Member's Mark XL Smokeless Wood Fire Pit Heat Shield

Member's Mark XL Smokeless Wood Fire Pit project "Heat Shield". This fire pit has to be the best value out there. On the best sale you can find it for around $250. The XL is the perfect size and comes with the spark screen, lid and even a outdoor cover. I like the idea of having a heat shield deflector. Although not necessary but for less than $50 to have a way and reflect the heat laterally out towards you rather than right up into the air and not seeing anything manufactured out there for this firepit...I had to. I would also say that this design concept can be adapted to any fire pit! Happy Building!

Supplies

You can find these parts by searching for them on amazon and home improvement center.

Metal Emt Conduit - 3/4" (cut to your desired length) (Home Center) ~$6

Patio Heater Reflector Shield, Propane Heat Reflector Shield Top for Outdoor Heaters (33’’ Diameter Round) (Amazon) ~$35

Boat Hook Holder Stainless Steel Spring Clamp Boat Oar Holders (Amazon) ~10

Cabinet Handle Pull (Amazon) ~$10

M4 x 16mm Hex Button Head Cap Metric Screws Bolts Washers Nuts Kit, 304 Stainless Steel (Amazon) ~$10

Step 1: Shield Leg Construction

I wanted to use cheap but effective materials without the need of welding, bolting etc. So take the 3/4 inch conduit and cut it to length. Mine I did 25 inches. Then I used a jig saw or something that you can cut down the middle 2 inches of one end. Then side cut into so that only half of the tube exists. I then used a heavy hammer and flattened the curved end. I used a vice to start a slight bend and made a cut to tightly fit the flat end through the bottom of the heat shield. (I took many pictures so you can get an idea) Then with a little muscle, I hand bent the extruding tab and then lightly hammered the ends to the tube. Hence clamping the tubes to the shield.

Step 2: Bottom Leg Assembly

With the boat spring clamps, which perfectly fit inside of the 3/4 tubs, I drilled 4mm holes for the bolts into the firepit edge. It is important to to align the 3 legs for this purpose: First three legs will give you wide enough clearance to remove the spark screen and the height of the three legs should be high enough so that the spark screen can be lifted up and through out two of the legs. If you look at the top of the heat shield, I used the bolts of the non seams to properly align the legs which took out a lot of the the geometry measuring. I did add a cabinet pull handle to the top of the shield which if you want or not to add but it does look nice with one and lifting it on and off the fire pit easier.

Step 3: Summary

With my thermal camera I did see that it does make around a 10deg lateral difference compared to no heat shield. Remember not to have the heat shield to close to the fire as the melting temp of the aluminum shield is 1221deg F so having the flames/heat around 800deg would be acceptable. I might shorten the length of the legs a bit by a couple of inches if I feel that I don't run massive fires. Basically you want to have the shield as close to the fire as possible to radiate as much heat as possible without melting the shield. Sure you could use stainless steel for the shield but the costs and build go way up. I had fun thinking this one through with cheap and readily available materials...and I really enjoy it! I have received many compliments even from my firewood guy on how simple yet effective of a build! Not to mention it makes the fire pit look cooler! Happy building, comment with any questions you might have.