I built a smoker a few years ago. It works great but for longer smokes i like to use my masterbuilt electric smoker. It cost $200 and works great even in January on the back deck. Link:
http://www.masterbuilt.com/30-inch-e...p-control.html
It uses all chips. I bought a hopper for it that will give it continuous smoke for 6 hours which is longer than any meat needs smoke for.
Here is pic of my home built. Two 55 gallon fuel barrel and a wood stove burning kit.