Firepit - My First Attempt at Fabrication

[chesbaycruiser 82]

I'm always amazed and impressed by the wide variety of skills and the superior level of craftsmanship on display in this forum, especially the ability to fabricate everything from rugged, utilitarian parts to intricate, complicated mechanisms.

I am not one of those people. In fact, until about two months ago, I had never done any metalwork at all. Then my neighbor bought a very nice Miller mig welder, and shortly thereafter acquired a plasma cutter and an oxy/acetylene setup. Never one to pass up a good opportunity, I jumped at the chance to get some hands-on experience. And in the ensuing weeks and months, he and I have combined his fabrication talents with my limited design skills to build some fun little artsy/crafty projects.

So I figured it was about time to put my scant experience to use, and build something useful. Since I've been wanting to get a firepit, and really haven't seen one in the stores that I really liked, that seemed like a good starting point. Be forewarned...you will not find any refined fabrication skills in these photos. In fact, some of the welds are downright ugly. Still, given this is my first significant attempt at designing and fabricating something "real" and useful, I'm happy with the results. And honestly, how bad can you screw up a firepit? I started with a "napkin sketch", then transferrred the idea to the computer to draft up a set of dimension drawings, which evolved as the project proceeded. We ended up building 3 of these; one for me, one for him and one for his dad. Mine was the first, so it also functioned as our "test bed". The final unit is 36" x 36", and stands about 18"+/-.

Without further ado, here's the genesis of this project.

After cutting the sides and bottom out of a sheet of 12 guage steel with the plasma cutter, I tack welded the sides, fitting the pieces as one at a time. We had some challenges with the plasma cutter, so the edges of the metal were not as clean as we wanted on my unit, although with practice, we managed better cuts on the second two.

Running the plasma cutter, using a piece of 1" square tube as a fence.

Here is the first pass of the assembled unit. I liked the look, but when we actually pulled up some chairs around it, we decided it sat a little too tall.

So after a little "ciphering", out came the die-grinder and I cut about 3" off the legs, then welded new feet on the bottom.

Finally, here's the unit with cross-supports for the legs, and a coat of Rustoleum High Heat satin black paint.

That's it! Nothing fancy, but I'm kinda proud of it, so I thought I'd share!

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 137]

Very Nice. Any plans to put fire bricks in it? They aren't needed but it will protect the metal a lot. I drilled some holes in the bottom of mine for water to drain out since it doesn't have a cover. I was also thinking of putting mine on some sort of wheels so I can move it easily but haven't gotten around to that yet.

[shootinok 15]

Nice!

volcanic rocks in the bottom will work like firebrick too.

[chesbaycruiser 82]

Very Nice. Any plans to put fire bricks in it? They aren't needed but it will protect the metal a lot. I drilled some holes in the bottom of mine for water to drain out since it doesn't have a cover. I was also thinking of putting mine on some sort of wheels so I can move it easily but haven't gotten around to that yet.

Hadn't considered the fire bricks or lava rocks....that's something to think about.

I have gone back and forth on the drain hole idea. Part of me likes the idea, and part of me is concerned that combined with prolonged use, the hole might introduce a good spot for rust to get a foothold. Right now I'm leaning towards the idea of just making a cover.

You raise a good point about the wheels....this thing probably weighs in somewhere between 80 and 100 pounds. Part of my solution to that problem is the cross-supports that run between the legs. I'm formulating a plan for a "dolly" of sorts that will fit under them that will allow me to lift it up and move it around by hand, or even better, behind the Wheel Horse! :wh:

[AMC RULES 37,102]

I think it's awesome.

Wish we didn't live so far apart, I'd put an order in for one too.

Just needs a cover now, incorporating the logo somehow.

What's next up on the drawing board? :dunno:

[JimD 3,345]

Very nice, sure beats the one I don't have. :bow-blue:

[ol550 830]

Now you just need some of these heavy duty and multi purpose stools.

[AMC RULES 37,102]

Wonder if them stools come with any attachments?

[chesbaycruiser 82]

Now you just need some of these heavy duty and multi purpose stools.

Guess that would certainly simplify the "sitting around the fire drinking beer" process!

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,073]

That firepit came out real nice. Now we need a pic with a fire in it!

Mike.............

[Kelly 1,029]

I think it looks great, I've been fabing stuff for ever, and don't even think about it when I do it, glad you stepped out and tried it, now on to bigger and better things.

[dclarke 4,030]

I like that... a lot. Nice job!

[massey 118]

That turned out real nice and I agree about the plasma cutter every little hiccup shows up in the cut, I use a guide/fence whenever I can.

[wheelhorse656 20]

Nice fire pit i want one and some of those multi use stools too.......

[Coadster32 793]

Proud you should be. That came out really nice!!! :handgestures-thumbupright:

[chesbaycruiser 82]

Thanks for all the positive comments! If the temps come up just a touch more here, I'm going to spray one more coat of paint today or tomorrow, and hope to fire it up this weekend. Will try to get some "fire shots"!

Guess I'm officially back in the business!

[Don1977 604]

I think you did a great job on the fire pit, and I have been welding and building for 50 years. Keep at it and show us what you can do.

[chinoman279 10]

That looks great for somebody who has no metal working experience. Throw some lava rock in the bottom and call it a day. Fire it up. We want pics of the first fire.

[chesbaycruiser 82]

Life has thrown some pretty heavy curves this way over the last couple of weeks, so I'm a little slow in posting these, but as requested, here are the pics of the inaugural fire from the fire pit, as well as a very short (and boring) video clip I threw up on YouTube.

It looks and works great. Next task is to build a dolly to move it around (by hand or behind a Red Tractor), since it weighs in somewhere north of 80 pounds!

[Stigian 1,234]

Great work Chris, you should be proud of it, it looks really good...

Now you've started slippery slope of fabricating, there be no stopping you.. It gets in the blood like that :)

[AMC RULES 37,102]

Video reminds me of the Christmas yule log video on TV. :)