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Refurbishing An Offset Smoker - Updates
Comments
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The plan was to use the plasma cutter for cutting down the expanded steel. Unfortunately part of the bus bar on the breaker box went out. I couldn't switch out any breakers as the other spots were being used in my Dad's shop as he's finishing up a project. So I busted out the angle grinder to do some dirty work.
Since the welder was down because of the bad bus bar my dad thought he could maybe braze the support bars and expanded grate together. Unfortunately it didn't work. The expanded steel had too much carbon in it to braze. Worth a try anyways.
My other goal was to replace the cheap looking wheels on the smoker. With having no luck at Harbor Freight finding a 3/4" bore for the axles I went back online searching for a set. I was fortunate to find a set at a local tool shop. All is good with the new wheels but ran into my next challenge when changing out wheels. These new wheels are bigger than the old set making the smoker run at an angle. So my Dad and I did a little redneck engineering. We took an old set of rubber seat mounts from my parents John Deere mower and turned them into legs. (My Dad replaced the mounts with some taller mounts in the past on the mower. So they were sitting around) It was almost a perfect match. My dad machined out some bushings for the new wheels and a plastic washer to make it sit dead flat.
Sorry for the dark picture but it was getting dark out. New wheels and feet.
My dad had some downtime with work and we were able to switch out a couple breakers so we could get some power to the welder. I can't take any credit for welding. That was all my Dad helping out. I don't think I have done any welding since high school. It's something that I plan on learning again. Just haven't done it yet. I was able to get a few pics of my dad welding the grate together and welding back one of the pins for the lower smoker lid.
Hoping to get everything finished this weekend. It's getting close!"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Looking good!!
Large BGE, MiniMAX BGE, 2 Mini BGE's, R&V Fryer, 36" Blackstone Griddle, Camp Chef Dual Burner 40K BTU StoveBGE ChimineaProsper, TX
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What a great project-can't beat the bonding the has been reinforced with this undertaking. I would guess there is some heavy Q reward in store for your father. Definitely a tremendous success across the board. Congrats.Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.
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If you just going to scrap your house, I would skip the powerwashing and painting.WeberWho said:9Thanks guys. The sandblasting was a pain in the arse. The process sucked to be honest. The painting is much more enjoyable but I'm a hack at that. If I would have took two seconds to think I would have ordered a couple quarts of paint and sprayed it with a gun. I have a Easter deadline on the smoker so it gives me some ambition to finish it. Cashfan I have tons of projects that still need to be finished. I'm good at doing projects that keep me from doing any of the real projects that need to get done. I desperately need to scrap, power wash, and paint my house this summer. I've been putting that off and it's starting to show. I plan on running to downtown Minneapolis this evening and getting a 4x8 sheet of expanded sheet metal for new grill grates. I thought about sanding the old ones down and reseasoning them but I still need a new grate for the one I ground out. So I'm thinking I'll get all new grill grates to save time. The list goes on....
If you are going to scrape it, then that is a different story
I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.
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Haha. Yep. I was too late when I noticed itOzzie_Isaac said:
If you just going to scrap your house, I would skip the powerwashing and painting.WeberWho said:9Thanks guys. The sandblasting was a pain in the arse. The process sucked to be honest. The painting is much more enjoyable but I'm a hack at that. If I would have took two seconds to think I would have ordered a couple quarts of paint and sprayed it with a gun. I have a Easter deadline on the smoker so it gives me some ambition to finish it. Cashfan I have tons of projects that still need to be finished. I'm good at doing projects that keep me from doing any of the real projects that need to get done. I desperately need to scrap, power wash, and paint my house this summer. I've been putting that off and it's starting to show. I plan on running to downtown Minneapolis this evening and getting a 4x8 sheet of expanded sheet metal for new grill grates. I thought about sanding the old ones down and reseasoning them but I still need a new grate for the one I ground out. So I'm thinking I'll get all new grill grates to save time. The list goes on....
If you are going to scrape it, then that is a different story
"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Looks like some good progress. That tig welder is a beast!
Phoenix -
My dad complains everytime he has to move it.blasting said:
Looks like some good progress. That tig welder is a beast!"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Man this is really cool. It makes me feel extra lazy since I have been meaning to install that new gasket on my large for 2 or 3 years now...Which came first the chicken or the egg? I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg.
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Looking good @WeberWho! Can't wait to see how you like that cooker. You going to get some meat on it this weekend if it's done?
L x2, M, S, Mini and a Blackstone 36. She says I have enough now....eggAddict from MN! -
@Minniemoh Thanks. I'm hoping to get in finished tonight. I'll have to burn off the paint for a few hours tomorrow but I might try to sneak in some protein if time allows!minniemoh said:Looking good @WeberWho! Can't wait to see how you like that cooker. You going to get some meat on it this weekend if it's done?"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
@lousubcaplousubcap said:What a great project-can't beat the bonding the has been reinforced with this undertaking. I would guess there is some heavy Q reward in store for your father. Definitely a tremendous success across the board. Congrats.
I think he's excited seeing it come together. He was asking if we could cook some flank steak on it this weekend. I definitely owe him some grub"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
more ammunition for me to buy the plasma cutter / sandblaster / and new 80 gallon air compressor to push that sandblaster. Some things are sacred and the garage is one of them....can get you out of a lot of messes with the right stuff....
"it is never too early to drink, but it may be too early to be seen drinking"
Winston-Salem, NC
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This is one of those threads that has made up my mind on something. I will never refurbish a smoker.
