My turn at my first custom build, a vertical offset here in Japan!

Hillbilly BBQ said:

Id be up for this as well... have a little Brethren bash :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

Yeah, first international bash. You would have to buy plane tickets though, everything else would be covered.

And it has legs

Been having some time to continue my build. Since the firebox got done a few months ago it developed some surface rust. I was able to get it sandblasted free of charge to speed up some. Painted afterwards and seasoned the inside some what to prevent rusting. Made some hinges for the fire box door and got it mounted. I still got to make the hole for the intake, going to do that in a couple of days. I got the legs on the main chamber. Came up with a plan to tack weld a temporary third leg to assist in getting the main chamber up onto the base. It worked fairly well with just me and a little help from the wife.
It's all coming together now. I still got to weld the firebox and main chamber, install the baffle, make grates, handles and clean up the exhaust. Hopefully done by the end of the month.

Sorry for the bad picture and lighting. Coming together now. Still got to knock the third leg off.

Mikebeme said:

Sometimes you can't be the rabbit. Slow and steady wins in the end. Looks good. Still got to knock the third leg off, kind of made me squirm.

Click to expand...

Thanks. It was at the end of the day, didn't feel like knocking it of right then. It will get done though.
It is slow but after today I'm able to see it all finally coming together. Seeing the fire in the firebox while I was seasoning it I think it will run pretty good.

Leak check, got fire for now

Goal is have it done by end of the month. Working on it now after work. Overhead welding is a pain, couldn't get a good bead on the bottom of the firebox to main chamber weld.

After work weld time, finishing the firebox to main chamber weld. Started to weld the exhaust to the main chamber.


Got a fire going to check the weld between the firebox and main chamber. Got no baffle or tuning plates for now, about 30*f difference side to side. Exhaust side being hotter than firebox side.

Started making the grates. It took me a while just to make one, making sure everything is even and square. Just about ready to start cooking on it. Still got to do the baffle and the exhaust dampener.

One down and four more to go.

SmittyJonz said:

:thumb: I didn't realize you were it building backazwards till that last pic.

Click to expand...

Yeah, as you can see in the picture it's going to be next to the post after everyone. I'm left handed also so call me crazy but I can visualize the flow of the smoke and heat better.:icon_bigsmil

Sorry for I have sinned, I didn't post the first cook

Well got it about finished, need to paint and make a couple more racks. I got a few cooks on it while doing some testing.

First here is the firebox door about done, still need to thread the ends for the cool touch.




Here is my sliding exhaust dampener, didn't want a pivoting one.


First test and cook. No baffle or tuning plates installed. Temps were hotter in the exhaust side by a lot. Temp got away from me for a little bit, bottom of ribs got pretty dark. Some sort of baffle and/or tuning plates needed.


Next cook and test. Went to install rails for tuning/deflector plate. Got the first rail installed. Second rail I realized I wanted it higher. Instead of grinding the first one off decided to run it and put a brick under the second one to see how it ran. Don't like tuning plates so went with a solid deflector plate. Deflector plate the width of my opening and about three inches open of space on bothe sides. I could even out temps by moving the plate left or right. Couldn't fine tune it though, still large temp difference. The chuckies turned out good. Deflector plate still needs work.


Another chuckie picture


Went to install a regular baffle to help evening out the temp difference. Didn't work so pulled it out. Went with a small tuning plate for one side to try and even out temps. The best way it ran was basically having it butted up against the plate, making it wider.


Invited the in-laws over for thanksgiving for the test cook. Had some short ribs and pulled pork. Still need to fine tune the plate. Was able to get temps fairly even but it depended on the temp raising or lowering, never constant.




This is were I'm at now. Pretty much a full plate from left to right. Test run was good about 15* difference from side to side with firebox side slightly hotter. Hopefully put some ribs on in the morning and see how it runs.



Sorry for the long post, thanks for looking.

sylntghost said:

That is a nice looking cooker you built. Congrats on a job well done..:clap2::clap2::clap2:

Click to expand...

IamMadMan said:

Nice job.....

Click to expand...

Thanks!

blazinfire said:

Man that diamond plate looks awesome!! How does temps run? are they pretty stable with your tuning plate/baffle set up? Its pretty much just one big plate right? Can I get a good shot of that? Still considering rebuilding the baffle into a tuning plate set up.

Click to expand...

Yeah I'll go out and take some pictures of the deflector plate. It is pretty much one big plate. Firebox side I got propped up like a baffle. Temps is about 10-15* difference which I can live with.