VIDEO TIPS FOR MAKING THE FIREBOX*
4K views
Jan 25, 2024
VIDEO TIPS FOR MAKING THE FIREBOX*
View Video Transcript
0:00
In this video I want to give you some tips on how you can take a concrete well
0:06
tile and some well tile caps and turn it into the firebox you need for your
0:11
smokehouse. So this is the well tile here it's a factory cast concrete quite
0:19
durable and strong and long-lasting and the size isn't too important 24 inch 30
0:26
inches fine. Inside you can see a grate here that's just to lift the burning
0:33
wood up off the floor a little bit to give it some more air. The floor in this
0:39
case is a concrete well tile. You could also just pour a slab of concrete on the
0:46
bottom and then put the well tile on top if you prefer. Here's the concrete well
0:53
tile lid. All of this is very straightforward. The tricky bits are the
1:00
door opening that you'll need to cut and an opening for smoke pipe which could be
1:06
concrete or heavy steel as well. Well tile would actually make a great smoke
1:12
pipe because it's got a fairly thick wall. So here when it comes time to cut
1:18
this you're going to want to mark that out and use what's called a masonry saw
1:25
It's a kind of a cutoff saw. Here's what it looks like. This is my own saw here
1:31
I've been using it for many years. It's got a 14 inch diamond wheel here. It
1:39
lasts a long time. You can rent things like this too. You don't have to buy one
1:43
of these just to make your smokehouse firebox but you will want to look
1:48
for one that has a chance to hook up a garden hose. The hose hooks up here and
1:53
it distributes water through these lines and it squirts it on either side of the
2:00
blade just to keep the dust down. Without that there's huge billows of dust
2:04
developed by this saw. So essentially you fire it up and you use it to make cuts
2:12
here. Four cuts that you've pre-marked on the well tile. So one down here, here, here
2:22
and here. The cuts won't be able to go absolutely right into the corner. I mean
2:26
the top surface of the cut will be able to meet here but because the blade is
2:30
around there's still going to be a little bit of uncut material right in
2:34
the corner so that chunk isn't going to fall out. You will need to knock it out
2:38
maybe with a hammer and use a little chisel to clean up the corners but
2:43
that's essentially how you make this opening and on top of that is where your
2:48
door goes because you do have to be able to restrict the air leading into the
2:54
firebox. When it comes to making a hole for your pipe you're going to need some
3:00
kind of a hole saw. Some sort of a masonry hole saw to drill the size of
3:04
hole you need. Chances are you're not going to get a perfect fit with the
3:10
concrete or steel pipe you're using so when you set the well tile in place
3:16
where it's going to be ultimately and you stick the smoke pipe in there and
3:21
you get that all kind of aligned up one of the last things you'll want to do is
3:25
to plug up any gaps around the pipe using some mortar. Now nothing is going
3:35
to be burning very hot in here as I've said in earlier on in the course it's
3:39
just a smoldering fire so it doesn't have to be refractory masonry or
3:46
anything like that because it's just an old cold smoldering fire but you do want
3:50
it to be fairly well sealed here so that's you know you don't want any extra
3:55
air to get in. That's the main reason for wanting to seal this up so that you
3:59
have as close to full control as possible over the flow of air into the firebox
#Construction & Power Tools
#Fireplaces & Stoves
#Home Improvement
#HVAC & Climate Control