Barrel Bbq Build

[Ripper]

Coal tray 90% done.

Gotta rivet in a piece of sheet metal to the bottom so it works as an ash pan.

Fallen ash is a mess to cleanup. Hopefully this tray will catch it all so i just need to take the whole thing out and clean that.

Tray is a tad over 4 inches in height. I'm guessing it will take two bags of coal at least if not a bit more

I also welded in a cup holder. Got this little SS cup from arpico and it will serve as a small water pan.

this will keep moisture levels up up inside so grilling meat wont go dry. Especially when cooking with the lid closed.

Welding the little handle to the cup got messy as i burnt through the cup material

I bought the thickest cup they had at 600 odd bucks but it was just double walled material instead of true thicker material.

bit of a bummer there as it looks a tad ugly although i did manage to slowly "fill" the burn through hole.

Gotta somehow get a mig welder so i can weld thinner gauge stock

First burn. Got half a pack of coal in a clay pot and chucked it in to burn off any residue and left over paint.

with half a pack, the temps got to a steady 175 degrees. intake vents not installed yet to control heat.

finishing off the stand. Used a bit of filler to clean up welds and grinding marks.

used the wood working pad sander to make things fast.

Hate sanding... And i didn't do a good job of it either.

Mistakes showed up after applying the matte paint

Rushing sanding process is never a good thing...lesson learnt.

It's the stand so hopefully it wont look too bad once it's all done

Most hated part of the build.

prepping and painting.

If i ever do this again...cleaning and stripping the barrel fully would be the first step.

I made the mistake of starting work without getting rid of all the paint and residual stuff.

I didn't want to strip paint as i live close to the sea and corrosion would effect things as i take time to finish the work.

sprayed...

will clean overspray on the inside with some paint thinner or stripper

Finally it's here

the 40mm hole saw...

my office security chap handed me this as i walked in to work today

No can make the side control vents

next steps...

1. make control vents

2. finish painting

3. add the a chain to hold the lid open

3. assemble stand

4. make the wooden handles and the side table tops

5. Final fully fire of the pit

[Ripper]

made a template for the control vents on illustrator and got it printed.

stuck this with spray adhesive to the barrel so i can accurately punch in the drilling points.

Used a smaller drill bit as a pilot hole first as i wanted these to be accurate as possible

Vents check! I did this to both sides so i'll have two vents on either side.

i softened the edges with a rat tail file

Top lid holding chain.

In early part of the build i failed to get a retractable arm mechanism to work for this.

had a spare steel chain dog collar at home. it was un-used so just cut the thing up...welded two bolts to each end and made two bracket to screw these into.

The brackets are riveted into place on the lid and onto the main barrel body.

Works like a charm. And when you close the lid full the chain sits a good 4 inches over the grill surface. So little chance of it touching any food.

Cut. there goes the perfect safety record i had upto now.

I was drilling through a piece of sheet metal on the bench drill when it spun around and drove in to me palm

luckily it was a minor cut despite the blood.

always always wear gloves. and keep things secured before using power tools. I gotta get bench clamps to fit onto the drill.

the heat resistant paint from slave island.

I tried heating this up with the welding torch and it seems to hold up well. But it doesn't seem to be very good at resisting scuffs.

For added peace of mind i gave everything a second coat. Label reads not to use more than two coats so stopped at that

[Ripper]

chaos. the stand wasn't fitting after painting. the tolerances were way too fine.

I had to cut the center leg part and re-weld it. Ran a good bead with an SS rod.

And re painted the whole thing.

vents in closed position.

Full open.

I painted the bolt too so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Used a thinner flat washer under the rotating disc so it's doesn't scrap the paint. Inside part of the disc was left unpainted so noting will leak into the cooking area

Going to stick a circular wood block with epoxy to this so it's easier to turn. I can't seem to find the arbor for my wooden hole saw kit.

Gonna cut a wooden disc on the bench drill without a drill tip but with just the circular saw. Then stick that disc onto this.

