Oldclaypaws Patented Firepit

[oldclaypaws]

Mrs Paws is going to be absolutely over the moon with her Xmas pressie. We agreed Christmas dinner is going to be a barbie in the wood, but we could do with a firepit / brazier / barbie. She's as daft as me when it comes to trying to reuse and find uses for discarded urban crud, but I think this is one of my best yet.

Introducing the Oldclaypaws Firepit / barbie base. Its made entirely from the drum of an old washing machine. Its about 18" wide and a foot deep and of course stainless steel.- perfect for a firepit. It was encased in a rigid plastic surround containing the water channels which I cut through with an angle grinder. The top of the drum came to a narrower neck where it met the machine door, so I cut the top off. At the base a three pronged support held the central bearing in place, when removed, cut into three and reattached by inverting the pieces and bending back the drum rim, they made rather stylish legs.

Of course the drum is full of little holes to let water through, so its perfectly vented for burning wood inside. (I think thats cycle no 9- no spin, no wash and combustion.) A grill tray from the cooker fits nicely over the top across the sides, so after lighting a fire and letting it die back a bit, you can put any food/ dutch oven/ kebabs etc laid across the top, while enjoying the heat radiating from the sides.

Total cost- zero.

About I hours work. Neat, huh?

[SimonFisher]

That is very neat indeed Mr Paws. I shall be having a go at one of those myself I think just as soon as I can source an old washing machine via my local Freegle community.

[Andy M]

I think that it works better leaving the top on - somewhere to rest a kettle/pot away from the direct heat. The heated wood gives off gas which burns through all the small holes on the sides giving a multiple flame effect.

Like the legs - the whole thing looks very neat.

[Whatisheatnow]

Brilliant! Well done, OCP.

[Rich]

Here's an idea along the same lines for the next time somebody offers you a piece of stainless steel worktop.
I made a reflector oven out of it with the addition of some bricks an old fire grate rescued from the dump and a chestnut handle.

The little round disk is a magnetic thermometer, the type you can stick on your woodstove flue.

I dig a pit for the firegrate and build a fire next to it then rake the embers underneath the firegrate. The stainless steel reflects the heat back down and makes a pretty impressive oven.

I used to use a dutch oven, which I think are great for stews and soups, but I never really found them much good for roasting as they tend to steam more thanthey roast. For me this is way better as you can cook nice crispy roasts and its very easy to control the temperature by raking more or less embers under the grate. It's also quite hard to burn your food like this unless you get completely distracted!

[oldclaypaws]

I think that it works better leaving the top on

It was an easy decision to take the top off- the size of the aperture would have restricted putting anything other than short thin pieces of wood inside and would also make it more difficult to remove ash. (and it made it look like the inside of a washing machine). Its better to have an open or removable top to facilitate fueling and emptying. I'm considering what simple arrangement if any to put over it, wouldn't be difficult to rig a dutch oven or a grill or a lift on/off steel sheet with 3 or 4 flip-covered holes as 'cooking rings' for pans or a kettle (maybe with fuel stoking holes cut in the sides?), but the main objective was a portable fire pit to have camp fires without scorching the ground, and to make something useful and aesthetic while having a bit of practical fun.

Point it East at a sixty degree angle and it picks up Sky TV.

[oldclaypaws]

She's as daft as me when it comes to trying to reuse and find uses for discarded urban crud

When we lived in Surrey, Mrs Paws worked in Central London and commuted by Rail and Tube every day. When I started composting in the garden, everything went in it, every kitchen peeling and weed. When Mrs Paws saw a 6 foot high dead potted Kentia Palm about to go in the skip at the office in London, she said "No!, don't throw it away, I'll compost it!", so the daft woman carried the thing all the way to the station, in crowded carriages, and another 20 minutes walk home, just to chuck it in the compost heap.

[Dexter's Shed]

here's our attempt at re using waste materials, a friend was knocking down an internal wall, so we had the blocks, it may not be perfectly round, I prefer to call it rustic, and the two ends have areas to place old cooker/grill shelves to cook on, we found that when friends camped with us, people were queuing up to cook, hopefully this will solve the problem

[oldclaypaws]

A very satisfactory test drive today. An excellent way to spend boxing day. Can see this becoming a tradition. (All we need now is a cabin).

[oldclaypaws]

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