55-gallon drum smoker
Friday, 25 December 2009
This past fall I took an evening welding class at a local technical school and got very excited about making things out of metal. I already had an old stick welder that I didn’t really know how to use, and I ended up buying a MIG welder–the Hobart Handler 140 from Northern. After making lots of small assemblages out of scrap metal I managed to build a stool and a couple of plant stands, but I had bigger plans.
There’s something special about creating useful objects. A smoker is a nice combination of supremely useful (preparing sustenance) and slightly frivolous (do you need a smoked pork butt to survive?). There are certainly faster and more efficient ways to cook food, but damn smoked meat is good.
I looked around at commercial smokers and custom hacks and talked to a few connoisseurs, and decided the Weber Smoky Mountain was a good design to start from. It’s simple and effective, and in the end it mostly convinced me that the design need not be complex.
Something appealed to me about using the iconic 55-gallon drum as a building block, so I went out and bought a couple from the local scrap yard. One of them even got immediate use as a beer barrel at Crushtoberfest!
A little sketching on different configurations, and I decided a ‘T’ shape would be simple, stable, and functional, and provide plenty of opportunity to practice the MIG on some thin sheet metal. I laid it out in CAD, which made it easy to generate the intersecting curve between the two barrels.
I printed the curve at full scale and wrapped it onto the barrel, traced the curve, then cut the barrel with a jig saw. The first dry fit was amazingly close (way to go, CAD!) but there was still a lot of grinding here and there to accommodate the ribs in the barrels.
I measured and marked the door openings on the barrels and cut them out with the jig saw.
The next step was grinding the paint off. The last thing I wanted was burning paint fumes getting into the food, so every bit of paint needed to go. If I were to do this again I would find another way… sand blasting, chemicals, burning it off, etc… anything but taking it off little by little with an angle grinder. I’ll admit the Gator brand paint & rust remover discs I found at Lowes were very effective (if a bit pricey at 9 bucks a piece). But my shop is now coated with a thin layer of green paint dust, much of which ended up in my nose and likely my lungs.
On the first day of grinding I wore a respirator and glasses but nothing else. After washing my hair three times in a row to get the paint dust out I learned to don more protection. For the insides of the barrels I also used an LED headlamp.
As the barrels were made of surprisingly thin metal (20 gauge) the door openings needed to be reinforced with some angle and rolled sheet metal strips, which were plug welded from the outside and tacked from the inside.
The doors also needed reinforcement, in the form of sheet metal ribs tacked onto the undersides.
I welded small pads onto the barrels and doors for the stainless steel hinges. These pads were ground flat then drilled and tapped.
After grinding the rest of the paint off I welded the two barrels together. This was a challenge, since the metal was so thin and the fit was far from perfect. To prevent burn-through and warpage I used a “stitching” technique where you put a quick tack weld across the joint, wait a second or less and put another tack next to it, continuing like that for about an inch at a time. Apparently this puts less heat to the metal than a continuous bead, but the end result looks very similar. With a little practice I was even able to bridge relatively large gaps between the barrels with short, controlled beads that build on each other, kind of like ants crossing a stream.
I shopped around looking for off-the-shelf replacement grates that would work but none of them were big enough for this guy. So I bought about 80 feet of 1/4″ diameter 304 stainless rod (from onlinemetals.com) and cut it to length on the abrasive chop saw. I scored a piece of 1x pine on the table saw at the proper spacing to use as a jig, and clamped the rods down. The MIG would have been perfect for welding the grates, but I would have needed to buy stainless wire and a separate tank of tri-mix gas (65% argon, 33% helium and 2% CO2). The stainless itself was already pushing my budget, so I bought a handful of stainless welding rods and used the arc welder.
Next I drilled holes for the dampers– two sets of three holes at the top and two sets of four holes the bottom. The top ones were made like typical grill dampers with a round rotating plate. The bottom ones needed to be on a curved surface, so they slide along the surface rather than rotating.
In both cases the moving damper is retained by screws, so I drilled holes and tacked some steel nuts behind them.
I then drilled a series of holes to allow the smoke and heat into the top barrel. My step drill bit did an amazing job, but the cordless drill still went through two fully charged batteries getting the job done.
