I think that I have mentioned in two different threads that my sister announced that she was driving up today to camp in the backyard with her kids. I was excited to see them for the first time since Xistday in March when we met in a parking lot in Payson and shouted at each other.
I thought about how to fix up my office as a cabin and to make a fire pit, wondering what else would make a nice touch for campers.
Of course, Mom told my sister that I poisoned the lawn, so my sister canceled the trip. Allegedly they are coming up next weekend, but I will believe that when I see them.
I may hug them, too.
Not my sister. What has she ever done for me?!
I am not making a big fire pit with our available space, but a big rocket stove could easily replace the abomination pictured previously.
How hard is it to make a fire pit? You just build a circle of bricks or rocks, ideally with more bricks or rocks on the bottom.
I don't see why you couldn't leave a dirt bottom, but nobody does.
I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing anything and I picked up some things:
- You want to line it with fire bricks because normal bricks won't last.
- You want a designated intake to make the smoke flow up, not in your face.
- Tractor Supply sells fire bricks!
I referred to real fire bricks and fake ones. I believe that one is light and reflects heat while the other is heavy [bricks are heavy?!] and simply withstands high heat. I am unsure which these are. Six or 10 for $33?
8.7?
The reviews just have useful stuff like "They are fire bricks, bricks I say, and can take a fire."
Like I wrote, useful.
They are 4.5 x 9 x 1.25. If I put two on the bottom, eight on the sides, and cut one in quarters for the corners, I could line this with 11 for $41.69 before tax.
One plan called for cutting bricks in half and using those for vents, so I guess that I will have a remainder.
Weird. I do not see the bricks that I have at Lowe's or Home Depot. They have to match!
Fun. The first one that it shows is 51¢, but says "3 in stock at nearby store
Apache Junction, 107.4 miles away."
I am not driving 214.8 miles for $1.53 in bricks!
Well, I am confident that they have bricks, and they are "4 x 8."
The old ones are 4"x8" and the new ones are 3.75 x 7.75.
I don't know what to do about the 1.25" gap besides make my own bricks. Bags of concrete are cheap and there are actually a few in the back of the shed, but I would only use 10% of one!
I think that it is curious that concrete molds are usually wood and plywood. Doesn't the wood pull moisture from the concrete?
I guess that is why you keep it moist. However, people make countertop molds out of melamine. I am sure that wood and plywood is fine, but I was thinking of transporting 4x8 sheets of not-plywood. I am sure that if you strap down plywood hard enough you will compress it, but not nearly as much as the not-plywood!
Materials:
- Fire bricks x 9 from Tractor Supply: $3.79 * 11 = $41.69
- Fourteen red bricks on the sides and six for the top. They are around 50¢ each * 20 = $10, but I should have enough.
- Furnace cement: $5 at Cal Ranch. Nobody else has it!
- I will use concrete as mortar. I am not buying a 50-pound bag for this small project!
- I am buying melamine for something else, but it is $29 for a 4x8 sheet.
- The aforementioned concrete [for the base].