K.I.S.S. U.D.S.

[Bkndsdl]

I just finished building a drum grill, and I've been wanting to make an Upright Drum Smoker (UDS) for a while. Had some time today, so here goes.

Aforementioned grill; cannibalized my old grill. Works pretty good.



The premise of this build is to Keep It Simple, Stupid.......I also want to spend as little as possible on this build. Cannibalization, improvisation are a must......but still get a quality smoker that I can use for a while.

First things first: the drum. I get drums for free at work; these are oil drums. Either they were full of oil, or were used to drain oil into. I pick the best ones and take 'em home. This one has a small amount of residual oil in it.





For parts, I'm going to utilize this smoker as much as possible; Got it for $25 from walmart; it was damaged. It works very well, but it has absolutely no control. There are no vents to adjust, basically light it and keep feeding it.......very inefficient.

[Bkndsdl]

Now to make the coal basket. I have some expanded metal laying around, just enough to get this built. I took one of the 18" grates from the Brinkmann smoker, and used some bailing wire - very common on exhaust pipes here in southern Alabama - and used the wire to connect the two. Here's the first connection.....



....and the next......



..just kept rolling it and binding it until it was complete. I made it so there was an air gap at the bottom for better heating. Not pretty, but functional. As you can see, I had to add a second piece of expanded metal to complete it. Money spent sofar - big fat 0.

[Bkndsdl]

Next up was to make the grate holders. I put the coal basket in the drum, and the top was just below the lowest ring on the drum; slightly above this will be the water pan grate. I estimated the height of the cooking grate as well, and determined that I needed to drill my holes inside the rings of the drum, one just below the top ring, and one just above the bottom ring. This will give me enough room for a water pan (came with the brinkmann), and enough room to cook drunk chickens.

Again, the brinkmann offers up its innards; I used the grate holders that came with it and mounted them in the drum. However, the brinkmann used 3 grate holders; because of the circumference of the drum, the air density of my area, the amount of sunlight and the relative humidity, I decided I needed 4 grate holders. OK, Ok........I drilled the 3 holes wrong. No worries, keeping with the tone of the build, I simply cut one of the brinkmanns' legs to create two more grate holders.



Still, 0 spent sofar........

Coal basket installed.......



water bowl grate installed......



As you can see, I had enough expanded metal to make the grates as well.

[Bkndsdl]

On to the lid. I used a rather sophisticated technique to dome the lid.......I stepped on it until it had the shape I wanted. Then, removed one of the handles on the brinkmann and attached it to the lid.



Now, a deviation from the K.I.S.S. agenda......I happen to have in my possession a welding machine and a torch. Rather than simply drilling holes in the lid for an exhaust, and just covering up some to adjust the exhaust, I have decided that I would prefer an exhaust stack with a damper for this build. This will require some cutting - the damper pieces - and some welding, to weld the stack to the lid and the damper to the stack. As luck would have it, I had some of the stack off my old grill that I cut up to make the exhaust stack on the new grill; it fits perfectly over the large bung in the lid of the drum!

[SoEzzy]

Please read PMPNLT650pxOTLS!

Then read this one too!
_________________
Here's a change Robert.

I still work here!

[SoEzzy]

Point of information...other than closing the exhaust holes in the lid when you are shutting down the pit, you should cook with them open the whole time!
_________________
Here's a change Robert.

I still work here!

[Bkndsdl]

Here is the damper opening/closing plates. I used the same pattern as the grill damper (painted one is the pattern).



Further deviation from K.I.S.S. - rather than simply drilling holes for the intake, I decided to build a sliding intake vent. I had another drum that was used to make parts for my grill, so I cut two pieces from the side. One is the slide, the other is the slide holder. The slide is the smaller of the two.



Next, I used my sheetmetal brake I purchased at Eastwood some time ago and bent one side of the slide holder up; made it about 3/8" long. I then took the slide and set it on top of the slide holder, up close to the bend, and clamped them down.



Then, using my rubber hammer I hammered down the bend on top of the slide. This made a channel in the slide holder that was the same height of the slide. I repeated the process for the other side. Here's one side done, and the other side ready to be hammered.



Here's the finished slide holder, and the slide inside of it.

[Bkndsdl]

SoEzzy, I went back and resized the first pics just as soon as I realized the size difference; went into Photobucket and resized each one, then saved them over the originals so as to keep the links. It didn't work, so I edited the post and cut out the old link and replaced it with the new photo link............dunno why it's still keeping the original photos.....ideas?

