Making a Custom Fire Pit Design From Concept to Completion

I decided to try something a little different with this project. Usually when I start filming, I have already done the design work and have a pretty solid idea of what I am building. But this time, I wanted to bring you along for the entire process from the very beginning. I had nothing more than a couple of loose sketches and a problem I wanted to solve. The problem was simple. I wanted a fire pit for my backyard, but not just any fire pit. Our yard has changed a lot over the years, and I did not want to just rebuild the stone fire pit I made before. I needed something that actually fit how we use the space now.

Here is the thing about designing something like this. You need to know what success looks like before you start building. That means setting up some design criteria. My list started with three main requirements. First, it had to be large, around thirty-six inches across. I wanted something big enough for a few people to sit around, not one of those tiny metal cans you see everywhere. Second, it had to be portable. I did not want something so heavy that it was stuck wherever I put it. And third, and this was the tricky one, it had to be collapsible. I am running out of storage space, and I did not want a giant disc taking up room in my garage during the months we are not using it. If I could pull it off, making it somewhat smokeless would be a nice bonus.

I started with three different concepts and worked through them one by one. The first idea was a pie shape where all the segments would pivot from a center bolt. The problem there was obvious. Individual pieces moving around would create gaps, and gaps mean fire falling through. That was a no. The second idea was more of a folding trough shape, but it had its own issues. It did not fold down small enough to justify the complexity, and it would need legs that made the storage problem even worse. The third idea was a combination of both concepts, and that is the one that stuck. Four triangular sections that drop onto a folding base with index pegs, no fasteners required. Everything could come apart, nest together, and store flat.

I took that concept into Autodesk Fusion to start working out the real measurements and geometry. The first version was rough, but it got the idea across. The base would have two bars that pivot in the middle with pegs sticking up. The four triangular sections would have holes that drop onto those pegs, locking everything in place. Two opposing pieces would sit on top of the other two, overlapping at the bottom so there are no gaps around the outside. It worked as a proof of concept, but it looked kind of boring with the walls going straight up. I adjusted the design so the walls leaned outward slightly, and that made a huge difference in how it looked. If you are interested in learning how to use Fusion for projects like this, check out our online course called Fusion for Makers.

Before cutting any metal, I made a cardboard prototype to test the design. Cardboard is great for this because it is cheap, easy to work with, and gives you a real sense of how the pieces interact. One thing the prototype showed me was that the weight distribution was going to be a concern. The center of the cardboard pieces lifted because the outside edges were heavier than the inside. With steel, that would only get worse. I figured the pieces would want to lean outward once assembled, but I would not know for sure until I actually built it. Sometimes you just have to move forward and deal with problems as they show up.

Cutting and welding the steel went mostly according to plan, but my welding is not exactly precision work. The pieces were the same thickness as the cardboard, so I expected them to fit together the same way, but the slight imprecision in my welds threw off the hole alignment between the top and bottom sections. Lesson learned. I should have only cut the holes in the top pieces first, assembled everything, and then used those holes to trace the bottom ones. That way they would have matched perfectly. I was able to work around it by making the bottom holes larger, but if I ever made a bunch of these, I would definitely use jigs and fixtures to keep everything consistent.

The base had its own set of challenges. My original plan was to have two bars pivot in the middle so it could fold flat, but that forced the bars onto different planes. It would work, but it was not elegant. I came up with a better solution using two parallel leg assemblies connected by a bar underneath with bolts at both pivot points. That way the whole thing could collapse down flat. I also realized after assembly that using threaded rod for the pegs instead of solid posts would have been smarter. The threads would create friction to keep the pieces from sliding off, and I could have threaded a nut on top to lock everything together as one unit. Instead, I had to cut off the posts and weld bolts in their place before painting.

For the finish, I used high heat paint rated up to twelve hundred degrees Fahrenheit. It is the same stuff people use on stoves and grills, so it should hold up to fire pit duty just fine. The finished product does exactly what I set out to do. It is large, portable, collapsible, and it does not produce a ton of smoke. But was it worth the effort? Honestly, probably not.

The thing is not so big that I could not have just leaned a regular fire pit against the side of the house. But that is not really the point. This channel is called I Like to Make Stuff, not I Like to Buy Stuff. Sometimes the fun is in the problem solving, even if the problem was not that big to begin with. Thanks for following along with the build. Now, go make something awesome!