I know I know
:-)

But I am building a smoker, and I am super excited. The Whats in your smoker? thread inspired me...damn that stuff looks good! I did a little searching around and found some plans to make an Upright Drum Smoker. I got my 55 gallon drum this past weekend and I have been spending my free time sanding this thing (I should have gotten one that didn't have paint on the INSIDE too) but I am pretty much done sanding, down to raw steel now. Next will be to paint the outside, season the inside, and add my air regulation and racks...and I should be pretty close to done! I will post some pics of where I am at right now...I didn't think to take any of the drum before I started.

WooHoo we gonna have some BRISKET!
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Awesome much sure to post some pics.
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Cool. :-)

The design is a bit different than some of the other UDS (ugly drum smokers) I've seen, curious to hear how it works out.
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I too am in the process of building my UDS. I got an unlined one, but I still ain't taking any chances. I am grinding out the inside and outside. Already done a good burn and got a lot of the outside paint off. Hopefully I will be done this weekend.
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Sweeeeeet! Can't wait to see your new smoker!
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lol I thought it was upright...cause you see the barrels laying on the sides for alot of them... ugly drum smoker!
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Are you going to add a door to add coals and wood?
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I dont think so, most of the stuff I have read says that a chimney of charcoal should do you good enough for even 15+ hours. If I were to add a door, how would I seal it?
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wayner did you use some plans online? care to share?
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TG I am currently at the point where I could go either way...do you know of some 'proven' plans? please link
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I've always known them as Ugly Drum Smokers, mainly because of their looks. The one you linked to is too purty to be an U(gly)DS.

I've seen a lot of neat designs too, some that use rather interesting smoke stack venting that is very different than the type of venting in the one you linked to. A few other differences too, but not significant IMO.
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This looks like a good info thread...also pointing to a 376 page thread all about UDS (that should keep you busy!)

http://bbq-4-u.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13707&
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Using the minion method, yep. 14 or so hours is what I hear too. There are easy ways to seal a door though, overlapping plates, high temprature gasket and compression latches (dogs).

There was one UDS I saw somewhere that had a modified Weber Smokey Joe as the coal basket and the guy who was operating it was claiming he could get a 20-22 hour cook on k-briqs.
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PM sent.
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Here is my current state of affairs, I still have to sand the lid, and do some fine sanding on the drum...it looks okay but I am kinda a perfectionist. :-)

Image Image
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Wow, that looks pretty. What did it look like before? And what did you use to sand it down with?
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It was a veggie oil barrel, it was completely black on the outside, and painted tan on the inside (might not have been paint might have been some other kinda liner)

1st I got 4 bundles of firewood from the local grocery store. An burned it really hot and really big...once the fire started burning good I just threw in a whole bundle and then when it would go down I would put in more wood...that thing was shooting flames about as high as my roof. (my wife says I am a pyro :-) )

2nd I used 60 grit sand paper on a hand held sander, it was curved on oneside and flat on the other. I used the curved side for the inside and it worked like a champ...the inside was easier to sand than the outside. I would hit each section twice with the 60 grit..the fire had burned off quite a bit of the paint in the bottom two sections.

3rd after I did two go arounds with the 60 grit I did one go round with 220, that really cleaned up anything the 60 left behind.

Last I did the bottom with my orbital sander, it was a breeze...I tried the sander on the rest and it just didn't work too swell. I imagine if you had a belt sander it would rule on the outside!
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I have done the big burn. Not quite that high of flames but still coming out the barrel a foot or so. I only got about 60% (from the bottom up) of the paint off the outside. I was thinking of going at it with a knotted wire cup and my angle grinder. I have used wire wheels before but not the knotted ones or the cup. I hope it doesn't gouge it too bad.
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I flexible sanding disk should do great, I tried my wire brush and it scraped it up pretty bad...but nothing a once over with the 220 grit wouldn't fix.
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I'd be careful with the knotted/braided wire cups on something as thin as a drum.

Many years ago, out on one of the ships, I built a grill from a 42gal oil barrel, I used a standard straight-wire cup wheel to clean some spots where I needed to weld, and it was fine as long as I didn't bear down hard. I sneezed at one point and jammed the angle grinder into the barrel and it tore up the surface. Had I been using a knotted/braided cup, it probably would have gouged right through the barrel.
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