A Texan girl April Wilkerson utilizes her spare time in crafting useful things for her home. Earlier, she didn’t know anything about building, although after extensive work for years now she works on various DIY projects and shares their tutorials on her blog. Recently, she made a custom steel fire pit and shared its demonstration video on her YouTube channel. She searched online for getting some inspiration, and finally decided to build a hexagon-shaped fire pit with strong steel legs.
Primarily, she used a plasma cutter, welding cart, angle grinder, magnets and a large compass to make a patterned fire pit out of steel plates. If you also want to make a similar fire pit for your backyard, you can follow the steps listed below.
- Draft a pattern for the outer surface of the fire pit. However, one can make his/her own patterns or design it similar to April in a diamond
- Replicate the pattern sketched on a craft paper to one of the precisely-cut steel sheet cut for sides of the hexagon.
- Use a plasma cutter to cut out the pattern on the steel surface.
- As April cut her first pattern and after that left all pieces for later, one can also try to do the same to prevent distortion of the metal sheet due to continuous cutting.
- It is better to holdup the pattern-cutting process, till all metal sides get welded. For completing this easily, one can make a wooden jig with 120 degrees to hold the metal sheets in one place using magnets.
- Initially, weld all metal sides at three points for keeping its shape undistorted. Start welding the top section of a joint and later move to the bottom and middle lengths of joints to keep the material distortion down.
- Now place the welded body on a steel sheet and trace inside measures using a marker. Using a plasma cutter, cut the outside trace of the marked line so that it gets fitted in the body.
- Finally, weld the bottom steel plate and shift to cutting patterns, as it is a lengthy task.
- A wooden pattern can also be made so that one can put it on the side of the fire pit and mark the pattern easily.
- After cutting patterns, round all edges using a metal grinder.
Also Read: Star Wars-themed fire pits build by a Calgary man to help ailing sister
- Using a large compass, mark two circles for drawing even-spaced locations for drain holes using a roll of tape.
- Cut drain holes on the marked locations with a plasma.
- Craft out four diamond cut-outs in an octagon shape and then weld them to square pipes that are cut in 30-degree angle on both sides.
- One can also attach expanded metal sheet cover up the drain holes so as to prevent embers from falling.
- Now attach the finalized legs to fire pit body and paint it with high-temperature automotive paint. At last place it in your porch or garden and enjoy sitting around an outdoor fire.
For fabricating this DIY fire pit, one needs to get an appropriate metal cutter and a nice method for clamping the metal sides together. Another crucial task is cutting patterns in metal plates, and once completed, it will serve as a useful and functional household item for surviving harsh winters.
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