Introduction: Fire Pit From a Satellite Dish
We had a large dinner party / BBQ in our back yard a couple of years ago at the beginning of the summer. As the sun sat the girls at the party started getting cold. All I had on hand was a few #10 cans that we punched holes in, filled with charcoal and lit. Imagine 5-10 girls trying to crowd a small can of coals for heat. So I went in search of a Fire-pit / Brazier for my next party. I couldn't find one anywhere. I looked for one of the round kettle style charcoal BBQ grills to convert but couldn't find one of those either. When I returned home discouraged I tripped over an old Satellite dish laying around my garage. It gave me an idea. With no more than $10 spent this is what you get. Cheap and effective and kind of cool. IF you wish you could add a lid or use tighter mesh to reduce sparks and up your cool factor. It works great with either charcoal or old wood you have laying around. I generally just use the branches and limbs that blow out of our trees during the spring.
Materials list.
Old truck tire rim.
Old satellite dish with LNB arm and all mounts removed.
Roll of wire mesh Approx 4x6'
8 bolts with nuts and washers
Spray paint (I use black, you choose your own favorite.)
A wire grill style rack. One from an old grill is perfect.
4-8 2 inch pieces of steel wire.
Step 1: Spray paint the rim, rack and dish.
Step 2: Cut the rack roughly in the shape of the dish. (I left two of the wires longer on each side, then I bent these beneath the dish to keep the rack attached without using screws or bolts. If you wish to take the rack in and out cut all of them short.)
Step 3: Pre-drill 8 evenly spaced holes around the rim of the dish the diameter of your bolts.
Step 4: Fold the mesh in half lengthwise. Wrap around the rim of the dish the folded side up. The mesh will over lap. Tie the ends in by stitching together with loops formed from the steel wire.
You can use charcoal or wood for your fire as both work great. Wood has the advantage of producing flames for longer and coal will sit and give off a lower warm heat for longer.
Light her up and enjoy!
6 Comments
10 years ago on Introduction
why the wire mes
11 years ago on Introduction
That is a great idea and I believe that I have all the materials to make your fire pit out in the shop with autumn approaching this will have to be made.
Keep up the good work.
Dan
11 years ago on Introduction
That's a pretty fancy fire pit! At first glance you'd never guess what it was made out of. :)
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
When it was finished it really did look nice and it has held up pretty well. thank you for the comment.
11 years ago on Introduction
This is a very interesting design. Thank you for sharing. I'm not real sure of the need for the sat dish. I've done several of these in different sizes from 14" steel car rims to huge tractor trailer rims, the smaller ones can be given legs using hardware store bolts run through the lug holes or if you have access to a welder, rebar can be used, it really helps with air flow. I've been in several shops that had 15" rims made into grills with the simple addition of a grate
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
Thank you for the comment. that's a great idea. At the time the smaller truck rim is all that I had on hand, but I like reusing old materials to make something new. That is a great idea on the larger rims and rebar.