Baroness Anastasia's
Kick-ass Fire Pit.

 
An adaptation of 15th & 16 century braziers
 

Lee tries out the brazier at home

We were watching Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V", when Anne noticed the ornate brazier in the French court scenes.  She turned to me, the resident engineer, and asked; "That's what we need!  Can you design a kick-ass fire pit?"


A baroness' whim is a command, right?

By patterning the fire pit after charcoal braziers of the 15th and 16th centuries, it answered the need for above-ground fires while presenting the general appearance of a typical period artifact.  It can handle a 20" log, yet breaks down compactly for travel.  

Seth donated the sheet metal, and assisted in the cutting.  Robert performed the necessary welding, and provided venting by carving out night-time scenes featuring a different phase of the moon on each panel.


Roxanna and Tony of R&R Metalworks now offer fire pits based on this design!



 Inspiration:

A wheeled brazier
from a miniature by Antonio di 
Niccolò, 1475

A wheeled brazier, 16th century Germany



 Construction:

The cut pattern shows how all of the sheet metal components were cut from a single 2' x 4' panel of 14 gauge steel.

Pins were removed from four hinges, and the hinge plates (shown here in red) were then attached to the side panels, as suggested in the upper right.
The legs are lengths of pipe onto which are welded steel pins sized slightly smaller in diameter than the discarded hinge pins.
The corners of the pan were relieved as shown here.  This allowed the sides to be folded up at 45 degrees, to meet as shown in the photo below.  These corners were then welded closed.


     
 Corner detail, showing the edges of the pan folded up, but not yet welded.
 The pin from the leg extends upwards through the pan, and holds the side panels together.
 The assembled brazier, before welding and artwork.


Tom convinced me to try assembling the brazier upside down, and I've been doing it that way ever since:  fit together the side panels on the ground, lay the pan over them, and insert the legs.  Assembly is an easy, two-handed task that way.  We stow the panels and legs in the pan for travel, along with our cooking grill and fire tools. The total package measures less than 3 x 24 x 28".

The shelf around the firebox works well for its intended purpose of containing ash and embers, but it quickly found a higher calling in turning stones into hand warmers and bed warmers.  Be very careful to avoid burns if you try this trick, and never use stones which have set in water or wet ground as they can explode when heated.   

At Seth's suggestion, drain holes have been added to prevent rainwater from accumulating in the pan.  These were made outside of the firebox, one in each corner.

Max



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Photographs and other content are copyright 2003 by John Wilson unless otherwise credited.

Created 12/9/2003

Last updated 1/6/2011

This web site was created and is maintained by John and Lee Wilson. Removeth not the back panel; there are no user serviceable bits therein.