Bottle cap for scale)

3. The 3" OD x 2" ID pipe. (same bottle cap)

4. Layout of the center mounting plate, collar, and post. (upside down)

 

[countyliner]

Progress Update 2

5. Finding the center of the ring for the mounting plate. (if there is a better way of doing this, please tell me)

6. Mounting plate, cross supports, and piano hinge mated to the ring. Holy Fark...please don't tell me....FARK!, I welded the hinge onto the bottom instead of the top. FARKFARKFARKFARKFARKFARK

7. Easy but time consuming fix. Rather than grinding off the hinge, I ground off the center plate and re-attached it to the other side. What was supposed to be the bottom is now the top.

8. Hinged section folded up.

 

[countyliner]

Update 3

9. And.....IT ACTUALLY FITS!!!!!!!
Set the rack on a couple of five gallon buckets inside the tank just to check the fit. Yahoo! Don't ya love it when a plan comes together??
Me Happy.
Me Rock!
Me does the Macarena!!


10. After I caught my breath from all the self back-slapping and cardio, I hung the rack with a strap so I could measure the post.