One Fire Pit to Rule them All

When we went camping on my dad's property each Memorial Day weekend, we'd roast marshmallows on the fire. Cooking to a perfect golden hue before flipping it over. In the same way we would toast our bodies as the desert temperatures dropped, one side then the other. The light would illuminate our faces and make staying outside pleasant before crawling into tents and sleeping bags.

Getting such a bonfire going with a single match was something I always prided myself in being able to do. Tending to this creature, feeding it, keeping it alive and healthy, is a favorite pastime. It's in my blood. So it should come as no surprise that I would find a way to cage fires in my home like a bird.

And on a random shopping trip, I spotted the vessel. A cauldron large enough to hold a beast of a flame, that welcomed you to stay outside long into the night.

However, the walls were steep and tall, making it difficult for fledgling infernos to breathe. Even with all of my experience I had a hard time keeping fuel burning. I knew that I would have to add ventilation to create a blazing conflagration.

My first though was to cut out simple rectangles and attach a wire mesh to hold in the wood and ashes. This may have done the job but wouldn't be the unique extension of myself. Doing things artfully is more my idiom. So something with a bit more style was called for.

I used my tattoo as inspiration. Since I am a long time Lord of the Rings fan I'd gotten the text from the One Ring permanently wrapped around my arm in tribute to my love of this story. And I long though of adding flames to the existing work. But now that I was working with actual fire, it seemed incredibly appropriate to add this same text to the pit.

So I found a vector copy of the graphic and blew it up to four inch lettering. I don't have a roll printer, so I just printed out individual 8x11 sheets and taped them together. Using an exacto-knife, I cut out the lettering by hand, remembering to leave stencil bars to hold the shapes together. I then attached the papers to the cauldron and used spray paint to mark where I was going to cut out the same shapes.

Of course, an exacto-knife wouldn't work on the metal pit and I didn't want to have to cut this out by hand with a hacksaw or similar. Luckily, my friend has a plasma cutter at his Lab. I got a quick lesson and did a few practice runs on some scrap metal. When I was ready, I made quick work of the lettering and had a mostly finished product. I added a layer of high-temp spray paint (the type of stuff you'd use on a barbecue) to provide a finished look and protection against rust.

Now when I have a fire in my yard, keeping friends and family warm, it burns with my love of combustion and the power of Sauron.