A friend and I and his wife built this for his catering business. It's been on one job so far and the response is overwhelming. Not only was the food superior but the people seem to be fascinated by this simple Stick Burning Reverse Flow Cooker. Many asked where it was purchased and when they find out it was not manufactured they are even further amazed. I can't get over the reactions from these people, of course those of us who frequent this site know it's not really that tough a build. It was really pretty simple with the right tools although there were a few challenges here and there it was a hoot to build and the guy I built it with really knows how to cook. It stays right on temp and uses very little fuel. Please feel free to ask any questions. I'll post more pics when I get them off his phone. Trailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
Reply
ooks good! Are those long tubes on the lids just there to hold them open?
Reply:I believe they are counterbalances to offset some of the lid weight when opening, similar to mine in this picture. Since mine has only one access lid, the counterbalance is larger. Lid weight on mive is about 60 lbs but with the counterbalance, it only requires about 15 lbs effort to open it. Pipe is filled with rebar. OP, no intent to hijack.JerryLast edited by storeman; 06-06-2016 at 08:34 AM.30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30" vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:Any chance I could see some build pictures? The steel for mine came in last week, I'd love to see what you guys did before I dive into mine.
Reply:I'll leave that to the OP. I had some posted here from about 18 months ago. Pics early on and around post #35.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?479591-Reverse-Flow-Smoker-build-beginning&highlight=JerryLast edited by storeman; 06-06-2016 at 11:19 AM.30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30" vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:You guys put some time and effort into that thing! Awesome!So, the wood goes in the bottom box, the heat goes all the way across the bottom of the barrel, hits the left end and comes up back to the right across the barrel, then into the top square box? Hot hot does it get in the top square box? Is there some kind of heat insulation between the two boxes?
Reply:Vertical box is not part of my design. I'm curious also. When the interior on mine averages about 250, the top surface of the firebox averages about 400-450.Jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30" vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:I think some background might help. I built this with a friend of mine and his wife. The deal was that they would do the manual sort of stuff, cleaning, cutting and grinding. We go way back and now thinking about it I don't think I would have attempted this with anyone but him. I do projects like this but I only do them with my son when he's available. I usually work alone. My friend is a caterer who started with a much smaller thrown together smoker that is known as Frankenstein. It was not engineered and isn't efficient at all. He was hit up for some really large cooks (75+) and he realized he needed something bigger. One night at the bar, and we were both sober, I told him I would help him if he would do the majority of the work. He has a Jeep that we've done some welding and fab work on so he has a clue and his wife agreed that she would help. He started the research phase because this was his and it needed to be the way he wanted it. I agreed and promised to keep him from messing it up. We talked and I drew up some rough sketches and we made a few changes and off we went. We have a mutual friend who is a hardscaper who was looking to get rid of a tandem axle trailer. The trailer needed a new deck and some lights and re-wiring. I was glad to see this come up for sale because the last thing I wanted to do was build another trailer, the price to build compared to the price to buy comes out to be a wash. I had a 500 gallon tank and some steel laying around. I also had the time and the equipment and a place to do the work. I worked up a steel order, called my guy and he quoted something like 2000.00 for the steel. This included the 34"x34"x3/4" pieces that later became the firebox. We decided the cost, weight and the heat retention we would get from them would be worth the cost. I had them cut to size for two reasons. I needed them to be square and my supplier does not charge for cutting if I'm willing to wait. That and the fact that he does not charge me delivery keeps me dealing with him. I guess it doesn't hurt that I've sent him lots of business either. We cut the end off the tank with a 7" grinder. I would rather not go into how we did it, suffice to say we did it safely. There are plenty of posts out there that cover how to cut a propane tank. We added some crossmembers to the trailer where the firebox and smoker would be attached. My buddy wanted to cook standing on the trailer, not to the side so we mounted the box/tank on the trailers right side. It will probably eat tires on that side and if it does that's fine. Storeman, you are dead on. They are counterweights. Without them the doors would be really heavy. Timmy Tig you are also correct about the flow. There is a plate that directs the smoke to the front and around. This plate also heats up and provides some cooking heat. The smoke chamber will maintain temperature within 25 degrees front to back. The box above the firebox is a warming box. It has holes drilled into the firebox so more heat can be directed into it. It also has a slide plate to separate it from the firebox. Without the holes open the warmer maintains temps around the same as the smoke chamber. This is a really long story so if you have questions please ask. Here are some pictures I took during the build. My buddy has plenty more that he hasn't sent to me yet.Trailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
Reply:More PicsTrailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
Reply:Timmy Tig, just reread your post. The smoke does not go into the warmer box above the firebox. It goes out the box built under the stack. The warmer box is sealed from the smoke chamber.Trailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
Reply:3/4" thick fire box? WOW! It must be the only one on earth!Is the smoke plenum in the main chaimber solid metal or expanded metal as it appears to be in this picture?If expanded metal, how do you get smoke to the far end and equalize temps one end to the other? Not being critical, I just haven't seen one like this and don't understand how it can work for reverse flow.Jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30" vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:Storeman,Looks can be deceiving. What appears to be stretched steel is indeed sheet. The marks you see are rust marks from the stretched steel that was laying on it when it rained a few days before. It was cleaned before the first fire up.Trailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
Reply:Understand now. Thanks.Jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30" vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:That thing must weigh a ton! Smokezilla!
