Ugly Drum Smokers

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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 21 Jan 2010, 23:05

Dan,

I've got to point out, we have no metal working skills, so if we can do this anyone can :lol:

I'm going to post total cost of parts and all the places we get them from. I'll also post the British names for things as they're sometimes different to the names of parts in the American guides.

If the drums turn out to be good and I manage to find a source of unlined drums then I'll probably be happy to make a few for people. My view is that if it takes me a few hours, I don't mind doing it for mates and people that support the society, but if it's going to take me a couple of days, I just can't give that much time up. The wife already says she's a BBQ widow.

Another thing is that Neil and I have managed to scavenge a couple of bits and we've been able to recycle a few other bits like a grill from my Weber Kettle. This is reducing the cost somewhat, but it is taking a bit of time to source some of the bits. If we had to buy all the parts I reckon we'd be getting towards Frontier money to build the drum.
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 22 Jan 2010, 11:12

So the step bits I ordered from Ebay arrived today :)

Image

Hopefully we should get this thing built in the next two to three weeks depending on our weekend availability.
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Danjob » 24 Jan 2010, 01:23

HeY Steve,

I totally understand mate, when you throw yourself into something like a project and its a bloody good one there is always someone who wants a slice of the pie too.

I got the same when I built my media center pc.

Everybody wants one but no one understands what goes into it.

Anyway the point I was trying to make was that I appreciate that its not an easy job and weekends are very precious to me ( as I spend them with my son ) but i know im bringing him to Rother Valley comp ( He's 13 and loves pork ribs more than his Grandama's cooking according to him ) lol

Dan
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 24 Jan 2010, 16:23

Hey Dan,

Well I can assure you that you're lad will get to try some good pork ribs at Rother Valley.

We're currently trying to get around a design issue we've found since measuring the drum and finding that it's a bit shorter than we would like. This will probably rule out the beer barrel design, we've got a spare Excel charcoal basket that may work as is, just need an ash pan. However I'm also discussing a charcoal basket with a local metal shop.
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 03 Feb 2010, 13:32

For people's future reference I've just found a place that does a good range of stainless fittings for UDS

http://www.colglo.co.uk/productlist.php?category=21851040

Unofrtunately I didn't find this early enough for our project but I thought it might be of use to people in the future.
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 08 Feb 2010, 08:57

Weather permittign we'll be burning out the drum on Friday night :D

So if all goes to plan we can sand it down, poaint it and give it a test burn over the weekend. Then we'll have to wait a week to cook any food on it :cry:
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 10 Feb 2010, 15:37

Did some work on the UDS last night.

We drilled out the air intakes and did the vents on the lid.

Here's the pilot holes for the intakes...
Image

Next we used a sheet metal punch to make the 1" holes required...
Image Image
Image Image

Grill mount holes drilled...
Image

Lid vents done using 1/2" pipe nipples...
Image

Now we just have to wait until Friday to burn this sucker out :twisted:
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 13 Feb 2010, 23:10

This weekend is UDS building weekend :D

So Friday night Neil and I burned out the drum...

Image Image Image Image
Image Image Image Image
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby MANT » 17 Feb 2010, 13:02

Steve - just following up on your advice on my potentially lethal smoker from a few months ago. Nobody has died yet, although clearly I could be slowly murdering all of my greedy friends, however more importantly do you think the zincy/potentially deadly smoker i've built (and I now have 2) would be allowed in the competition as it stands?

If not then I will either have to follow your treatment you suggest (thanks for that) or buy some 'commercial' smoker.

We're having our first full practice this weekend so will let you know how that goes, and the body count too.

Cheers, Graham
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Re: Ugly Drum Smokers

Postby Steve » 17 Feb 2010, 15:22

Hi Graham,

I can't give you the official line on this, I'm sure Toby will give you a response though.

Obviously you've been using your smoker and no-one's died on you so it's probably alright.

What I can tell you is what I found out from my dad who's a metallurgist. This info is what I consider the most informed opinion as opposed to the bits you pick up around the internet.

1. If heated enough, galvanised metal will give off zinc oxide. This is highly poisonous and in a large enough dose will kill you. In smaller doses it can do long term and irreversible damage to your body from minor to quite severe. heavy metal poisoning will cause flu-like symptoms and once you get over it, if you're ever exposed to heavy metal fumes again the effect is cumulative.

2. Fortunately, the point at which galv will start to give off fumes is about 725F. So the only risk is with galv parts directly in contact with the fire such as screws/nuts/bolts/washers used in and around the charcoal basket.

3. Unfortunately, the galv coating is bound to the metal using flux which has a much lower melting point (and this can vary). The greater risk on a smoker is that the flux will become compromised and the galv coating will start to come off. This might be almost invisible to the naked eye and ingesting galv coating is not good for you either it can really mess with your stomach.

4. Brass also carries similar risks (which surprised me). This is one of the reasons steam pipe work is always done in mild steel rather than brass/galv because the heat can cause a release of zinc oxide.

In summary, he recommended to me that brass and galv parts are ok on the outside of the chamber, so using galv handles is fine but anywhere inside is just a risk not wirth taking.

Now you don't know me, so you might just think I'm being namby-pamby health and safety with this. I can assure you I'm not that kind of bloke, I mean I was angle grinding in shorts at the weekend :lol: But I'll be honest with you, I wouldn't eat anything from it because heavy metal poisoning isn't worth the risk.

I mean look how long people were working with asbestos before the damage it does became known and the people who pegged it because of asbestos particle exposure.

I don't want to discourage you and I'm more than happy to offer you any help I can if you want to build a UDS as a cheaper option for competing. I've (almost done mine now) so I've been through the learning curve and I'm perfectly happy to share everything I've learned with you. I can even lend you an Excel in May to help out if we can sort out how to transport it (don't think I'll have room to bring an extra one).

Good luck with whatever you choose to do, I'm looking forward to meeting you in May. If you need any help just give me a shout.

Cheers

Steve
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