Atcheson Topeka and the Santa Fe

[PonoBill]

My new smoker is going to look like a locomotive, hence the name. I'm at a pausing point with Fritz--I'm not going to have enough time to finish any of the bigger projects, and it's kind of clumsy working on it inside. So it's back to the AT&SF.

Older motorcycle fans will recognize that I borrowed the name from Russ Collins' multi-engine drag bike. But it won't look much like that monster.

I'm used to getting a lot done in a day, but lately, it feels like I've slowed down. Usually I spend quite a bit of my day in the water and still get things done. I tend to make fairly rapid progress on projects though I have a lot of them going at the same time. I haven't done much in the way of sport for the last two weeks and it feels like I'm just futzing with things.

So today I decided to move my smoker project forward. The first thing I needed to do is get some wheels on the thing. Moving a 500-gallon thick-wall propane tank around isn't easy. I can skid it with my truck, but it's time for some wheels and a hitch. A friend of mine gave me a long piece of 3" square tubing, so I used that. And I have a bunch of steel wheels for a Triumph TR3 that I don't trust to actually use on a car, as well as some old TR3 axles and hubs--so the parts list mostly got filled from junk in the shop.

First thing was to weld the stub axles to the crossbar and reinforce the joint with a bit of angle iron.

Then I welded the crossbeam to the feet of the tank. I treat projects like this as welding practice, so I don't just do short welds--which would likely be sufficient. I welded the whole run, playing with some different techniques. I think you can guess where I tried pulling the puddle instead of pushing. Gloppy birdshit.



I've been playing with welding vertically and switching hands to roll around corners. This weld on the hitch is an example of that, and it came out well except for where I tried to roll the corner. That's pretty ugly. I'll keep practicing.



I pounded the tow arm under the foot--tight fit, and then welded everything in place. I bent a skid out of some 1.5" thick wall tubing I have left over from adding a front hoop to the roll cage for Archie--the dune buggy, and welded that on. It came out nicely for just eyeballing everything



And finally I made up the hubs with some used TR3 front hub bearings and a lot of grease.


Hooked some ropes on, crossed my fingers and rolled it over onto the wheels with the truck. Long ropes. I don't need to be rolling this thing onto my tailgate.



It's got a little bit of unintended caster on that left wheel. Oh well, I don't intend to tow it anywhere other than around the shop. No springs! It would be a pretty rough ride.

Not a bad days work considering that I took a few hours off to go to Harvest Fest with Diane and to go get a flu shot. I guess I'm not all that slow.

[PonoBill]

Actually, it might look a little like Russ' bike:

[PonoBill]

I went to an equipment auction today--lots of stuff I wanted to buy, mostly materials, but there was also a couple of very fine rotary compressors that probably went cheap. I bought a couple of sheets of thick aluminum and then bailed. When I'm using more of what I have I'll be fine with buying more stuff, but for now, nope.

So I went back to the shop and fired up my Plasma cutter. I haven't used this thing before and I can see that it's going to take some getting used to. It's also pretty clear that it's undersized for cutting through the walls of this propane tank. I knew they were thick, I just didn't know HOW thick. I did the sides first and welded on flanges so the door won't drop inside then I did the top and bottom. Then I did them again because nothing was moving. I ran the cutter along an aluminum track so I could get a fairly straight line, but the second time I cut by hand, keeping the torch on the cut line and watching to make sure the cut was completely through. I finally got it loose, but it's clear this is not going to be like cutting sheet metal. It's nearly a half inch thick.





Stuck back in place. Tomorrow I'll cut the second one, clean up and bevel the edges, add hinges and finish the flanges. I'm glad I did the side flanges instead of letting this thing fall into the tank--the door is one heavy buggah, wouldn't have been fun fishing it out.

[stoneaxe]

Like you needed another project.....and a smoker that can feed hundreds...you planning a big party?

[eastbound]

bro check!

like only a bro can do!

[PonoBill]

Yeah, it's totally stupid. I'll be able to smoke about 20 briskets at a time. And it's basically just Diane and I that I'm feeding. I'll figure something out. Community smoker--yeah, that's the ticket. That's what I'm planning. That was my master plan all along.

Actually, I just wanted to do it. I got this book by Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbeque fame. By the time I finish, I'll have about $200 in parts expense, $200 in welding consumables and $20,000 in labor.

[stoneaxe]

I knew you just wanted to do it.....but there has to be other things on that list that are more practical and don't require a 2 ton propane tank.....

[PonoBill]

Lots of them. But I already bought the tanks. I spent 85 whole bucks, and they were sitting there in the yard at Marblehead, just calling to me. Besides, I bought that plasma cutter. I had no choice.

[TallDude]

Plus that 'No Smoking' label was just asking for it!

[stoneaxe]

Face it...it was all about playing with a plasma cutter.....

[PonoBill]

Face it...it was all about playing with a plasma cutter.....

Duh. Of course. And welding thick metal to thin--always fun.

[Biggreen]

I was once told by an old carpenter buddy, “Every man needs a groove shack.” Well, I’ll add that a man needs a bbq pit, as well. It doesn’t matter if you’re cooking for 2 or 25, a nice bbq pit is a sweet thing to have. I used to cook on my pit ALL of the time. So much so that years ago my neighbors’ 8 year old son proclaimed one day that I had a “bbq problem”.  Well done, Pono. You’re gonna love it. And just like in that baseball movie. You fire that baby up....and they will come.

[stoneaxe]

And the thing is my bro can cook. I can just imagine the feasts that are going to come off that thing....

[jrandy]

Bill, I really like your huge cooker project. I am a big fan of projects made from scrap metal as it invokes creativity and recycling at a higher level as well as using tools. It has been a while since I have worked on a 'large' project like that, at least 15 years...

I got to learn welding (stick-wire-TIG) and oxyfuel and plasma cutting on the job, with most of my time spent running an oxyfuel/plasma CNC.

One time at a church camp-out they invited a guy along who was a competitive BBQ'r and a weldor. He would build a BBQ rig, deck it out like a fire engine with red paint and bright checker plate, cook with it, and by the time the season was through he'd have it sold at a profit and had another one in the works.

So he stokes this thing up at pre dawn thirty on a crisp fall day, on this beautiful site that is a peninsula/island in the middle of a lake, and cooked brisket 'low and slow' all day long and served it for the evening meal. I would say #1 or #2 best meat ever.

My former neighbor gave me his old firebox smoker grill, I need to give it a go. I never think to get it going while I am working on other things.

You could make a 'mini-meat' to bring along with Diane and Fritz and the gang...

[PonoBill]

Smoked brisket is the primary driver. The Austin Barbeque way takes all day and night. I don't try to make money on my projects--I'd have to work to a different standard to do that--but I do want some good brisket. If someone was doing it here I might settle for theirs, but no one is, so I gotta make my own.

I too, prefer to work with scrap. There's a satisfaction with coming up with a piece of scrap you can rework that is not present using new material. In fact, using new material feels a bit like wasting stuff. I have very little interest in new stuff except for tools. I don't form much of a relationship with new stuff--I found that out a long time ago with Motorcycles--the old ones have names, the new ones don't. I prefer things that need my attention. Now that I have far too many projects I'm trying to control that urge. But one look at my shop will show how well I'm doing at it.

Not.