$4 air compressor to $400 smoker

I found this air compressor tank at an estate sale and managed to nab it for only $4, along with some other scrap metal (including the axle that made up the sledge handle in the previous video). I tried to use up as much scrap as I had lying around to keep costs down, but ended up buying the steel for the hinges, firebox, and banding around the doors (all told it probably came out to around $300 in materials & consumables). I probably could have saved around $50 by finding a cheap grill grate at a thrift shop, but I thought it'd be fun to make one to the exact size of this smoker.

This ended up being the perfect project for me to convince myself I needed a plasma cutter (especially after I bought a functioning air compressor a few months ago), and it's been quite the learning curve trying to learn how to use it while not screwing up my very limited stock of materials beyond repair. I still need to get better at consistently moving the torch head without stopping/starting. Oh, and probably buy a respirator.

This was a huuuuuuge project that took over 2 months of solid work, and was the first time I've made something with moving parts. I had to redo the firebox door at least once and I may redo it again next season, but I'm happy with how the cookchamber door came out. It warped a little bit when I welded on the handle, but it doesn't leak any smoke so I count it as a win. If I ever make another smoker, I'll probably double insulate the firebox (a LOT of heat is being lost, radiating off the firebox instead of heating the air going through the smoker). I'm still experimenting with where to place the coals in the firebox to help even out the temperature across the cookchamber.

By far, the worst parts of this build were stripping the paint off the tank (destroyed the garage) and seasoning the smoker (destroyed me). The firebox got plenty hot enough to polymerize the canola oil, but the cook chamber did not- I didn't show it on camera, but I ended up using a torch and 4 bottles of mapp gas manually heating a section and rubbing oil on it repeatedly until the seasoning had built up enough.

SONGS:
Macho Man - Village People
Party on the Patio - ZZ Top