Well, it’s the last week of the upcycling hack-challenge! The project for this week is an idea that Tim heard of a while back, and we were hoping to get to do at some point in the series, and luckily we found out a couple days ago that we would be able to get our hands on an old metal basin from a washing machine – just in time! :) These metal basins make excellent fire pits because of the holes all over them, which allow in plenty of air and help keep a fire going strong with very little effort. So here is a tutorial of how Tim converted one into a fire pit!

Here’s a note from Tim: If you want to try this yourself you can find a wash tub from a large appliance repair store (we got ours from a local Maytag store that let us have it for free) or try your luck at a junk yard. The spray paint, the legs and their hardware cost < 25$.

Take a metal basin from an old broken washing machine – it may be rusty on the bottom, as you can see on this one. But the first step is to fix the top edge, which can be sharp and ragged. Bend down the edge all the way around, and then crimp down the edge underneath to finish.

Then, you’ll need to remove the center piece, because it juts up in the middle of the basin. Turn over the basin, and carefully cut around the center.

Cut six equal lengths of perforated angled bar, for the legs. Three will be attached directly to the sides of the basin, and the other three will bolt onto those, to give you some flexibility in adjusting the height. Tim chose a three-legged and adjustable height design to make it more stable if the ground is uneven. Measure around the basin, and divide in thirds (Tim actually found on this particular basin that the number of holes going around it were divisible by three, which made it easy to find the thirds.) Mark and drill holes on the side of the basin to fit the bolts, and then attach.

Spray the outside with paint that is high heat resistant and helps prevent rust- I chose a copper color, and I really like how it turned out!

The holes all over the basin help to draw in plenty of air and help keep a roaring fire!

Unfortunately, with the hot and dry weather we’ve been having, there is a burn ban right now, and so we weren’t able to actually light a fire in it to photograph for this post – I put a lamp inside it for the photo above, to give a little idea of how the light shines around it, because it is one of the things I love about this fire pit. But here is a photo which a friend of Tim’s sent over, who also has a fire pit made from a washing machine basin:

As always, use safe practices when working with fires.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed all the hack-a-week challenge posts – and that you’ll be sticking around for the new challenge which starts next week – all about doing your own blog design makeover!

Have any ideas for future challenges?
Leave your thoughts and comments below, I love to hear from you!

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