Turn Your Dryer Into a Fire Ring/Pit
Summer time is synonymous with campfires and family gatherings. Hanging around the fire on a cool summer night roasting marshmallows is a thing I've always enjoyed. The key ingredient to this recipe of memories is a nice fire ring or pit. It allows younger kids to get close to the fire yet containing it within the ring for added safety.
In this video I'll show you the steps I took to turn a dryer drum into a fire ring. I didn't stop there though. I added a cooking rack that would allow you to cook hamburgers and hot dogs over the fire.
The first step in building the fire ring is to cut your dryer drum to height. I cut the closed end off which will be the top of the ring. The end where you put the cloths in is the bottom. Having the open end on the bottom will help you clean the ashes out easier as you can simply lift the ring up and have them fall out the bottom.
Once the drum is cut to the desired height you will need to reinforce the top edge. You can do this by cutting tabs into the top edge and bending them over into the inside. I used a C clamp to bend the tabs over evenly. The reason you need to reinforce the top edge is when your throwing logs into the ring it will bend the top edge so its best if its beefed up a bit. I didn't show it in the video, but I trimmed the long tabs to make them more manageable.
The next thing to do was personalize the ring. You can let it go like it is but I added some flare and personality to the ring by making some cutouts. This ring was a birthday present for a coworker so I cut his last name into the ring. I did the long cuts with a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder. The more intricate cuts were made with a Dremel tool and a small cutoff wheel. Having these cuts into the ring look nice and also serves a second purpose. They allow the fire within the ring to receive more oxygen and burn much better.
Now on to the cooking rack. I took a cooking grate from a grill that was getting junked, this served as the grate for the cooking rack. I cut some tubing into three sections. The one for the base I made the longest, around 6-8 inches. The other two were close to 3-4 inches. I Drilled two holes into the base tube a little larger than 1/4 inch and one hole each into the tubes for the rack. Over each hole in the tube, I welded a 1/4 nut. I took a 3/4 long, 1/4 bolt, and welded a 1/4 inch bar stock 3 inches long to the hex head. Doing this made a T-handle that will thread into the nuts. The reason for this it to pinch the rebar that will be supporting the cooking rack through the tubes. The base tube was welded to the ring. The cooking rack got two support rails and an upper and lower tube with T-bolts.
Having everything welded up like this will allow you to completely take the rebar and cooking rack off the ring if so desired. You can adjust the cooking rack up and down and swing it out of the way if not in use. This was a fun and simple build, but I would make some changes the next time I make one. The ring is a little flimsy with the rack attached because the dryer drum is made of very thin metal. I have some washers that have heavier drums in them and will probably use them next time. Even better would be a Tractor Trailer rim.
