Vertical offset build

Years ago, I had a Brinkmann knockoff of the WSM. I really enjoyed it, but didn't know what I was doing. I've been doing the the best I can smoking in my gas and charcoal grills. I've been thinking about a dedicated smoker since buying our house four years ago. I've spent the past few months perusing the plethora of information on this forum and elsewhere and looking at hundreds of different smokers. I finally decided to order some steel and build one. A shout-out to Peeps for his smoker, Earl, being the primary inspiration for mine. Hopefully he'll forgive my plagiarism :grin:

Sketch
The initial sketch. I made a couple small changes when I started drawing in CAD. I lowered the angle of the roof a bit and shortened the firebox height to 22" to make the chimney damper easier to reach. I made a sloped floor to facilitate draining and will put a gate valve there. Still deciding what to do for wheels/tires. Right now solid wheelbarrow tires on the heavy end and industrial swivel casters for the light end are winning.


Cad
CAD drawing showing all the parts. I forgot the rim for the grill top and cut it out later this afternoon.


tool paths
Imported the G-code to the plasma table computer, this is what the toolpaths look like when the parts are all nested to make the most efficient use of the sheet. The dashed lines are tool movement without a cut, the solid lines are where the torch is on and the fun is happening. I cut it (1/4" steel) at 65 amps and 90 inches per minute. We can hot rod the machine a bit and get more speed, but cut quality suffers. Total cutting time: 27 minutes.


Steel
Two sheets of 5'x10'x1/4" steel and one 4'x8' sheet of #9x3/4" rolled flat angle iron. I forgot how heavy this stuff is, just over 500 pounds per sheet!


before cut
On the table, ready to start burning some steel!


Sheet 1
What's left of the first sheet, very little scrap. The cuts are really clean. The little slag that's on the back knocks right off with a putty knife. The water table does a great job keeping the smoke and molten metal under control and the parts come off nice and cool.


Sheet 2
Sheet two off the table. It'll soon be back up there to cut out the grill rim I forgot.


pile o parts
Smoker, some assembly required :biggrin1: Again, forgot how heavy steel is, the door alone is about 75 pounds before reinforcing ribs, thermometers, handle, etc. Fabrication isn't my full time job, just a hobby. My full-time job is flying airplanes, and this is my first time in the shop in over a year, so it's a good workout :loco:


start tacking
The start of tacking everything together. I was really happy to see I remembered enough geometry from high school 16 years ago. I was worried the sloped top and bottom would be off, but surprisingly they fit perfectly.


bottom
Bottom view of day 1 progress.


top
Top view of day 1 progress.


A good friend of mine owns a fabrication shop, so I have access to a CNC plasma cutter, brakes, shears, tubing benders, a roll press, a full machine shop and more welders (MIG, TIG, Stick, and gas torches) than I know what to do with. He's been welding since he was 7 or 8 years old and his son is following in his footsteps. It's really cool to see a family business like this and the shared passion for building things. Needless to say they'll both be enjoying a lot whatever I burn inside the new cooker :grin:

So far, here's the total investment:

$79.90 for two 4" Tel-tru glow in the dark thermometers
$39.21 for three 6" stainless coil handles and gasket for the door

2.5 hours drawing in CAD (OK, more like an hour drawing and an 1.5 hours remembering geometry and how to use the CAD software)
4.5 hours fab time, loading and unloading steel, processing scrap, and initial tack weld assembly (probably 45 minutes was well spent playing with the dogs and chatting with different people that came in)

I'm anxiously awaiting tomorrow to finish welding/assembly. Thursday should be paint, the seasoning it this weekend!

Thanks to everyone on this site that I read posts from about different builds and cookers. This is a great resource and community. A huge thanks to my friend. Without being able to use his shop, I'd be struggling with my old stick welder and acetylene torch.

I'm considering putting an adjustable damper between the firebox and cook chamber. I'm not convinced of its necessity, what are your guys' thoughts?

Shagdog said:

What an awesome playground you've got there! That looks like a lot of fun, and Earl II is going to be sweet!

IN your investment numbers, where is the steel price? don't tell me you got all that 1/4" plate for free?

Click to expand...

Thanks! the steel is definitely not free, I just haven't gotten the bill yet :shocked:

SmittyJonz said:

:clap2: DWFisk needs one of them Fancy steel cutting Machines.!

I'd skip the damper.......just an angled baffle.........

Are you gonna try to run it on charcoal or wood? Charcoal can get pricey as they usually EAT up the charcoals......... :sad:
.

Click to expand...

Would a baffle plate be necessary if I have tuning plates?

Thank you everyone for your advice and kind words! This has been a great community to find.

Here's the day two progress. It was a bit slower going than I'd hoped due to some door issues. I bent the sides a bit past 90, and had to form them back a bit. Oh well, live and learn :doh: I fully welded everything on the cooker. Cut and installed the shelf rails and put three places in the firebox for the grate to go on. The lowest is 4" off the bottom to give plenty of air flow and room for ash while smoking. The top two are 6" and 8" below the grill to be able to hopefully sear with. Can anyone chime in those heights? If you guys think I should do something different, it'd be easy to add before the cooker is painted.

Flying Smoker
Who knew a smoker could fly? The chainfall with a plate clamp on the chimney made short work of lifting it to slide the undercarriage in place.


rolling no door
Undercarriage welded in place.


rolling door closed
Door mounted.


rolling door open
Door open. There's six shelves, spaced 6" apart, totaling 3,456 sq. in.


rolling back
Rear view, for all the folks that enjoy a good behind :redface:


I ended up getting some industrial casters. Some big tires or wagon wheels would have looked really cool, but the casters will never go flat or stain the patio. They are greaseable and have a 1000 pound capacity each. Now I just need to find 2900 pounds of meat to add to the estimated 1100 pound cooker weight so we can get to capacity!

I ended up going back to the plasma table to cut out a few little things I forgot, like tabs to adjust the dampers with. Tomorrow will be building the fire grate, meat shelves, and grill, as well as mounting the firebox door and grill lid. With a little luck, fabrication will be complete tomorrow, paint Friday, and season Sunday.

Total investment today:
8 hours fabricating

$4.97 hardware store for three 7" bolts and nuts for the handles
$165.50 Fastenal, ~$25 each for four casters. Also picked up a new sharpie, 12' tape measure (on sale), two cutoff wheels, two flap disks (60 and 80 grit), and new welding gloves.

SmittyJonz said:

:clap2: DWFisk needs one of them Fancy steel cutting Machines.!

I'd skip the damper.......just an angled baffle.........

Are you gonna try to run it on charcoal or wood? Charcoal can get pricey as they usually EAT up the charcoals......... :sad:
.

Click to expand...

It'll be a stick burner, but able to use charcoal if we're just going to grill. I have about two face cords of red and black oak, and about a face cord of maple. There's a local orchard that I'll be heading to in a week or two to cut some apple. I wish we had pecan and mesquite here, but they're not too fond of Michigan winters.