Bending a door

marshallbbq · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject: Bending a door

I purchased a offset smoker (made from a 120 gallon propane tank) but the door does not seal completely. Has anyone tried to bend or reform a door? It is made from 1/4 inch steel. I have thought about heating. Any other suggestions?
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Alien BBQ · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

Use wood stove gasket is my best suggestion. Try McMaster Carr.
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Travis_Creek · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

You need to tension it with a pipe clamp (or 2) and heat it on the outside. It is easier to stretch metal than compress it. Heat it on the inside and you'll be fighting yourself. Be careful hitting it, especially when hot, it will be easy to dent. If that don't work, I have a good bottle jack trick that works, but you will need to do some welding.
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txfireguy2003 · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 130

You might try flame straightening by using a rosebud tip on Oxy/Ace torch to get a "strip" of the metal on the inside suface of the door up to a cherry red color, then allow it to cool and it might pull in some. I have had VERY limited success with that process though. Another option I learned from this site, depending on how big of a gap you have, would be to go to a fireplace store and get some wood stove cement and a rope type gasket to fill the void and make a seal. I plan to use this method on my current project whether there is any warpage or not, just to get a total seal.

marshallbbq · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

I have tried rope gasket and have run into two problems. First the door has a solid seal in some areas but not so good in other, so the gasket will not fit everywhere. It is to thick or thin in areas. Also, I have had trouble getting it to stick to the door and the gasket. I have used stove cement, still is coming loose.
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Homemade trailer offset
18 in WSM
26.75 Weber Kettle
Large BGE
Medium BGE
UDS
Ducan gasser.

marshallbbq · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

Travis_Creek · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

Clamp it from top to bottom, the direction you want to bend it. Bending a door back is not easy, you may even have to cut it off, bend it, then reweld.
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Smoke on the Horizon · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

marshallbbq · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

saintjoemo · Newbie Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 43

We had a similar problem on our build. We placed metal pieces on the concrete floor, placed a piece of flat metal in the middle, then ran over the middle of the door with a forklift. Worked pretty well. Don't have any idea what your equipment resources are. How about an idea of what you have to work with?

Travis_Creek · Posted: Jan 17 2008 Post subject:

Open the door and place a clamp or two from top to bottom on the inside of the door. It should bend the door in the direction you want. The clamps are holding tension, then heat the outside of the door.
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Ratmo · Newbie Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: 39 Location: Peaster Tx

Could this be a hinge problem?
Ive had this happen before, but on mine, it needed to be ground down some on the top inside. I have seen the same problem with the rod type hinge being set to far back. No pro here, just got me to thinkin.
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jib · Posted: Jan 18 2008 Post subject:

A reallly good welder with a gas torch can straighten that up quickly.

My dad owned a structura steel fab shop. He built some ornate Stainless railing with a 4 inch pipe on the top, as the handrail. By the time all the comonents were fabbed up, it looked like a piece of spagetti. I watched his top guy with a water spray bottle and a Oxy-acetylene torch work his way down that piece, heating, cooling, heating, etc. He had a 20 foot length done, straight as new, in under an hour. I asked him to show me how to do it, which he did, but he also told me it would take 10+ years to master; which I believe.

Jack
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JoeD · BBQ Fan Joined: 09 Dec 2007 Posts: 231

Forkin Pork · Posted: Jan 18 2008 Post subject:

By the way little fella's. How do we get stove rope or gasket to stay on or stick to the door. Rolling Eyes

Im at a loss!
I'll be gettin a diamomd plate Fatty soon, bet they figure out of to make the darn thing stay in place!
But I do need to find the asnwer to this problem, sews I can finish the project Im working.

FATFRANK · Posted: Jan 19 2008 Post subject:

hvac81 · Posted: Jan 19 2008 Post subject:

smokin Jim · Posted: Jan 19 2008 Post subject:

The stove cement that comes with the rope gasket is no good. What I have used is the red, high temperature silicone sealant. This seems to do the job. In fact I know of some that just run a bead of the high temp silicone, let it set up and then close the door. Letting the silicone make the gasket.
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divechief · Posted: Feb 21 2008 Post subject:

Here are a few pics of how I bent my door into shape. It's 3/8" thick. I heated it with a torch and cranked tension into it with an old jack. The first try I went too far and had to do it again with the jack on the outside of the door. I didn't take pics of the second bend.

mrcustomsteel · Posted: Feb 21 2008 Post subject:

divechief, that's sweet. Consider that idea stolen!

Here's a couple of ways I've done it:

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