Finally...

All metal work done and finished.

Starting on the wood bits. Made these saw horses sometime back and its serving as a temporary work bench. My main work table has too much of stuff on it as it is and saw dust just makes a thadi mess.

marked and ready to go. measure twice, cut once. And let the tool to the work and dont push it

I'm using Mahogany. This will be stained and matte varnished eventually.

The first cuts are for the side table top.

Got this used from a famous online classified site. drove all the way to pilimathalawa just to pick it

First time using a router...i'm no wood worker so this can get ugly

Idea is to cut a groove all the way through the wood in two pieces so it can slide into the side handle. two of these will secure the table top.

you'll get an idea once it's done

done.

the shallow groove is for the lid handle. two wooden pieces like this will cover the ugly steel handle i made.

Will join the two pieces with woodflour-epoxy putty and brass screws.

pieces cut out and ready for a router run with a roundover bit.

closing shop for the day. cleaning up this mess take another 2-3 hours

Next up.

Assemble the stand.

finish the side table top and the handle.

sand, stain and clear lacquer the wood bits

install the heat gauge

Make a small wooden jig sorta thing to carry the barrel in the truck securely so it wont roll around.

Should be one more days work

Edited March 24, 2014 by Ripper

[Ripper]

Side table top thingy.

drew the pieces on the plank of mahogany and cut it with the circular and jig saws. Al cheapo chinese jog saw i got years ago is still working like a champ.

I ran the router on some of the edges with a round-over bit so it looks more sleeker.

then machine sanded with 100grit finishing off with hand sanding with 220 grit

Pieces were wood glued and clamped into place but after drying i used 1.5" brass screws too

stained with mahogany stain and matte clear varnished.

the two triangular pieces are for the temp control discs so there's something to grab onto. I'll be using epoxy to fix this into place

all other bits here are for the lid handle

after staining i was wondering if i should've kept just the wood finish and clear varnishing on top alone.

feel the color is too dark.

anyways...if i really hate it i'll take it apart, re sand and do it again

fully assembled table top.

clear varnished and hung to dry

the varnish i had got solidified a bit so i had to use a bit of thinner. think i over did it as despite my best efforts to no overspray, it was dripping down

it was dry in the morning but it's got drip marks gotta figure something out for that.

wet sanding with the pad sander using about 800 grit maybe

The paint on the stand too isn't holding well Gotta get hammer finish paint and respray. I'm told this hammer finish paint holds up well to scuffs

Now the build is done.

I'm taking it with me to the hills over the weekend so will post some "action" shots with more details.

Hope somebody found this build log useful in some form.

Taking a break for a while in with building stuff. Next project would be a pair of car ramps.

[Mars Volta]

Nice job Ripper and thank u for posting, Enjoy the weekend

[Davy]

Observing the amount of dedication, patience and craftsmanship you've put into this, I can say you're one hell of a talented dude. Your attention to detail is just out of the ordinary and the work is so clean up to the extent where you can even keep the BBQ in the living room as another peice of furniture. Well done mate!

PS: Please post a few more pictures of the finished BBQ.

[Ripper]

  On 3/26/2014 at 4:30 AM, Mars Volta said:

Nice job Ripper and thank u for posting, Enjoy the weekend

Thanks buddy and it was a pleasure.

I've seen a few builds on other forums and tried to add more details so should somebody else wanna follow...it's easier to see the process

  On 3/26/2014 at 5:27 AM, Davy said:

Observing the amount of dedication, patience and craftsmanship you've put into this, I can say you're one hell of a talented dude. Your attention to detail is just out of the ordinary and the work is so clean up to the extent where you can even keep the BBQ in the living room as another peice of furniture. Well done mate!

PS: Please post a few more pictures of the finished BBQ.

Thanks Davy.

will definitely take finished shots off a dslr and post here.

would be nice to see this out of my messy garage and doing it's thing as it's designed to which is why i didn't want to take finished pics at home.

