High School Smoker Build

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We needed a big project for the last quarter of the school year. First came the discada, it worked great and we have orders for 5 more by the end of the school year! Now we are starting a side firebox smoker inspired by an Arizona BBQ Outfitters design. It is 24x24x42 tall and has a 24x24x17 tall fire box. It will eventually have 4 shelves and acouple of hooks in the top to hang items from. Here are pics of the discada and the first build pics of the smoker. Please keep in mind that these are high school juniors doing all of the fabbing and welding, luckily for me I get to take it home when it is done!! Oh, the guilt I feel! Attached Images
Reply:Reeeeeally?! Hmmm, you should feel guilty.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Could be me or the pics, but a piece of angle iron on the bottom would help strengthen it and get the sage out of the base frame.This is just me too, I am getting to where I like bigger wheels on stuff now so it's more "off road capable"  rolling that through grass or a dirty driveway would not work to well.  I have found Rual King has pnuematic wheels on casters like a dolly.  You can also get solid rubber wheels.  Other then that it looks great, not trying to nit pick or anything just some thoughts.  I want lunch when it's done too!
Reply:Originally Posted by kcb37Could be me or the pics, but a piece of angle iron on the bottom would help strengthen it and get the sage out of the base frame.This is just me too, I am getting to where I like bigger wheels on stuff now so it's more "off road capable"  rolling that through grass or a dirty driveway would not work to well.  I have found Rual King has pnuematic wheels on casters like a dolly.  You can also get solid rubber wheels.  Other then that it looks great, not trying to nit pick or anything just some thoughts.  I want lunch when it's done too!
Reply:With the fire box mounted like that you could cook on top of it with the discada thing while smoking meat at the same time. On my smoker with the offset fire box, I have cooked a pot of beans and other stuff while cooking in the smoker. Most times I use it to preheat the next batch of wood that will be added to help get the heat up in the cooking chamber. The next one I build will have the fire box Under the cooking chamber to make better use of the heat generated, so it doesn't need as big of a fire to get the heat right. Use less wood too. You would be surprised at how much heat is wasted with the offset fire box.
Reply:Or it pulled badly because all the heat was on the top side of the runner causing the top chord to shrink.  Another good lesson in balancing heat.In a case like this...................welding a piece of 3/16 plate to the exact opposite side of the place where the uprights were welded (just a small piece as big as the square tubing) would have balanced the heat and prevented the pulling.  You would have equal weld shrinkage on both sides of the bottom runner."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Farmersamm -  We do have a slight sway in the bottom support, how do we fix or reinforce it at this point?    Any Ideas?
Reply:Originally Posted by ifallswelderFarmersamm -  We do have a slight sway in the bottom support, how do we fix or reinforce it at this point?    Any Ideas?
Reply:You can always find something to do differently on the next one and learn as you go.  Bottom line - it looks good so far and keep the progress photos coming.I do question if the school will actually let you put that in the boys bathroom though.  That's where we had to do our smokin'. MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Prom is coming up, better get that thing up and cooking."Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:The kids added a few more elements this week.  We got the rails for the shelves in and we are building the shelves.  Also put a swing out holder in the corner, thought it might be good for hanging sausages or a bird from it. Attached Images
Reply:Few More Pics Even some welding ones this time! Attached Images
Reply:Few More Pics Attached Images
Reply:Crap!!  I forgot all about this.  There is a way to remove the swayback on the lower runner.Unweight the cooker.  Lift it somwhere else than the affected runner to take the weight off of it.  Then heat shrink the runner right under the weld in a V shape.  You don't need to lift it in the air, but take the weight off the affected area.If the upright was welded in after the sway appeared, you might have to cut the upright, and after the shrinking closes the gap, reweld it.  You might have to trim some material off the upright, this is done with a "razor blade" grinding wheel.  Sometimes just the kerf from cutting the upright allows for the change in dimensions, and you don't need to trim it."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Looks good, to fix the sagging in the bottom frame flip the 1x4 tubes on their side so the 1" is on the bottom.  This will give you far more strength without having to add angle or anything on the bottom.  Doing this you would have to weld some small plates in the corners to mount your casters but it should still be less material overall.Lincoln Precision Tig 225Lincoln Power Mig 255 XTMiller Bobcat 225Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 102
Reply:I was checking out the background in the photos. That's a much nicer shop than I had in school! Excellent project too. Keep up the good work.
Reply:those kids are doing good work. Speaking from my own experience. You will be one of their most respected, most foundly remembered teachers. Thank you for your contributions to the future, and the young men and women who come acrossed your path. Teacher are some of our least recognized heros.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:Added a few more parts to the smoker thisweek.  The kids are really getting in to it.  I may have to invest in a little pork for a BBQ before the school year is out.  They also got a good start on making 6 Discada's for themselves and some members of the community. Attached Images
Reply:I look at some of the things coming out of the welding classes and it makes me laugh at myself.I would have benefited from classes in the beginning.  It took me years to figure what I'd been doing wrong.  Self taught isn't always the best route."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/