I don't know squat about building smokers and cookers, but if you need help with taste testing the BBQ, please consider using the button on your left... <<<========== Will do! You'd be welcome! Still looking forward to the point in time when Oscar and I are able to organize a TEXAS forum meetup! ;)

With that handy-dandy gantry, really need some mag switches for lifting https://magswitch.com/product/mlay1000-lifting-magnet/ Should make things a lot easier and safer around the homestead and shop. Hi CJ- That is a great suggestion, thanks! I'll have to grab a few of those at some point. However ...

And we mustn't forget about the table: My table 1.jpg That is 1200 lbs or so you're looking at there but to the gantry it was nothing. "Like budd-ah" as one of my old girlfriends used to say. So the plan now is to prep the table for some paint in a few areas; legs, underneath, c-channel an...

So I returned home with the evening's haul. I tell ya, it sure is nice having a gantry around (since I don't have a forklift or tractor)! That thing made lifting the heavier items (the main chamber and the table) amazingly easy: Raw tubing material 5.jpg Raw tubing material 6.jpg Apologies for the d...

Because the purchase of the table and the tubing didn't come out to a round number, I looked for a few odds-n-ends that would make the math work. 'Cause I didn't have change and neither did he. Ended up finding these lift tabs: lift tabs 1.jpg For only $5 each. I thought that was a bargain, so I sna...

Thank y'all for the recommendations regarding wood selection. That gives me a good starting point, as I was not familiar with which wood did what. Up until this point, I've been a propane or charcoal griller exclusively. Not by choice mind you. So this will be the first smoker, which means that I ne...

Hi Oscar,

Well we indeed think alike then: both making BBQ pits. This IS TEXAS after all!

Interesting that you settled on the same diameter. Yours is 6' ... how wide will the main chamber and the burn chamber be then? 50/50 or ... ?

Thanks!
Jerry

As an aside, while there I noticed that he had a bunch of work tables sitting out too: Tables 1.jpg While I don't have space for a welding table, which is the reason I haven't built one yet, something like this that could sit outside sure would come in handy. Do any of y'all have such a table? He's ...

The 24" tubing that he has: Raw tubing material 2.jpg Is 3/8" thick, so it would be plenty stout enough: Raw tubing material 3.jpg Overkill really, but as I have stated before I am a fan of overkill. Generally speaking. This stuff would definitely be heavy, that's for certain. But I have a...

Now for the materials. A while ago an ad on CL caught my eye. A guy was selling tubing for just this purpose. He has lots of sizes in steel and in stainless. However I decided that I didn't want to go the stainless route with this build. The sizes vary from 16" to 32" in diameter. You can ...

Although it's been done many times - and perhaps detailed in this forum (dunno) - I decided to create a thread to chronicle the build of a BBQ smoker. I had several options for the next fabrication project but elected to go with this one. I have a few questions: 1) Have any of you attempted this? If...

Thanks for the posts, I enjoyed it and appreciate it. Thank you for that, glad that you enjoyed the build! that is an awesome gantry, did you build it? if so is the build posted here? Thanks again. Yes, I did build it. Although the primary structure was built prior to my being aware of this forum's...

Well fellas this rack is definitely pulling its weight by creating previously unthinkable amounts of space throughout the workshop!

Well there she is, in position and ready to go to work: Now I just need to put all of this crap back in:

As a suggestion as it appears you have left a quite a bit of all thread exposed and the captive nuts are all just tacked you could unscrew the other 5 and weld a nut UNDER the mounting plate and then no worries about any more captive nuts breaking off when the shelves are loaded. Then adjust them t...

Great Great...I was teaching my grandson to weld at age 6 (now 9). Now he won't even come see Pop unless Pop is welding. Should he come over, we loose track of him. Start searching and there he is...in the drive wearing his hood, gloves and one of welding shirts. I do consider that a "direct h...

DavidR8 wrote:Despite the mishap that was an excellent way to end the day! Thanks for sharing yours son’s first welding adventure


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Thanks!

The build wouldn't end on a downward note however. The son insisted on trying his hand at welding. Despite my attempts to persuade him otherwise (to wait a bit first), he would have none of it. I have educated him about the process in general in the past to include the importance of safety and of go...

So what did I do about it you ask? Well I sat back and had a think. There were three options really: 1) Leave it as-is (uhhhhh...yeah, not a-gonna do that) 2) Cut off the foot, re-weld the captive, re-weld the foot into place (uuugggghhhh) 3) Weld the all-thread to the bottom of the foot, thus rende...

However not all would end in a bed of roses. I suppose it's fitting to continue the "keepin' it real" business while ending the overall build story. It was a valuable lesson learned and seemingly worth sharing. And that lesson is to exercise patience, patience and then more patience when e...

I lifted it first by one side: And then the other. Soon enough it was on its feet:

Clearly however in this new configuration with the top plates, new legs and additional gusseting, the rack was too heavy for me to strong-arm into a standing position. 'Not a problem when you have a mobile gantry crane: storage rack 63.jpg Or a tractor. Or a forklift. Or ... other means. However I d...

So I welded those in, then the 6 center gussets. Finally I installed the final caster wheel. At that point I had completed the primary tasks of the build:

Well Jay, since I had only tacked those center gussets into position and since their fitment was so poor, I decided to cut them out: storage rack 59.jpg And redo them. However I opted for a slightly different aesthetic with these than the others by choosing to lop more of the end off than I really n...

Thanks!

Well it's finished fellas: More details tonight.