[Ripper]

[luckey007]

WOW! BTW where is the location?

[Ripper]

  On 4/2/2014 at 1:07 AM, luckey007 said:

WOW! BTW where is the location?

Nuwara Eliya. Mount crest bungalow lawn.

[luckey007]

It seems it has been already tested. Hows that? Does it made you satisfied? and How much did it cost to you?

[Ripper]

  On 4/2/2014 at 4:49 AM, luckey007 said:

It seems it has been already tested. Hows that? Does it made you satisfied? and How much did it cost to you?

it worked really well. served 9 people and nobody really had to wait much.

grilled everything from sausages, corn, pork leg chops, garlic bread, tandoori chicken, beef and bell peppers

I do need to attend to some minor issues.

Need to put a heat resistant rubber cover for the stand legs where it touches the barrel body. paint gets scraped cos right now it's metal to metal.

Need to repaint the stand with hammer finish paint as regular paint can't take the abuse and starts peeling off

Need to put a felt gasket tape along the edge of the lid so it's sealed tighter when the lid is closed.

Need to put side covers for the coal tray since when you pour hot coal out of the chimney starter, ash does get out of the tray into the barrel body

Need to make two steel hooks to lift the hot coal tray in and out

All are minor fixes except the felt tape has to be shipped down off ebay. will take a break and sort these out later

As for the cost, materials alone would be touching 20-25

If you add time, power etc...it's a lot more. I bought the wood router just for this...

I knew it would never make "financial sense" you can get a factory made used grill for cheaper.

In my case, i had specific requirements that warranted a custom build

[Pericles]

Damn, thats a professional looking finished product!

[Ripper]

Second barrel BBQ project. A smoker this time.

Built on the UDS, aka Ugly Drum Smoker design

I have customized it to suit my needs.

Phone camera pics so they aint the best

The floor stand resting on rubber blocks. Bronze finish.

Hexagonal Coal basket. Made out of SS rods. Lift legs keep it off the ground by about 2 inches

Stacking up. "Savan" plate sits at the bottom to collect ash, oil drips and spills...on top the coal basket... then the grill top.

Cross bars to hang food using SS hooks

SS hooks. hand bent of course

Hooks on the cross bars

Intake

[Ripper]

Side table left

side table right

Top cover

cover detail

[Ripper]

Remote thermometer

And we have smoke

Boston Butt smoked and ready to go

[Aquaman]

How do you create the smoke?

[matroska]

If i'd try to do this this is probably how I would end up....

[Ripper]

  On 10/26/2015 at 10:58 AM, Aquaman said:

How do you create the smoke?

low oxygen, soaked wood chips or chunks of choice. I used apple wood chips for this.

[matroska]

i think you got the thermometer for the BBQ off ebay rite? from where did you source the remote thermomemter?

[Ripper]

  On 10/26/2015 at 11:45 AM, matroska said:

i think you got the thermometer for the BBQ off ebay rite? from where did you source the remote thermomemter?

not from ebay. i forget the site but i got it off a bbq store in the US. its a maverick ET 733.

[tuner88]

this is totally a masterpiece, work of ART

[MasterDon]

Awesome Ripper!

I think I will need to asses the quality of the product myself : wink: : wink:

[Pericles]

I say, Ripper, the FSP is from the Wattala area so I'm around there quite a bit these days, I'd like to sample the results too!

[Kavvz]

  On 10/26/2015 at 11:39 AM, Ripper said:

low oxygen, soaked wood chips or chunks of choice. I used apple wood chips for this.

Forget the smoke! That BBQ looks awesome! It looks pretty darn good for something built as a backyard project. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was a kit u assembled or something! Very cool Ripper. (And good to see you on the forums again buddy!)

Edit: Wait a minute! Apple wood chips? What on earth?! Apple wood chips in Wattala?! Am I missing something here? Or should I be looking out for apple trees and fruit ripened apples instead of pineapples next time I drive through the Wattala area?

Edited October 27, 2015 by Kavvz