Thanks fellas.
Sam: I agree totally, after I got everthing going, the wife showed up with the beverage and says "Here, you deserve this after all the time you've been putting in getting this thing together."
Frosty: Actually, the blower is a Canedy Otto, the firepot is a Champion 400. Maybe I should have nicknamed it the "Heinz 57" forge.
James: It might melt down a Buick, but the way people are scrapping everything nowadays, I'd have to use a new one to see.
I really like the nice bed of coals it makes once the fire is started. I'm also amazed at how little coal it uses, compared to an electric blower. Seems like hand crank allows for awesome control of the heat, too. It got dark on us the other night, so I didn't get to play much. The following Sunday I got a few hours to play, and was really pleased. It doesn't throw too much flame after the volatile burn out. I was just getting on it a little too much in my excitement, in those pictures.