Next I tacked on some small support tabs for the grates and six small sections of square tube as feet.
After a thorough deburring, wire-brushing and degreasing with alcohol, I set about applying a high-temperature grill paint. There are several available but Rustoleum High Heat Brush On was a) available at Lowes and b) didn’t require curing at a high temperature like most of the products I found online. Unfortunately it only comes in black, which is actually slightly brownish. They recommend only applying one coat, which I agree with after trying to touch up a few spots after drying, resulting in some weird gloss differences. I then tried the spray can version of the same paint, but found it to be flat finish (vs. the brush-on which is satin). The lesson here is get it right with the first coat because you really can’t go back and hit it again.
While the paint was drying (24 hrs… it’s oil-based) I fabricated some handles out of a 1″ maple dowel. I don’t have a wood lathe but the metal lathe did the job. A few coats of Polycrylic and they’re ready to assemble.
The smoker can be used in one of two different ways– with charcoal in an expanded metal basket or with wood on a traditional fireplace grate. I suppose I could retrofit some gas burners or even electric heating elements, but that’s a project for another day.
And last, final assembly. I bought a 3″ smoker/grill thermometer online, and used some nickel-plated chain for the lid stays. I also fabricated a sheet metal “drip tray” to cover the holes under the food and deflect some of the heat.
I figured my brother-in-law Pete would make much better use of this than me, so we gave it to him for Christmas. Here he is opening it…
No. 1 — December 29th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I have been considering DIY smoker designs, and this design accomplishes exactly what I had in mind.
I plan to copy it!
No. 2 — December 29th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Awesome, let me know how it goes!
No. 3 — December 29th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
That is awesome. You need to get a Patent on that, then let me know when you plan on producing them I would love one.
No. 4 — December 30th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Amazing! Great craftsman ship. Do you use an open source program for CAD? Looks fantastic, I just got the 140 for Christmas and I can’t wait to use it! I’m going to be making an r2d2 smoker I’ll have to post pics in the Toolmonger pool.
No. 5 — December 30th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
sweet dude! will u make me 1? i’ll pay you.
No. 6 — December 30th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Thanks! I tried using Sketchup but I find it a little lightweight for anything but very simple models. I ended up using NX6, which could easily intersect the cylinders and then unwrap the curve.
Good luck with R2… can’t wait to see it!
No. 7 — December 30th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I just found this today: http://www.harderwoods.com/pipetemplate.php
I will be trying a template from there this weekend to start building mine.
No. 8 — December 31st, 2009 at 3:03 pm
[...] acquired welding skills to make something useful. With tasty flesh in mind he put together this meat smoker. What resulted is incredible, but the fact that he then gave it away as a gift is just [...]
No. 9 — December 31st, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Wonderful project writeup and a very professional looking result. Keep up the good work!
No. 10 — December 31st, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Aaaw.. I need a bigger house and a welder now
Great craftsmanship!
No. 11 — January 1st, 2010 at 8:34 am
Was passing by when I came across this! Thanks for taking the time to share what you know.
No. 12 — January 1st, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Great Project and thank yhou for the inspiration, our BBQ has seen better days and this looks like the perfect replacement with a few modifications.
No. 13 — January 1st, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Beautiful! I read through your built description and I am way impressed.
No. 14 — January 3rd, 2010 at 11:43 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by jeff_williams: I just need a welder… http://jmillerid.com/wordpress/2009/12/55-gallon-drum-smoker/…
No. 15 — January 3rd, 2010 at 2:04 pm
How easy is it to control the heat, and are you able to cold smoke in it? I’ve been weighing a horizontal 2 drum smoker vs the upright drum: http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-uds-so-far.html
&
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=312375&sid=483d2cca1244952cbba2379adb79122f
This seems to be the best of both worlds…cooking space, ease of controlling and reloading the fire/chips, portability & small footprint. The only advantage I can see that the double horizontal style has over this would be the ability to cold smoke. I’d be willing to bet that a small gas burner retrofitted in there would allow you to generate smoke w/ little excess heat.
Looks AWESOME!
No. 16 — January 4th, 2010 at 8:19 am
Hey Rich, thanks!
