Newest Threads

SOB · 11-08-2009, 12:18 AM

OK...I feel like posting my stand...any critiques are welcome. My Dad is a life long carpenter and obviously he has NOT helped in this venture which makes ME feel good! I am in the future buying March pumps and valves and (in the future future) a Micrologix PLC to somewhat automate the process.

(Not pictured) HLT on far left, MT in the middle, BK on right. Cheap and easy using what I had already made\available...

I'm hoping to not have to put any metal flashing around the burner but I'm testing that tomorrow and will keep you posted. I LOVE constructive criticism...Thanks!

**Pappers_** · 11-08-2009, 12:23 AM

I think it looks great! Not carppy at all. I suspect the wood around the recessed burner may get a little warm! In any case, nice looking setup.

misterVT · 11-08-2009, 02:39 AM

Crappy? I think not! Nice job, can't wait to see the finished product.

The Pol · 11-08-2009, 02:43 AM

Metal flashing wont help much around the wood, as it will simply transfer heat to it. Many people use a fireboard type of material that will help to insualte the wood from the heat.

My guess is that with a kettle on there, trapping heat, you are going to have plenty of smoke from the wood

I say this becuase I have seen a turkey fryer on a paved driveway, melt itself in the asphalt because of the heat from the burner, even though the burner itself was like a foot or more off the surface!

There have been other wooden builds here with much more distance between the burner and the wood, and they still had to use the fireboard to protect it.

I would venture to say that maybe even the wood UNDER the burner will start to smolder. You have to think, that heat gets trapped under the kettle, surrounded by the wooden frame and wooden top on the stand. Your burner is very close to the wooden shelf that it sits on, for an hour... trapped heat. I am interested to see how well a high BTU burner relates to that much wood, so close.

**Dog House Brew** · 11-08-2009, 02:54 AM

Wood and flames to me don't mix well.

The Pol · 11-08-2009, 02:59 AM

Well, yah that is my concern. ScubaSteve had that awesome wooden rig and he had A LOT of space between the burners and wooden frame, and still had to place fire board on the thing to shield it. His burners were also mounted on steel brackets, not sitting on wooden shelves.

I see issues with a 60 minute boil and all of that trapped heat. 2/3 of the BTUs from these burners is jus thrown off and not sent into the kettle, that is A LOT of heat to dissipate, and that is one low profile burner. Id have a fire extinguisher handy, seriously.

jmp138 · 11-08-2009, 01:24 PM

The problem I see is with the height of the actual table top and its proximity to the flames of the burner. I use the exact same burner on my wooden deck, which is still not that great of an idea, but I can put my hand under the burner during a full blast boil and the wood is just barely warm. I have since gotten a fire mat just for safety, but I would seriously be a little worried about the area that is within a few inches of 200 btu's.

Catt22 · 11-08-2009, 02:15 PM

Generally the carpentry looks pretty good. I don't think having the big gas burner surrounded with wood in such close proximity is going to work very well. Keep a fire extinguisher close at hand when you fire that thing up.

The first thing I notice with most wood rigs is that they are over built. You'd think that
2 x4's, 4 x4's and 3/4" plywood were the only lumber sizes available. The other thing is that they are too tall, making it difficult to see into the kettles and even more difficult to remove spent grain etc. I would prefer it to be as low to the ground as possible and constructed from the lightest material possible without sacrificing structural integrity or load carrying capacity. You can do a lot with 1 X 4 & 1 x 3 boards. Plywood is OK, but I would cover the top with something like Wonderboard (cement backer board) or the aluminum diamond plate. My dad was an excellent capenter and craftsman too. Learned a lot from him. We often often clashed otherwise, but he would have gotten into a project like this.

So, along these lines, I would suggest reworking it some. Lower the height if you can and put the burner on top. Use some backer board for improved fireproofing. It should be fairly easy to make these modifications if you want to.

**wilserbrewer** · 11-08-2009, 02:52 PM

Looks pretty good to me, it the wood around the burner is a problem, you could simply remove that portion. Basicly, like a two tier, with the lower protion for the burner.

Show a pic w/ the kettle on the burner, that will determine how much heat is going to be trapped. A wide kettle that covers the hole on the framing will trap a tremendous amount of heat. A tall skinny kettle, ???

Catt22 · 11-08-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilserbrewer

Looks pretty good to me, it the wood around the burner is a problem, you could simply remove that portion. Basicly, like a two tier, with the lower protion for the burner.

Show a pic w/ the kettle on the burner, that will determine how much heat is going to be trapped. A wide kettle that covers the hole on the framing will trap a tremendous amount of heat. A tall skinny kettle, ???

The potential problem with the burner positioned as shown go beyond simply trapping heat. There's the radiant heat to consider and it will be substantial. The only practical way to deal with the huge amount of heat radiating from the burner in all directions would be to increase the distance between it and the wood. Heat radiating downward is what causes damage to unprotected decks. One of my friends almost burned down his house when his chiminea thing ignited his deck this way. He's not the brightest bulb in the drawer as this happened to him twice!