Hi All
Time to move on!!!
Well I built my first UDS and it looks the biz but what a pain trying to get some of the essentials cheap enough and sourcing them. The guys in the US seem to do it quite cheaply from Home Depot but with a lot of research they are a doddle to build. So for those out there wanting to know a few tips on where's the cheapest places to go for bits unless you have other suggestions
Screwfix and Toolstore are the cheapest for 3/4 Brass hex nipples, flanged nuts and caps at under £1.00 each bit. 3 x sets for inlets and 8 X sets for the exhaust drilled in the lid
Male to Female shut off valve x 1 £6.50 on EBay
M8 by 50mm Stainless steel bolts washers and nuts from Ebay for the grate supports £4.00
2 x Grates similar to Weber 57CM at £14.99 from Sunshine BBQ
Ash tray just used the flat base of a cheapo 17" BBQ from Sainsburys or other at £12.00
My most expensive item was the coal tray at £24.99 its a replacement ProQ Excel coal basket But you could make a cheaper one from expanded metal but I couldn't be bothered. I held the ash tray and coal tray together with 3 x M10 x 180mm bit overkill as M8s would have done.
I used A Bolt from the Blue on EBay for all the stainless steel bolts etc.
Cheap handle for lid from B & Q at £4.00
High Temp engine paint from Euro Parts need about 3 to do body and lid at around £6.00 each
Temp gauges are not the best and very expensive if you try to get the US Tel Tru type but got 2 from Amazon (china) for about £6.00 but have yet to see what they are like. I have proper CookPro temp probes so I can check and adjust the position accordingly. (12 O'clock 275 F or 135C for low n slow)
My Kids also bought me a BBQ Guru for my birthday from Battle Box (UK supplier)
My friend gave me 3 horse shoes to use as feet to lift the UDS off the ground by about 150MM my local garage welded them on for me for a Fiver.
Couple of days easy work so get going for the summer.
Let me know if you want any more build info.