[Bkndsdl]

I then bent the slide holder to the shape of the barrel. Next, took the slide holder, turned it over, and cut out the intake hole.



Then bent up one end of the slide for a handle. Here's the completed unit....



Next, I laid it on the drum and laid out a corresponding hole in the drum.

[SoEzzy]

You can't fix things inside photobucket.

Photobucket lies its little ass off.

Resize outside pb, upload new pictures, (set the upload size in the pb settings first), post new links and all is well!
_________________
Here's a change Robert.

I still work here!

[Bkndsdl]

intake hole cut in the drum.



Here's the mechanism on the drum in the open position. Now all I have to do is slide the slider to the desired opening. No magnets to worry about.........and no $ spent sofar!



Now as Murphy would have it....I've run out of gas for my welding machine.......ugh........won't finish today. Hopefully I'll have it done after work tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

[Bkndsdl]

[Bkndsdl]

[SoEzzy]

[Bkndsdl]

[Bkndsdl]

Lil' somethin' somethin' to hold me over while I await more gas for the welding machine......

[Bkndsdl]

I was able to get the drum burned out late yesterday. All that's left to do is install the thermometer, cut to size the cooking grate, and weld up the intake and exhaust ports.

No welding gas for today.....didn't feel like breaking out the tools late last night, plus it's supposed to be raining all day today. I'll get a new bottle tomorrow. Already have a cook planned, I have a turkey in the freezer that's been eyeing me.......gonna get him in the brine Thursday and smoke him Saturday.

Stay tuned!
_________________
-Mike in Alabama

K.I.S.S. U.D.S.
My DBS
My Hybrid Build

[Bkndsdl]

99% done! Got the welding gas and got to it as soon as I got home.

Here's the finished product. All that's left to do is drill the hole for the temp gauge. The gas and a step drill is all that I've had to buy for this smoker......I'm 'stoked'!



Got the stack welded on.





Got the second grate cut.



Got the intake installed. Closed.....



......open..........



Fired up for the final burn prior to the turkey this weekend.



Just played around with the slide, put the temp gauge on the stack with the end in the exhaust, and I was amazed at just how quick the changes were, and just how solid it would stay. Can't wait!
_________________
-Mike in Alabama

K.I.S.S. U.D.S.
My DBS
My Hybrid Build

[Bkndsdl]

Got a step bit today...........HOLY COW they are proud of those things, $40! I will say, it is really nice having one though.......I got a 1/16"-7/8" one.

Installed the thermometer.



I decided to go with two handles instead of one. Quickly welded the original holes up, then added the second handle. Makes for removing the lid with that 1/4" damper a lot easier and safer.....every time I removed the lid with the single handle, my knuckles touched the lid. Don't have that prob now. I also want to build a small shelf for the temp monitor, and also make a probe holder in the side of the drum. I'll work on those tomorrow after work, shouldn't take too long.



Turkey's been thawed, I've gotten all the ingredients for the brine, and I'm gonna set it in the brine in a little bit so it'll be ready for cooking first thing Saturday.
_________________
-Mike in Alabama

K.I.S.S. U.D.S.
My DBS
My Hybrid Build

[Bkndsdl]

Got the probe transit figured out. I saw a post where a guy used some lighting fixture pipe to make a transit for his thermometer, and I adapted it to work for my situation.

Here's what I bought at Lowes, found in the lighting section:



NOTE: This is galvanized. I am going to use it because I do not feel that the grill will ever get hot enough to burn this. I have seen this used many times with no issues.

First step was to weld a nut to one of the pieces of 1/8P pipe. Turn welder down low and spot it on.......



Next, I placed the new piece in my vise, and used my cutting wheel to cut a groove in the assembly.





Next step was to drill a 7/16" hole in the drum up high (I love my step bit, even though it is way overpriced). I inserted the transit, put a nut on the backside, then marked the transit so I can cut it to length. I made it just long enough to get a full thread or two extra. Then I cleaned it up and tightened it down. The probe slides right through, no need to ever take this apart to insert it. I figure I could get two probes through if need be. I'll cover the exposed hole with aluminum foil.




_________________
-Mike in Alabama

K.I.S.S. U.D.S.
My DBS
My Hybrid Build