Smoker Project

Since I can't afford to buy a smoker, I have decided to build my own. This project is proof that if you look hard enough you can find about anything for little or no cost.

Special thanks to Bill Newbern, a friend who helped me with this task (ok, he did all the work).

Below are photos to document the process of creating our smokers...

Total Cost for my smoker: $335.00 plus a .22 rifle and .410 shotgun.

	Here are the tanks that will become the cooking chambers. These are old air tanks that are 69" x 24". The trailer isn't mine. I'll have to find a trailer somewhere though.
	Here are the tanks that will become the fireboxes. They are about 1/3 the size of the cooking chamber tanks.
	The compressor baseplate has been removed and we're marking for the doors. We used a level to find the top center of the tank. From there we dropped down 4" for the top of the door, and dropped down to 1/2" above the center line of the tank for the bottom of the door. We marked the door width at 48". The doors will be cut leaving a 1" uncut portion in two spots across the top and bottom and one on each side to keep the door from warping. Once the tank cools we'll finish the cuts. We also marked the end of the tank to be cut for the firebox tank to fit to it.
	The tank is on it's side for this photo. The door was cut carefully. Small cuts were made, then the tank was allowed to cool to cut down on the chance of the door warping. The cuts turned out really well and the door fit well.
	The door was attached and fit well. There was a small problem on the top left where the door hit the tank and wouldn't let it shut tightly. A little grinding will take care of that problem. The door has 1" flat stock around the perimeter to help seal and reduce heat loss. You can also see the firebox welded to the other end. Inside the tank is the opening between the firebox and main cooking chamber. Getting two round tanks with rounded ends to fit together was a challenge, but Bill pulled it off like a pro.
	You can see the flat stock around the door to help with sealing.
	The unit is now trailer mounted. I found a trailer that I traded a .22 rifle and .410 shotgun for, so it worked out to keep my cost down. The smoke stack has been added as well. I had to shorten the trailer about 3' to make it work for a smoker.
	The firebox was mounted perpendicular to the unit to keep the overall length down. It also makes it easy to get to from the back of the trailer.
	The damper on the firebox is a short section of the same pipe the smoke stack is made from. It is a 4" id pipe with a flapper to control the air flow.
	The smoke stack comes down inside to just above where the cooking grate will be. It is cut to allow flow from the grate to an area about 5" above the grate.
	The unit is coming together nicely. I have to find the plate for the bottom to make it reverse flow, and get the cooking grate. After that I'll focus on the trailer to make it more functional for competitions, like adding a wood box and storage areas. The flooring will be the original 2x10 boards that were on the trailer when I got it.
	Here is the unit ready for the test run. We want to test it before we sand and paint it, and put the trim on. The trailer had 2 x 10 boards for the decking which I will fit back on after the unit is sanded and painted.

	The cooking grid is actually 4 sections for easy removal. If you look closely you can see the angle sticking out that will hold the shelf that will be put on after painting.
	The handles on the doors are actually welding hammers with the heads cut off. The handle was bent and welded to the door. We angled them down so that when the door was open you can still easily reach the handle without touching the hot door.
	The finished product.
	Another View.

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