Creating your own fire pit

Creating your own custom fire pit. There are many commercially available fire pits on the market today but if you’re like me why would you buy something that you could do yourself. Not to mention many of the fire pits that are commercially available are of low quality and overpriced. For this project you will need a welder, an oxy-acetylene torch, and some kind of steel saw.

For the main part of your fire pit you will need something to burn your wood in. Something easy and relatively easy to find are fifty five gallon drums, and when you cut them in half you can make a second one later for a friend. As a side note you need to consider what was once held in that drum because there will always be some kind of residue which could be harmful to your health especially once you start cutting and welding and the residue gets vaporized. A safer alternative if you live near a cattle ranch is go and ask them if they have any empty Crystalyx® barrels. These are used to hold different kinds of minerals and are the size of a half of a fifty five gallon drum with a nice rolled lip. Other things that can be used are old propane tanks however I must remind you it is important that you make sure the take is fully empty before you start any kind of work so that you do not create some kind of explosion. The best way to do this is to open the valve to ensure that it is empty and the remove the valve completely so that there is no pressure in the tank.

After you have the main part of your pit you need to decide how you are going to keep it off the ground this will help vent heat and bring it up to a usable level. There are many ways of doing this you can even suspend it with a tripod.

The next step is to create cutouts around the side of your fire pit to allow your fire to be seen and to allow it to get oxygen. You can use any kind of cut out you want just make sure it is large enough to let air to pass through it. I have used star, steer head, elk head, and dear head cutouts on some of mine and they work quite well. All you have to do is choose a theme. After you choose your theme I recommend getting on Google and doing an image search for silhouettes for whatever you are looking for. After you find the image print it out to the size you want and make a template. I like to make mine out of cardboard or some kind of thick paper like from a manila folder.

Once your template(s) are created you need to space them evenly around your fire pit. You can either eyeball this part or I prefer to measure and place them at even increments. Use your template to draw out the outline and then using your torch cut them out. While you have got your torch hand you should also cut a drain hole in the bottom to allow water to drain I recommend a hole about an inch in diameter.

Now your almost finished you have your stand and cutouts although this next part is not required I highly recommend it. You need to get some expanded metal screening to place on the inside of your fire pit to keep large sparks and coals from falling out the cutouts. To do this measure the diameter of your fire pit and then measure about an inch above the top of your tallest cut out. Then bend your screen into a circle and place it into your fire pit and tack weld it in several places so it does not come out.

The last step is totally optional. You can choose to paint the outside of your fire pit with a heat resistant paint. There are several heat resistant spray paints on the market but your color choices are limited. I personally like the rusted aged look and do not put any kind of finish on mine.

Now your finished find a safe place to put your fire pit and enjoy your time sitting around the fire with family and friend! Don’t forget to keep a fire extinguisher and a shovel handy to put any sparks out before the turn into a fire. As always if you have any questions feel free to email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Happy trails, and thank you for reading