Good question about the heat control… I gave the smoker to my brother-in-law last week and I don’t think he’s tried it yet (weather in NYC has been snowy and miserable so far). This dampers at the bottom can open up to eight 1″ holes, and the top up to six 1″ holes, so there should be plenty of air flow control. There is a big 16 gauge drip tray covering the openings between the barrels which should block most of the direct heat, but I don’t know if you could cold smoke with a charcoal (or wood) fire. You’re probably right about using a gas burner, and an electric hot plate might be even easier.
Good luck with your smoker!
No. 17 — January 4th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Hola, mi nombre es Sabrina y estube buscando por internet, fue entonces que encontre tu blog, el cual me gusto mucho, el cual es bastante agradable para leer. Regreso la proxima semana para leerte de nuevo. Saludos Sabrina
No. 18 — January 5th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
G`day I have been looking on the net for a long time for a smoker I can build myself and think yours is brillant so simple so basic and so good I am going to build one and will pass your design on to a few friends .. Red .. Adelaide Aust ..
No. 19 — January 6th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Really cool. Surprised you didn’t add a water pan.
No. 20 — January 7th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Tünnidest suitsuahi…
Kuidas tünnidest suitsuahju saab….
No. 21 — January 7th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
[...] 55-gallon drum smoker | design & make [...]
No. 22 — January 7th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Thanks Carl, good point!
I thought about fabricating a water pan but in the end I figured it would be easier to just place a foil pan (or two, or three) on the drip tray and fill that with water. I think that would also absorb & diffuse a lot of the heat before it reaches the food.
No. 23 — January 14th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Моя история из жизни: мы как-то с мамой ехали в маршрутке,( мама спец по всем видам мяса на глаз определяет что это), на остановке залазит подвипывший мужик с куском свежака в одноразовом пакете. Едем. Маршрутка резко тормозит,мужик по инерции бежит вперед и пакет рвется ,оттуда выпадет свежак ,дальше мамины слова- ” Мужчина,у вас вымя выпало!” я медленно сползаю под сиденье , пассажиры ржут, мужик красный – выбегает на следующей остановке
))
No. 24 — January 19th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
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No. 25 — February 3rd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
where did you download the CAD drawings. i cant seem to find them.
No. 26 — February 3rd, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Hi Shane,
I’m putting together a post with the CAD files, should be up in a day or so–
jm
No. 27 — February 3rd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Jeol i would like to know are you selling these smokers. if so how much?
No. 28 — February 8th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
hey joel,
the hash marks for the CAD drawing, what are they measured in? like are the marks in inches?
just wondering thanx
No. 29 — February 9th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I printed the curve at full scale and wrapped it onto the barrel
what is scale?
No. 30 — February 9th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Hi Shane- The marks are centimeters.
Joe- You should measure your barrel’s circumference and scale the curve image to fit. C = 2πr. Or better yet, use a flexible measuring tape to measure the circumference directly.
No. 31 — February 9th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
hi joel,
thanx for the reply that helps out alot
No. 32 — February 13th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
where can i get the 55 gallon drum pic at? thanks
No. 33 — February 13th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
for autocad?
No. 34 — February 17th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Joel,
Thank you for the inspiration. A few of my friends a couple members of my family and I are trying to duplicate your design for our Nebraska Cornhuskers Tailgate Smoker.
Feel free to track our progress here: http://huskertailgating.wordpress.com
We will use the same black paint design, but I also do freelance graphic design so I am going to add Nebraska Blackshirts skulls, famous quotes, & the correct typography. We just started working on the project a week ago so hopefully in a few weeks we will be finished.
No. 35 — February 21st, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Cool, Andy! It’s looking great! Yeah good luck with the paint removal– I’m curious to see how burning it off works for you.
I’ll keep an eye on your progress…
No. 36 — February 25th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
I like this site. Good job.
No. 37 — March 21st, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Any chance you could use drop.io or something to post the cad file so I can just use yours? A client of mine has a wide format printer or plotter and cad that they’ll let me use
No. 38 — March 21st, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Ignore my previous comment, I just found your second post
No. 39 — March 23rd, 2010 at 8:34 pm
what would you charge for the template for the cut out that you used from your CAD
No. 40 — March 24th, 2010 at 7:38 am
Hi Matt- The template is already in the post, for free! Just print this image at the right scale (which will vary with your particular barrels- just measure the circumference of the barrel and scale the image to the same length). Or, check out some of the links in the comments above, like this one.
