D.I.Y. fire pit ideas

[aly]

With the colder weather approaching I thought it’d be a great project to create a fire pit for outdoor entertaining. I recently saw a fire pit made out of stacked wheel drums and thought it looked simple and rather effective. Anyone got any ideas or images of some interesting fire pit designs? - Thanks!

Community manager's note: Check out How to build a fire pit for expert advice.

[MartyH]

I'm thinking about one too.

Here's a couple of pics I put on the gallery yesterday. Looks pretty easy. 

[Yonnee]

I work for an Earthmoving Spare Parts/Wreckers, and following a request from my son for an outdoor fire for a small party he's having, I found an old Motor Grader wheel rim in our wrecking yard that makes a perfect structure for a fire pit. The rim is 25"/65cm diameter by 20"/50cm high and the steel is all around 20mm thick, so it won't rust away any time soon. The centre of the rim (where it mounts to the Grader's axle) is about halfway up, so the fire sits well above the ground and I welded a thick steel plate to cover the centre bore hole.

I do like the look of the one in the photo that @MartyH put up with the stone surround...

[kaylah_rose]

 Hey @aly,

Great post, got me thinking of some ideas and then that got me researching! I found a few ideas I think are interesting. 

A simple idea that is not permanant, but could work if you just wanted it for a party is a Swedish Torch. It is literally just a log and kindling, but I think it's got a great effect. The steps for this are here.

Another idea I found was a fire pit using two tire rims and stacking them on top of eachother. I like this one because you can also use the top as a stove and cook using the fire, which I thought was great. 

Were the wheel drum fire pits you mention similar to the washing machine drums like this one? They are quite effective and seems to also let out a fair bit light if you want to use your fire pit to lighten up the backyard at night as well. 

Another idea I thought was different was fire glass. Looks quite unique. Not sure exactly what is involved in setting this up though and you would lose the traditional wood fire effect, but the look is interesting.  

 

This is one where they have used fire ice in an old horse trough, which I thought was a neat idea.

Let us know how you go! Would love to know what design you decide to go with. 

Kay

[aly]

Wow thanks for the suggestions @kaylah_rose! The one I saw recently was similiar to the tyre rim one you've posted. Looks cool and is very practical. I also love the image of the washing machine drum you've posted, might look into that one! The last two images are quite impressive but I think i'll stick to something basic!

[Kermit]

These look good for something less permanent:

I also liked this alternative for Star Wars fans...

[Yonnee]

Finally got around to taking a pic of the Wheel Rim Fire Pit...

Also used two of the legs from the old Monkey Bar set the kids haven't used in years as legs for a bench seat.

[Joker]

This one uses concrete tree rings which should be pretty easy to get hold of.

[Shane]

If you can find an old washing machine drum from somewhere you are in business.

[Yonnee]

I had a washing machine drum fire years ago, but discovered that the centre section of the base that connected the drum to the motor was alloy and didn't like the heat...