Just a note, I haven't forgotten about this I just had a bunch of wood fall into my lap that I couldn't turn down so I had to shift gears to that. I'll be back on this soon.

I've gotten rid of all the unwanted company so figured I'd get this thing done. Wrong. My Argon/CO2 is down to 75psi. I have a buddy coming up on Sat who's going to take the tank with him and get it filled since he lives in the city near the welding store. I should have it back in my possession next week Sat and I can get this done. Sorry it's taken so long, most things I do are done in a few days and I figured this would take a week.

OK. Got the tank back and the work begins.
I marked out a CL on the upper drum and layed out the 2 holes that will allow the smoke to move from the burn chamber to smoking chamber. Then used my scroll saw with a metal blade to cut out the holes. Then welded.





Got the holes cut into the burn chamber for the sliding vents.


Next is to get the sliders cut, fitted and attached to open/close the vents. I'm choosing to do this before attaching upper to lower because it's lighter and easier to move around right now and I'm going to have to put it on my bench to fit the vent sliders. Once this is done I'll be attaching the upper to the lower and cutting the door into the smoke chamber.

Got 2.25 of the vents done on the burn chamber. I ran out of rivets. I'll be headed to town on Tue so I'll pick some up then and finish that part. In the mean time tomorrow I'll be getting the handle for the burn chamber fab'd and installed so I can get rid of the bungy cord.

I cut the vents out of the scraps I cut out of the burn chamber to create the intersecting curve. I then had to figure out a solid way to make them slide back and forth without falling off. So. I made a set of jaws for a pair of vice grips to crimp a flange on the tin that would be the channel. Because I needed it to not only form for the flange but also wrap around the barrel I went with some thin roof style tin I had laying around and because it's so thin welding was not an option and I don't like screws because the expansion/contraction of the metal when it heats/cools will cause them to fall out so I went with 1/8"x1/4" pop rivets.

That looks like it was a real PITA Thanks for the update.

Got the rivets and all the vents are in place. I'm not posting pics because they all look the same. Also picked up 1 flue, they didn't have 2 so I'll have to go back later and get the other one. Next steps are:
1) Weld on some tabs so the vents can be opened and closed.
2) Install stops so the vents can't be slid out of their tracks.
3) The choices for the flue were 6" or 8" and the pipe I had on hand is 7.5" so I'm going to have to do some grinding and fitting on the flue's to get them to fit.
4) Fabricate and install the door latch for the burn chamber.
I had hoped my next step was to weld top and bottom together but it will be easier to fit the flue's with them separated.
I'll update once I get those 4 things done with more pics of what's happening.

It's looking really good and your putting a lot of effort into it, but I am sure it will be more then worth it once you finish. Wish I had your metal working skills.

Good post
great pics to help
nicely done

Thanks Wulfin and Hummingbird. I learned everything you do in life you get out as much as you put in. As to the metal working, it's just practice. I've spent so much time doing it, it just comes as second nature.

Got a lot done today, fair warning I may have to put the rest on a temporary hold. The shop that did the clutch in my truck screwed a lot of things up that are just starting to show themselves. 5 days ago the transmission wouldn't shift into 5th gear which is a big deal with a diesel, my top end was 45mph. I ended up raiding our saving for the $2500 to get the transmission pulled and rebuilt, it's way too heavy for me to pull myself. Until we recover from this there isn't going to be any money to spend on the remaining parts for the smoker. Luckily there isn't much left to do. On to the work up till now.

I used 1/2" steel rod, 1/2" washers and a piece of sheet metal for the burn door handle.
I cut a piece of 1/2" 10" long, welded a washer to the end of it, put the spring on, gently compressed it and welded another washer below to secure it. This will somewhat insulate the handle from heat.
I then welded 3qty 1/2" washers to the door and drilled a 1/2" hole through the barrel/center of the washers. This is for stability on the door latch.
I cut a 1 1/2" piece of the 1/2" rod and welded it to the above fabricated handle at 90 degrees. slid a 1/2" washer onto it and cut a spring to the same length as the rod. Slid it through the hole so 1/4" protruded out the back side of the door and clamped it in place.
Took the 2"x4" piece of sheetmetal and drilled a 1/2" hole at CL x 1" from the edge and welded it onto the protruding 1/2" piece of steel. That's the door latch assy.



It's time to join the 2 drums. It took overall 2hrs, a lot of wire and gas and some Aspirin to kill the headache from sucking burning epoxy fumes.


Now you can cut the door. I set the top at the top of the drum, 2" off each end and 15" tall. I cut a notch in each side with the angle grinder so I could get a blade in then used my scroll saw to cut it out.


Here's the inside, ready for the flue installation.


Because I'm using scrap metal the 2 pipes in the smoke chamber are an unusual size, 7 1/4" ID. Flues are sold in either 4", 6" or 8" so I got an 8" (they only had 1) and used my bench grinder to take it down to size. I can say from experience now, the Chinese use some noxious paint. It doesn't burn when heated, it smolders and stinks.



I'm not in the mood to drill the holes and install the flue today so I started getting the tabs welded onto the vents. I took some 1/2" fender washers, cut them in half and welded them onto the sliding vents. Yes, they will be hotter than hell when it's operating but I didn't want something big and bulky on the vents, I figure I can use a stick of wood to slide them open/closed.


I'm intending to do the flue & smoke chamber door hinge/reinforcement tomorrow so I'll update with that stuff. Once those 2 things are completed the following is left which right now we can't afford.
Fabricate basket for wood in burn chamber from extruded steel, need to buy a 4x8 sheet of steel.
Fabricate the grill, they don't make one large enough so I'll be making it out of 1/4" steel rods. Need to buy rods.
Buy and install 2nd flue.
Buy and install 2 chimney's with spark arrestors, 1 on each end of the smoke chamber. They cannot go on the body of the drum because they will interfere with the opening/closing of the door so they will come out of each end, turn 90 degrees and go up about 18" or so. Because I live in a forest I have to install spark arrestors on both chimney's or I can only use it in the winter, FD regulations. Plus if I have arrestors on it and there's a burn ban I can still use it while even a charcoal grill is illegal to use during a burn ban.

When my truck crisis is over and I can afford to buy the remaining materials I'll revive the post and add the finishing touches to it. After I build the door on the smoke chamber I may just go ahead and burn it out so I don't get the toxic smoke on the grill surfaces. I WILL post pics of that.