No. 41 — March 24th, 2010 at 8:54 am
im starting to copy your design (hope you dont mind) is it possible to get the formula for cad you used, my buddy is ok @ using cad,, thanks alot
No. 42 — March 24th, 2010 at 8:56 am
opps i found it thanks alot joel
No. 43 — March 24th, 2010 at 8:57 am
i found 2 food grade drums @ my local recycling center FREE
No. 44 — March 24th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Sweet! Yeah I way over-paid for mine at $20 each. Live and learn.
No. 45 — March 25th, 2010 at 12:07 am
hey joel i just finished my smoker and it was pretty much my first project that i have welded and grinded by myself. it looked like something from monster garage but once the flat black went on it looked alot better. thanx for the idea. Ive even had a couple of people ask me to build some for them. Thanx for all the help and ideas again
No. 46 — March 25th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Awesome Shane! Can you post some pictures?
No. 47 — March 28th, 2010 at 7:51 am
Fantastic job on this smoker! I’m going to have to get CAD because I can’t figure out how to make that fit-up without it. Once I have that and am proficient enough to be able to use it, I’m going to go for it and build one of these also. Again, great job!!!
No. 48 — March 28th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Thanks Mike, post some pictures when you’re done!
No. 49 — March 28th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
ill just set up my projector to the right length and trace it onto the barrel thanks for all the feedback and help. im aslo adding in a water pan and some other features. when im finished ill post some pics. also metalsdepot has some great pricing on the 1/4 304 stainless rod.
No. 50 — March 28th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
so i used my projector and a piece of hobby paper to get my pattern once i measured and sized it up. it worked flawlessly.
No. 51 — April 6th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
you have just made my smoker when can i get it great job
No. 52 — April 13th, 2010 at 5:16 am
Id like to copy your design. Anyway I could purchase the CAD drawing in full size? I dont have accsess to such things and would be more than happy to pay for your time. Thanks.
fgreen14@excite.com
No. 53 — April 28th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Hello recently i got the itch to build a smoker out of two 55 gallon drums. I did a little research before jumping into the project and stumbled across your site!!! Love the design and really want to do something similare,have a shop to do everything but the cad thing is wear i have a problem any wat to purchase the cad drawing in full size!!! thanks
No. 54 — May 7th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
By far the best drum smoker ever
No. 55 — June 6th, 2010 at 8:14 am
Hey broseph…great job on the double barrel…I built one four years ago with the same basic concept but mine looked like frankenstine compared to yours. I cant weld so I used self tapping sheet metal screws. It looked like a beast…shoot me an email you gotta see it!
No. 56 — June 9th, 2010 at 1:10 am
That is a great looking smoker there!!! very cool design!! i have to make one now!!
No. 57 — June 9th, 2010 at 1:15 am
i made my own uds and now i have to have one of these, Thanks for the great blog!!!
No. 58 — August 29th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
This seems like the best cross between a UDS (upright for fuel efficiency) and the “Big Baby” style double barrell smoker (large cooking area). The biggest complaint I’ve seen for over/under DBS’s is that you need to add fuel every hour or so.
I know nothing about CAD but will probably learn enough to use the JPG you’ve posted here. Thanks for posting your work.
No. 59 — September 7th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Blackshirts Smoker is now complete. Check it out on my Husker tailgate blog: http://huskertailgating.wordpress.com/
No. 60 — October 6th, 2010 at 7:46 am
Just wondering if you found any chemical that will help strip off the beige paint on the inside of the barrels. I used an antique furniture stripper for the outside and it worked amazingly, but it did absolutely nothing for the inside.I also tried burning it off with a plumbers torch and that was useless too. I am really trying to avoid grinding the inside.
No. 61 — October 7th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Hi Rob– Sorry, I did the grinding thing. I wanted to stay away from chemicals, but I think burning would help. The torch might not be enough, can you start a fire in it, hobo-style? I’m sure that would do it eventually.