Reply:I'm wondering why you did not use the A/O to cut those opening for the fire box to the smoke chamber? That would have been fast than drilling. I would have to agree on using thicker metal on the fire box. I made one with 11ga now I have to use fire brick on top to not loss so much heat.Klutch 220si mig , stick, and dc tigHobart 140 AHP ALPHA 200X 2016Lotos LTP5000DSmith O/P
Reply:No reason. The top of the plate was cut with O/A. Just wanted to play with my new drill.Trailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
Reply:Trailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
Reply:haha!
Reply:Originally Posted by acx780I think some background might help. I built this with a friend of mine and his wife. The deal was that they would do the manual sort of stuff, cleaning, cutting and grinding. We go way back and now thinking about it I don't think I would have attempted this with anyone but him. I do projects like this but I only do them with my son when he's available. I usually work alone. My friend is a caterer who started with a much smaller thrown together smoker that is known as Frankenstein. It was not engineered and isn't efficient at all. He was hit up for some really large cooks (75+) and he realized he needed something bigger. One night at the bar, and we were both sober, I told him I would help him if he would do the majority of the work. He has a Jeep that we've done some welding and fab work on so he has a clue and his wife agreed that she would help. He started the research phase because this was his and it needed to be the way he wanted it. I agreed and promised to keep him from messing it up. We talked and I drew up some rough sketches and we made a few changes and off we went. We have a mutual friend who is a hardscaper who was looking to get rid of a tandem axle trailer. The trailer needed a new deck and some lights and re-wiring. I was glad to see this come up for sale because the last thing I wanted to do was build another trailer, the price to build compared to the price to buy comes out to be a wash. I had a 500 gallon tank and some steel laying around. I also had the time and the equipment and a place to do the work. I worked up a steel order, called my guy and he quoted something like 2000.00 for the steel. This included the 34"x34"x3/4" pieces that later became the firebox. We decided the cost, weight and the heat retention we would get from them would be worth the cost. I had them cut to size for two reasons. I needed them to be square and my supplier does not charge for cutting if I'm willing to wait. That and the fact that he does not charge me delivery keeps me dealing with him. I guess it doesn't hurt that I've sent him lots of business either. We cut the end off the tank with a 7" grinder. I would rather not go into how we did it, suffice to say we did it safely. There are plenty of posts out there that cover how to cut a propane tank. We added some crossmembers to the trailer where the firebox and smoker would be attached. My buddy wanted to cook standing on the trailer, not to the side so we mounted the box/tank on the trailers right side. It will probably eat tires on that side and if it does that's fine. Storeman, you are dead on. They are counterweights. Without them the doors would be really heavy. Timmy Tig you are also correct about the flow. There is a plate that directs the smoke to the front and around. This plate also heats up and provides some cooking heat. The smoke chamber will maintain temperature within 25 degrees front to back. The box above the firebox is a warming box. It has holes drilled into the firebox so more heat can be directed into it. It also has a slide plate to separate it from the firebox. Without the holes open the warmer maintains temps around the same as the smoke chamber. This is a really long story so if you have questions please ask. Here are some pictures I took during the build. My buddy has plenty more that he hasn't sent to me yet.
Reply:Originally Posted by Hobbytimegreat looking build, got a question, why drill all those holes on the radius and not just torch or plazma the cut?
Reply:Nice smoker. I have been wanting to build one of these for a long time. One of these days.Lincoln, ESAB, Thermal Dynamics, Victor, Miller, Dewalt, Makita, Kalamzoo. Hand tools, power tools, welding and cutting tools.
Reply:Originally Posted by TimmyTIGPost #16:No reason. The top of the plate was cut with O/A. Just wanted to play with my new drill.
Reply:If you can't have fun why bother.....Trailblazer 302G12VS Extreme Miller SD180Coolmate 4Miller 251Miller 175Victor OAHypertherm 380Milling MachineLatheBandsaw
