BBQ/Smoker Update

[Lanse]

Hey everyone!!

So, my spring break has officially begun. Even tho its only 5 days long, Im really enjoying it so far, and one of the things Im going to be doing here is finishing up the BBQ build by the time I return to school. I took a little break from working on it, but recently, Ive made all 5 ventilation ducts out of some rectangular and round tube, and started on the final assembly of the thing.

This video tells a lot more, I just wanted to share it with you all.

Hope it finds everyone well
As always, and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Im new at making BBQs lol
video1


 

[Sean Feeney]

Don't forget a tractor hitch, to pull that around the neighborhood for weekend cookouts.
 

[JMOR]

Monster???


 

[Jim in Ma.]

I wish I could weld that fast lol
 

[Patsdeere]

Just an idea, but instead of putting a ton of washers on the axle as a spacer, why not weld the inner one on? Then it would look good too.
 

[Buzzman72]

Lanse, just a thought...substitute a piece of pipe slid ove_ the axle _od, cut to length, welded in place of the nut and the washe_ stack at the wheels...it'll look mo_e p_ofessional.

[My keys on the laptop ain't all wo_king...mostly the one between E and T. But you know what I aim to say...]
 

[Puddles]

If you're going to do much work with pipe, you really need to get a wrap around.
http://www.pipefitter.com/existing_php/L112.php


When doing work like this I wonder how much it would add to the finished product if you did that Mig like Tig technique? Especially around the smoke stacks, or any of the welds you don't grind down?
http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=30845
 

[Lanse]

Do you think those wraparounds will help me cut miters? Ive
gotta work on that. I couldnt figure out what a "tangent" was
from the advice posted, so I cut as much of a miter as I could
with the chop saw and then bent a 6013 around the pipe and
used that to finish my line, which I then plasma cut. lol. Redneck,
but effective...

Ive been trying the mig-like-tig approach!! Turns out it takes
practice. Ive done very little mig welding before this project, and
I bet IVe spent more under the hood time with the 187 on this
project, than with all the mig time I had at school and all my
previous projects combined... Even tho I still have a ways to go, I
feel like theres a big difference in the welds I put down at the
start of the build, and the ones I made last night... Ill get some
pictures here soon!! I took your advice and ditched the door
chart, and just practiced until (I think) I got it running right... So,
thanks!!
 

[Lanse]

[sheiserman]

http://pipefitter.com/existing_php/plh.php

There's a lot of things a wrap around can be used for. You "need" one to transfer measurements from your layout to the pipe.

We have a fishmouth program at work that gives us ordinates and spacings for any conceivable miter. If you don't have access to anything like that, clean off a spot on the floor and make the best two dimensional drawing you can of what it is you wish to do. Outside diameters and centerlines must be kept straight and parallel. This type of layout is something that would be real easy to show you, but difficult to walk through on the computer.

Try to layout a 4" 45 deg. lateral on the floor. Once you have all the outside diameters and centerlines drawn out and can see the intersecting points, then you will understand the need for a wrap around. Keep your soapstone sharp, and take good measurements.
 

[Stick welding]

Lanse, just make the weld look good and don't worry too much if it's smooth or rippled. Puddles Linde machine with inductance control makes it easier to get the dimes look. Curve-o-mark makes wrap-arounds too and they have a lot of information written on them. If you don't have one and are stuck, use a sheet of (construction) paper with nice straight edges to mark your line on the pipe.

There's nothing wrong with grinding your stops so you can have a better tie in. When doing root passes on pipe and big vessels, there's a lot of grinding to do. You have to grind every tack out when you come to it and then you have feather back every stop so it will pass x-ray. I know your project doesn't have to meet x-ray but it would look a lot better if it had the appearance it could pass x-ray. I know you can do better than your last picture. Just need more practice. The charts on welders usually gets you in the right range for settings. If you have a helper they can adjust the machine ever so slightly while you give them feedback. A lot of times you can get a good idea by the sound too.
 

[Puddles]

I seen your post over on WW. Wow! Those Mig welds look good!
You probably seen the ones I posted? I was shocked at how slow that technique is, but I can see where in certain circles people would really like it. What I found was you have to go with the lowest manufacturer's recommendations for volts, amps / wire speed. And .030 to .035 seems to work the best.

You really need to buy this book if you're going to work with pipe, and there is a ton of information in there for any welder / fabricator. Another trick, pick up some gasket material say 1/16 inch thick from your local automotive supply house. When you cope / fish mount or make any cuts on pipe make a template out of the gasket material, and save it.

http://www.corsl.com/The-Pipe-Fitters-Pipe-Welders-Handbook-p7576842/