No. 62 — October 10th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Nice work! I too have been looking for a design for a new grill since I am graduating from a Traeger. I am wondering what some of you would would think about adding a lower grate in the upper barrel so that you could also use it for some really hot direct heat, needed in order to cook steaks.
Well, this is what I’m going to try. I will be adding a side door in the upper barrel to access the upper coal rack off to one side.
Thanks for the inspiration to build the perfect smoker/grill combo!
No. 63 — October 10th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
PS: I think I’m going to finding a way to adapt these cast iron grill plates.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002C0FCHW/ref=asc_df_B002C0FCHW1274886?smid=A3P0CTEF6GR03R&tag=dealtmp352443-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395129&creativeASIN=B002C0FCHW
They won’t quite fit the entire depth of the barrel, but hey, a 17″ X 31″ cast iron cooking surface for less money than the raw materials for building the stainless grates. I don’t have the ability to weld stainless either…
No. 64 — October 14th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Hey Jesse- Good call on the grates. I’m happy with my custom stainless ones but it was a lot of effort that could have been worked around. If you acquire the means to weld stainless in the future you could always retrofit them.
Good luck, post some photos!
No. 65 — October 15th, 2010 at 1:28 am
Just something you might want to try… At the welding school I attend we make smokers out of old high pressure tanks, drums and sometimes kegs to make extra money to by welding supplies. (also good fabrication practice) We usually just load up the smoker with a ton of charcoal or wood and get it as hot as we can. Burns the paint right off, no grinding or chemicals (except the burning paint I guess, lol).
No. 66 — October 18th, 2010 at 2:58 am
WOW
No. 67 — October 29th, 2010 at 3:03 am
NO MORE OVEN JERKIE FOR ME! Burning paint=bad….we did something like that in our electronics class, and I ended up passing out from the fumes and smoke….if you do it, do it outside…
No. 68 — November 12th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
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No. 69 — November 12th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
DUDE I GOTTA SAY I AM REALLYYYY IMPRESSED! VERYY NICE WORK!!
No. 70 — November 17th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Fantastic, myself and the boys cant wait to give it a go!!
No. 71 — November 23rd, 2010 at 11:42 am
awesomeness.
I am scamming some free smoke oil barrels left over from the Air Show and plan to start working on the smoker this weekend. Thanks for putting this up here.
Phil
Jax, FL
No. 72 — January 2nd, 2011 at 10:23 am
Do you have a materials list for this smoker. I am building this in 2 or 3 weeks and would like to get my materials together so I can have it done in about 1 weekend.
No. 73 — January 3rd, 2011 at 8:10 am
Hi Jim,
Check here: http://jmillerid.com/wordpress/2010/02/55-gallon-drum-smoker-part-deux/
Good luck!
No. 74 — January 7th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Im new to welding and I just happen to have 2 55gal drums on hand. I have chosen your project as my first hands on project! Before I move on to my 6 1/2′ long 25″ in diameter butane tank that I’ll be putting on a trailor hitch!
No. 75 — January 17th, 2011 at 8:28 am
great read.
here is mine.
http://www.antilag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43384
you will unfortunately have to sign up…….but its worth it.
No. 76 — January 25th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Joel,
Great job – my son and I are trying to duplicate your effort and we have one question.
How did you fabricate the curved pieces that fit along the curved edges of the doors?
Not the flat pieces on the curved part of the barrel – those curve in the thin direction of the metal and I can see how to curve those myself. But the pieces on the doors curve in the thick direction – either you have one heck of a rolling machine or you cut those from sheet stock?
Let me know!
No. 77 — January 26th, 2011 at 8:40 am
Hi Rob,
Thanks! Yes the curved ribs on the doors were cut from sheet metal. I took a class at the local tech school that provided all the metal and tools… a great way to gain access to expensive metalworking equipment, not to mention learning to weld!
Good luck!
Joel
No. 78 — March 7th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Joel,
Your smoker rocks! I found your site last week and now picked up 2 55 gallon drums. I have a friend that will be doing the welding for me. Thanks for the idea and Ill keep you posted on the progress.
Ryan
No. 79 — March 8th, 2011 at 8:09 am
Thanks Ryan– share some photos when you’re done!