Who doesn’t like sitting outside with a good fall breeze and some fresh air? It’s finally time to start preparing for fall, so what better way than to build a good fire pit. Get a set of plans and follow along with this video so I can demonstrate how I made mine.
Let’s build a fire pit
DIY fire table plans
$9.99
I’ve created a set of plans to make building this fire pit very simple and easy to follow.
The materials I used for this build
- wood
- Wood glue
- opinion
- Nails
- Brad Nailer
- Wood finish
- wheels
- Fire pit plans
Step 1: Build and assemble the fire pit frame
The first thing I’ll do is build a frame out of 2x4s. This will be a large box to hide the propane tank needed to start the fire. I intentionally purchased a tank that can be safely placed on its side so I can keep my table low to the ground. By the way, if you want a cut list and dimensions for this table, I have a bunch of plans for it on my website. If this table is too large for you, I also have a smaller version available
After using the miter saw to cut a few pieces of 2×4, I assembled it. I first put all my parts in for a dry fit. This way I can make sure everything looks right before gluing things together. Here I’m using exterior wood glue and a few screws on each joint. This is designed so that the top panels overlap the joints of the bottom panels. This will create strength but also make it quick to assemble.
Step 2: Create a fund body
Next, it will be wrapped and plywood placed around the frame to create the body of the box. Since this will be outside, I’m using exterior treated plywood. I also drew the outside faces you’ll see and made sure to line them up in reference to the outside of the body.
This is because I plan to do my slide design outside of this layer and I wanted to have a dark color between each slide. I attach these sheets by pre-drilling first and then running a screw along the bottom. Then also run a screw to connect the top of the boards together. When going into thin wood like this 1/2 inch plywood, I switch to using decorative head screws like these here.
Step 3: Frame the top and attach it to the body
The next thing I did was frame the top side. These members will support me in securing the summit in the next step. They can be difficult to add since there is nothing but plywood to attach them to the bottom frame, so what I did was use a clamp to hold them in place once I lined them up on the top of the layer. Again using the cutting head screws to secure it. I started with the two longer pieces and then connected the shorter sides between them.
Okay, now let’s throw away the top. This is another piece of exterior plywood that I painted the top side of. The hole in the middle will be where the fire tray will be inserted later. I lined it up against the body and then installed it by first pre-drilling around the perimeter and then driving some screws. I took care everywhere to ground the screw heads so that nothing would prevent the fillets that would come next from attaching flush to the body.
I’ll leave that as is for a while and start making the slices that will cover it.
Step 4: Make slats to cover the body
For this part I will be using 1 x 4 western red cedar boards. This is what will take this boring box and turn it into something gorgeous to look at. I started by taking full length boards and tearing them down to display on the table saw. I made the slices half the width so that two slices could come out of one plate. Now I’m going to take a look at the waterfall so that the top panels can go towards the side panels. To achieve this, I converted my table saw blade to 45 and used a miter gauge
Cut the boards to length. When setting up my fence, I put a clip and a scrap board to act as a stop block. Notice how I place this far enough back on the fence so that the board doesn’t touch this scrap once it comes into contact with the blade. If you connect with both at the same time, it creates a throwing zone that causes a ricochet. This is a quick way to make lots and lots of repeat cuts.
To put the reliefs together, I use exterior wood glue again, and then I also re-reinforce the joint with a few 23 gauge nails. Nice and simple. I then repeated the same process to create a whole bunch of them. Since the pattern is the same in all four quadrants, I can set up all the parts and place them on my workbench. This also gave the glue time to set.
Step 5: Place the slats on the body of the fire pit
With that done, this next step will fly. Let’s start by applying the slices to the body. So the sides will have a vertical going up and meeting the top slats. However, I want the top to cover the end grain of the vertical sections, so I make sure to carry a clip to correct the spacing. You can see I’m moving them around as I work to secure that first panel, but then the rest can be placed using just a spacer. I also move this spacer to make sure the bracket is installed parallel to the entire length of the board. Watch me use it on the top but also on the side.
My spacer is just a random scrap I found that is the size needed for the gap. When I get to the inside of most slats, I hold them in place so I can go inside with a pencil and mark the center slot. I think it’s easier now to cut this with a bandsaw but know that you can also attach and cut it afterwards using a jigsaw or even the flush cutting bit on your router. The fire tray comes with a lid so there is no need to make it too pretty.
Step 6: Create the propane tank door
I use a few lines of DAP Dyna grip on each one before screwing on. This is my favorite construction adhesive because it sets incredibly fast and works on both interior and exterior projects. You can see then that I repeated much of the same process but this time using only straight vertical boards. These items go directly on the underside of the top overhang and I make sure to use the same spacer so things stay consistent.
All of these slats hang off the body a bit because I personally wanted wheels so I could make this thing mobile when not in use. The overhang will cover the extra height. This big gap here is going to be a removable panel to allow me access to the internal propane tank. I’m using magnets here and attach them by drilling into the frame material and then attaching the magnet.
I can now attach a washer to the screw on the door from all four corners to align with these magnets. Once the door is secured in place, I can repeat the process of installing the vertical elements to make it disappear into the body.
Step 7: Apply the finish to the fire pit
Let’s go ahead and put a final layer on it to see it really pop. In order to get into all the nooks and crannies of the sides of the slats, I spray on my ends but you could totally roll or brush them instead. I use my Wagner HVLP which makes this step work very quickly. For a finish, I’ll use Total Boat Gleam 2.0 because it dries quickly, does a great job of leveling on its own, and what I like most is that it has UV resists, so this cedar will hold up even though it’ll be outside.
Step 8: Add Wheels to Make Fire Pit Mobile
Oops if I forgot to show you when I attached the wheels. But again after attaching all the slats, I tiled the box and attached some wheels which allows me to rotate this thing around to show you all sides.
I personally like the idea of having wheels on it because it will only be used during the winter months but in the summer months, I like the idea of pushing it out of the way and using that space for something else. Once I chose where I wanted my fire table to be, I started loading up the hardware to make it work. The tray slides directly into the center opening and comes with very simple instructions on connecting it to a propane tank.
You can’t stand a regular propane tank on its side, so if you build one of these tanks, you’ll need to either redesign it so it can stand upright or purchase a tank specifically designed to be placed on top of it.
Step 9: Finishing the Details! Add rocks, chairs and drinks!
Now I need to fill it with rocks, grab my portable chair, grab a drink and enjoy. As you can see, there’s plenty of room for company to join me, as well as plenty of room to place drinks or a plate of food on the unit itself. However, remember that I have plans for this larger unit but also for a more compact unit if you are interested in building one yourself.
conclusion
If a fire pit is on your to-do list, I hope this video gave you some good inspiration to tackle it this fall. Be sure to check out my website for a bunch of plans for this release as well as many others. I’ll see you in whatever I build next.
