Radio
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2015
- Location
- Galena, Mo
Last weekend I scored a New Braunfels Bandera on Craig's list for a mere $20. The seller said it "Has some rust" which was the understatement of the year! Whe I got there, the whole bottom of the FB was eaten away from ashes being left in it and stored uncovered outside where the rain got in mixed with them making a lovely Lye soup.
The CC looked in good shape with only minor rust in the bottom, so I loaded it up and brought it home to introduce to my three other smokers:mrgreen: I couldn't wait to get started on the rebuild, so left it in the truck for a thorough inspection and easy access for the complete tear down. I hit a few places with the angle grinder and sander to see how deep the rust was, especially in the frame
Fortunately, my neighbor across the road is a heavy equipment mechanic and has a good selection of scrap steel and a cutting torch, so I took the FB to him and asked him to cut some 3/16 steel to fit the box on the bottom and part way up the sides. He called a couple days later and had even welded them on for me!
My big challenge was figuring out how to make a new air inlet damper as the thin, flimsy original was toast from the ashes. I bought a couple 4 foot sticks of 1 wide inch steel strap at Lowe's and decided to fabricate a sliding damper and mount it on the outside. Not having all the toys for metal working, it was a challenge, but finally got everything cut and welded together. Been having record rainfall here the last couple of days, so progress is at a standstill as I have to work on it outside:rain:
I didn't remember to take pics of a step by step, but you can see what I started with.
I already turned it upside down and welded the seam around the sides and back of the CC as well as the corners of the FB where the metal was folded together, but left a big gap. Thinking of welding the FB to the CC all the way around so there is no gap for air, but might use the black stove silicone instead
I already bought stove rope, adhesive, high temp stove silicone, high temp paint and fire brick. I need to fabricate a charcoal basket, weld a steel plate inside the FB lid and work on a heat deflector in the CC.
Has anyone used a perforated tuning plate in their Bandera rather than a deflector? I've seen the one Horizon makes and looks like it would be ideal to evenly distribute the heat.
For some reason I can't open the Bandera 101 document, so If anyone has suggestions for mods I haven't thought of already, please post 'em up.
I'll get a couple more pics of the completed project and hopefully one of it rolling TBS this weekend
The CC looked in good shape with only minor rust in the bottom, so I loaded it up and brought it home to introduce to my three other smokers:mrgreen: I couldn't wait to get started on the rebuild, so left it in the truck for a thorough inspection and easy access for the complete tear down. I hit a few places with the angle grinder and sander to see how deep the rust was, especially in the frame
Fortunately, my neighbor across the road is a heavy equipment mechanic and has a good selection of scrap steel and a cutting torch, so I took the FB to him and asked him to cut some 3/16 steel to fit the box on the bottom and part way up the sides. He called a couple days later and had even welded them on for me!
My big challenge was figuring out how to make a new air inlet damper as the thin, flimsy original was toast from the ashes. I bought a couple 4 foot sticks of 1 wide inch steel strap at Lowe's and decided to fabricate a sliding damper and mount it on the outside. Not having all the toys for metal working, it was a challenge, but finally got everything cut and welded together. Been having record rainfall here the last couple of days, so progress is at a standstill as I have to work on it outside:rain:
I didn't remember to take pics of a step by step, but you can see what I started with.
I already turned it upside down and welded the seam around the sides and back of the CC as well as the corners of the FB where the metal was folded together, but left a big gap. Thinking of welding the FB to the CC all the way around so there is no gap for air, but might use the black stove silicone instead
I already bought stove rope, adhesive, high temp stove silicone, high temp paint and fire brick. I need to fabricate a charcoal basket, weld a steel plate inside the FB lid and work on a heat deflector in the CC.
Has anyone used a perforated tuning plate in their Bandera rather than a deflector? I've seen the one Horizon makes and looks like it would be ideal to evenly distribute the heat.
For some reason I can't open the Bandera 101 document, so If anyone has suggestions for mods I haven't thought of already, please post 'em up.
I'll get a couple more pics of the completed project and hopefully one of it rolling TBS this weekend