I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.
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Thanks for keeping us up to date. It is really looking nice....sweat equity is really paying off.Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
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Much easier buying new but if there's a will there's a way!Ozzie_Isaac said:This is one of those threads that has made up my mind on something. I will never refurbish a smoker."The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
The goal was to be finished by Easter. I can say I'm 95% complete! I still need a new thermometer and I'd like to place the company nameplate back on it. The new one needs to be rivited where the old was just a high heat sticker.
The thermometer that came with the grill was 40 degrees off when doing the boil test. I could adjust the needle a little on the thermometer but eventually snapped it.
The problem now is that I have a big hole in the lid that fit the old thermometer. How am I supposed to find a perfect matching thermometer to fit that hole? You can see in the picture above that the threads are fitted to fit the holes width. There is a BGE thermometer next to it for reference.
The hole in the lid.
Finding the exact thermometer was going to be slim next to impossible. The thermometer had no manufacturer name or information on it to find a replacement. So my Dad and I took a 3/4"×10×2" hex bolt (Smallest size Menards carried in 3/4") and turned it down on the lathe to reduce the hole size to fit a standard thermometer.
Hot off the lathe.
Picture of the new grates.
My dad really disliked the design and function of the lever that controlls the baffle on the smoker. It's pressed fit. The lever pushes against the half circle and is hard to move when adjusting. So he bent the lever out and added a spring tensioner to the other end of the baffle. This way you can adjust the baffle without using major force to move it. It works way better now!
The day I've been waiting for. The initial lighting of the egg!!! I've been saving this lump and not in a good way. I picked it up at Restaurant Depot and it's the worst lump I've ever used. Smokey, small pieces, and sparks everywhere. I'm glad I found a reason to finish the bag. To cure paint!!!
The other grate we put together.
The smoker all lit and hopefully burning off paint toxins.
I let her rip until the charcoal went out. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to test her out with some grub!"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
I will give you $75 for it.
In all seriousness, it looks great. It seems as if you had some good quality time with Dad as well! What are you going to cook first?Large, Medium, MiniMax, 36" Blackstone
Grand Rapids MI -
Looks great you and your dad should be very proud of all that work!!cantwait to see the first cook on that thing. Should be a good one!!
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What a finishing performance. Your Dad may be well-deserving of several rounds of SRF brisket for his work here. Great restoration project. Congrats to all.Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.
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Thanks!kl8ton said:I will give you $75 for it.
In all seriousness, it looks great. It seems as if you had some good quality time with Dad as well! What are you going to cook first?
I would have probably paid you to come take it away half way into sandblasting.
@kl8ton I'm not sure yet. I keep thinking brisket but might wait for the smoker to be brought back to my house before attempting it. So I'm thinking some ribs."The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Thanks!lousubcap said:What a finishing performance. Your Dad may be well-deserving of several rounds of SRF brisket for his work here. Great restoration project. Congrats to all.
My dad was all about throwing on some skirt steak on it yesterday he had in the fridge. SRF would be mind blowing!"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Thanks and thanks for following along. You guys kept me motivated to keep working on it!Hntnhrd said:Looks great you and your dad should be very proud of all that work!!cantwait to see the first cook on that thing. Should be a good one!!"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Impressive work. Always amazed at people with mechanical skills.Large
Houston,TX -
Looks awesome! It sure is nice to have a world class machinist for a dad to help you out of those sticky situations. Great time spend and a wonderful story to pass along some day. I wouldn't worry about trying ribs, you don't need the practice and a brisket would be worth all the effort. Plus with the money you saved by doing it yourself you can afford an SRF Gold! See you in a couple weeks!
NW IA
2 LBGE, 1 SBGE, 22.5 WSM, 1 Smokey Joe and Black Stone
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Thanks! @Brisket_FanaticBrisket_Fanatic said:Looks awesome! It sure is nice to have a world class machinist for a dad to help you out of those sticky situations. Great time spend and a wonderful story to pass along some day. I wouldn't worry about trying ribs, you don't need the practice and a brisket would be worth all the effort. Plus with the money you saved by doing it yourself you can afford an SRF Gold! See you in a couple weeks!
Trust me, I'd rather do something other than ribs but I need to beat some damn Iowans in a few weeks! Ripnem text a few days ago and said he was able to get in. Should be fun! "The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Well, I wish I had some super cool cooks to show you but this is it. A couple baby back ribs and small spare rib my mom had thawed in the fridge. I planned on doing a few racks of ribs and a brisket before sharing anything here. Unfortunately this will probably be the last cook this smoker sees in my possession. More on that in a minute. The rib pics:
I was real happy how they turned out. A nice big smoke ring. The smoker itself was super easy to control.
Now the not so good news....I'm selling it. The reason has nothing to do with the smoker itself. It's a fantastic smoker but I need the cash for another project. I may have pre-sold two possibly a third green colored ceramic grill. (Going to be picked up later this week) Now don't feel bad or anything like that. It's not a sad situation by any means. I'm actually grinning from ear to ear thinking about it. I'm going to save it for a different post though.
Thanks for looking!"The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan
Minnesota -
Man, I think you are my brother from another mother. The way you burn through projects and on to the next one... so much like myself.
Best of luck with whatever you've got planned - looking forward to hearing the deets.
Phoenix -
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Way to leave us hanging! Looking forward to hearing about your new project.
I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.
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Don't be such a tease - at least drop a couple of clues!“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk
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