dwfisk
Quintessential Chatty Farker
jbounds286 came up with a pretty neat design, we have chatted about options for a couple weeks and started work today. I think the design is pretty cool and it will have some pretty neat features so I'm going to try and document the build in a fair amount of detail.
Basic cooker will start with a 24"X84" surplus propane tank. Some rust pitting and a bunch of coats of paint, but nothing too bad and nothing a good sandblasting won't fix.
First job is to get rid of the old plumbing and fixtures. A word of caution here, I know this particular tank had been sitting open to the environment for a couple years but I still went through my normal flood with water and TSP concentrate for 24 hours and clean out routine to make absolutely sure.
The holes from cutting will be plugged with 1/4" plate welded into the holes to match the tank thickness.
Next, get accurate measurements and line up cuts. I use a 72" straight edge and a couple framing squares to make a giant caliper.
This design called for cutting the tank in half, so all marked out with tape and sharpie marker. Note, when working with tanks or pipe, I like to put them on a couple of upside down (wheels up) movers dollies, it lets the tank roll freely but stay in one place.
And made the cut. You can use a grinder, metal saw or torch for this step; I used my plasma torch and just rolled under the vertical torch.
And here is the 1/2 tank in it's upright position.
This design will be a small vertical, 42" tall and 24" diameter with a 1/4" bottom plate and some off road wheels. It will have a 16"X16" firebox door and will burn splits/wood, lump or charcoal brickettes. I'll be making another cut so the dome end of the tank will become the lid and open like a clam shell with a spring assist build into the hinge. The cooking grate will sit flush with the top of the cook chamber (like a Weber kettle) and (with the cooking grate dropped down to mounts at a lower level in the cook chamber) it will accommodate a rotisserie.
Like I said earlier, this is gonna be a neat little cooker.
More later.
Basic cooker will start with a 24"X84" surplus propane tank. Some rust pitting and a bunch of coats of paint, but nothing too bad and nothing a good sandblasting won't fix.
First job is to get rid of the old plumbing and fixtures. A word of caution here, I know this particular tank had been sitting open to the environment for a couple years but I still went through my normal flood with water and TSP concentrate for 24 hours and clean out routine to make absolutely sure.
The holes from cutting will be plugged with 1/4" plate welded into the holes to match the tank thickness.
Next, get accurate measurements and line up cuts. I use a 72" straight edge and a couple framing squares to make a giant caliper.
This design called for cutting the tank in half, so all marked out with tape and sharpie marker. Note, when working with tanks or pipe, I like to put them on a couple of upside down (wheels up) movers dollies, it lets the tank roll freely but stay in one place.
And made the cut. You can use a grinder, metal saw or torch for this step; I used my plasma torch and just rolled under the vertical torch.
And here is the 1/2 tank in it's upright position.
This design will be a small vertical, 42" tall and 24" diameter with a 1/4" bottom plate and some off road wheels. It will have a 16"X16" firebox door and will burn splits/wood, lump or charcoal brickettes. I'll be making another cut so the dome end of the tank will become the lid and open like a clam shell with a spring assist build into the hinge. The cooking grate will sit flush with the top of the cook chamber (like a Weber kettle) and (with the cooking grate dropped down to mounts at a lower level in the cook chamber) it will accommodate a rotisserie.
Like I said earlier, this is gonna be a neat little cooker.
More later.
opcorn:
