Hank's Hot Box, gonna do another one (or two)

[Henrik]

Hey folks! A while back I fabricated a direct heat grill that mimics what is known as the Hill Country barbecue style. I dubbed mine "Hank's Hot Box". It was relatively easy to fabricate. I used it for some time, but decided I had too many grills, so I sold it to a bbq competition team in Sweden.

Time has gone by, and I realized I miss that grill/smoker. It really was one of my favorites. So, what's a barbecue nerd to do? Well, I can always build a new one, and improve on the old build. It will be roughly the same, but with a few small tweaks. Basically I will drop a few "features" that I didn't use on the old one, like dual doors. Also, fitting an SnS in there is overkill, the hot box is very good as-is with temp control and all. And finally, I will make this one a bit more polished/professional in the looks department. It's still gonna be raw steel that I apply oil too.

Anyhow, I mentioned this to one of my best friends, and he was keen on getting a new grill because his Weber gas grill has been around for 12 years. I agreed, of course he should get a new grill! He showed interest in my hot box, so to make a long story short I' now bonna build not one, but TWO. Good times!

I got started today on the fabrication, cutting legs and smoke stacks out of square tube. I also made feet for the wheels and the handles and door latch. I will be able to fabricate every other weekend, so it will take a little time, but I'll keep y'all posted with some photos in this thread if you're interested.

Looking forward to a relatively easy build, yet one that I will take my time on to get the details right while having a polished/professional look.

Teaser: I'm real keen on fixing so I can mount a rotisserie kit on it. Haven't worked out the details yet, but I have an idea or two, and rotisserie kits can be bought at a reasonable price here in Sweden. Stay tuned

[klflowers]

Let's see it Hank. Can't wait to watch this.

When I saw hot box, I kind of regressed to a time when if you puffed to hard on a certain type of rolled up smokeable substance, we called it hot boxing.

[Jessterr]

Looking forward to following your progress, Henrik!

[HawkerXP]

Come on!

[MsTwiggy]

Exciting 🤩 🤩 🤩 🔥🔥🔥 yeah lets go!! 🐿️

[gboss]

blaze it.

[realdocBBQ]

Cool little build~ You gonna do this one the same size? Same thickness? 4mm is about 9g or ~0.155" - just under 3/16, like 5/32, I think for all us in America.

Interested to see the tweaks you come up with!

[Henrik]

Yes, same size. and 4 mm steel, whatever that is in inches :-)

[captainlee]

Looking forward to seeing Hank.

[Henrik]

I have heard the phrase "pics or it didn't happen" surface from time to time in this forum, so here's a photo to prove that I've gotten started at least

I'm reusing old square tubing that I've had lying around. With steel prices these days I think I made a smart move, these cost zero dollars. And that's a good number.

All legs done, plus two smoke stacks. For simplicity I made them out of two 5" square tubes welded together. Yes, there will be a thin "wall" in the middle, but the smoke don't care. Same area, so it's all good. Next up: doing the smoke stack "lid", which will be very simple flat plate with a spring loaded bolt to hold it in place even when you open the door.



8 legs and two smoke stacks



UPDATE: I decided to paint these two grills/smokers black. I'll get some "straight to metal" shiny black paint (Hammerite?) that I can apply with a roller, that should make for a smooth finish. And not having to deal with rust. The main unit is fine, as I could oil it up and make a big fire, but the legs tend to develop surface rust after a year or so, and I figured: let's try something new.

[realdocBBQ]

Looking good man! I need to go update my current build thread.. makin' me feel guilty, here. I gotta work on figuring out video editing. <sigh>

[Greygoose]

C’mon Hank,,,,pics are fine but a YouTube vid would be OUTSTANDING !!!
JK,,,love seeing your builds and the end product.
You were my inspiration when I built my parilla grill.

[barelfly]

Hahah! YouTube video or it didn’t happen! Upping the game here in the Pit!

And sweet parilla!

[Henrik]

Thanks Greygoose - you did an amazing job on that parrilla. Great to see!

[Richard Chrz]

I’m so envious of that!

[Livermoron]

I wish I had your talent...or if you were maybe next door...

[58limited]

Looks like it will be a great hot box.

They say that practice makes perfect so making two will let you work out all of the design features. They also say that third times a charm so you can make me one too

[Henrik]

Alright, time for a build update. So, I've gotten all the material, and I've cut out all the pieces. For the main chamber ("the box"), I did take the lazy route and have them done for me, so I got the front, back and lid done by my local steel shop. Yes, it cost a little bit, but saves hours and hours, so well worth it I think.

But before that - one thing has changed. I did shorten the legs a bit. They used to be 300 millimeters, but I cut them down to 200 mm. I figured the whole thing will be more stable when it's closer to the ground, and it's tall anyway, so it's not like I'm gonna have to bend over to manage it anyway.


Here you can see the "front" part of the box (to the right in the photo), with holes drilled for thermometers, plus the angle iron the grill grates will slide in and out on. Also the two lids/doors, with two handles. The handles will get some grinding/polish, then be welded to the front of the door.




Same thing, different angle. Here you see my smoke stack welded in place.




The first box getting tacked together. Taking my time aligning everything before welding it. And yes: that is my welding table, Lol!




Boxes tacked together, will do the full weld later. Trying them out with the lid/door placed on top. Houston, we have a problem...




Here's a closeup.




In the last photo you can see the small lip/flange in the back of the lid. Look at the angle, the lid doesn't come down, it's 1/4 open. The whole thing is supposed to go over the box, but as you can see in the photo, it's a tight fit. Basically I should have added another 10 millimeters before so I would have some extra space. When folding thicker metal like this, I suspect 5 millimeters in front and 5 millimeters in the back was "eaten up" by the fold.

Now there's a conundrum. How to fix? Right now I'm thinking I'll simply cut off the back flange so the lid is flat. That will allow me to move the lid forward so it closes properly. BUT: it will leave me with a 2-3 millimeter gap in the back. Right now I'm thinking about placing a flat iron across to bridge the gap and give me 2-3 centimers of space to weld the hinges also.

Anyone else have a bright idea on how to fix my mistake?

Anyhow, good progress, except for the door/hinge problem everything else is going in the right direction

[Troutman]

I like those little Chud Boxes (I assume you are borrowing that deign).One improvement I would encourage is to rig up a way to increase or decrease the fire grate within the box similar to the flat top grill I own by Pitts and Spitts. Makes for a reverse Santa Maria (but also adds complication). Give it some thought.

[Henrik]

Thanks, that box looks cool! Yes, I’m copying Chud. Do you have more info/photos of what you mean with the fire grate?

[texastweeter]

Later in law has a GIANT (think whole hog size) version of that grill at two of his houses that P&S built for him.

[Jerod Broussard]

You run ESAB welders?

[realdocBBQ]

Yellow caught your eye? lol ESAB pretty good stuff, but I dunno if they are prevalent in Europe.

[Jerod Broussard]

realdocBBQ Dewalt and Champion were a very distant second

[Henrik]

Yes, bought it in 2017, before Russia’s illegal invasion. Great welder, such a workhorse, but wouldn’t buy it today for political reasons.