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No matter what time of year it is, nothing beats sitting outside around an open fire.
Cold nights, warm nights, it doesn’t matter. You may be enjoying a cold beer or a “special” coffee. You can cook dinner on it, you can roast marshmallows for s’mores <—CLICK HERE—THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK —HELP SUPPORT OUR BEER FUND on it, or you can just sit around watch it burn with someone you love.
It can be as simple as placing some large rocks in a circle or as elaborate as solid steel bowl, complete with plasma cut patterns it in.
There’s a wack of propane or natural gas outdoor firepits <—CLICK HERE—THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK —HELP SUPPORT OUR BEER FUND for sale, but very few for burning real wood.
I’m guessing that’s why I see so many people making their own fire pits. I’ve seen an old steel drum cut in half, a rusty rim off a dump truck, chimney bricks mortared together in a nice large ring, a drum from a household dryer and even a piece of a rusted discarded steel culvert all used to make homemade firepits. The possibilities are endless (share your ideas below – I’d love to hear what you used to create your own firepit)
Before I tell you what mines made of, take a look at the photos and see if you can identify the various pieces.
I’ll start with the barrel itself, it’s a 2″ thick cast iron outflow pipe from an old pump station. It’s 24″ wide at the base and it flares open to 32″ at the top. The base is simply an ordinary cement stepping stone from any home and garden store. It’s 24″ as well so the iron barrel fits perfectly on top.
Now is where people start to scratch their heads. The odd looking frame that seems almost made to hold the stepping stone is actually an old coffee table. It used to have a thick round piece of glass on top of it. I’ve turned it upside down so my fire pit sits closer to the ground.
The odd looking black toppers are two sets of flame themed curtain rod finials. I cut the feet off the coffee table frame and attached the finials with Gorilla Glue Construction Adhesive <—CLICK HERE—THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK —HELP SUPPORT OUR BEER FUND.
The solid lid was made from a piece of tin, cut, hammered and riveted together.
The screen was just a lucky purchase at a garage sale, I guess 32″ was a popular size for outdoor burners at one time because it fit perfectly, luckily for me.
I paid $5 for the stepping stone, I think the screen was $5 as well and the finials were $1 each at a second hand store.
The glass-less table as well as the giant hunk of cast iron were free, someone was throwing those out.
A bit of construction adhesive and my trusty spray can of flat black high heat paint <—CLICK HERE—THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK —HELP SUPPORT OUR BEER FUND and it was done.
Aside from my kids breaking off a finial now and then, it’s been sitting in my back yard for almost 14 years. I spray paint it every spring or summer depending on how rough it’s looking.
I think it looks pretty cool, it’s quite unique and above all, it works great.
