Very Creative, Well executed. I’m really interested in building the smokeless fire pit. However, The points on the end of the compass point I could see as a tripping hazard. It’s a little thing, but something to think about.
Speed tip for the metal reinforcement. Lay it over the material and mark the shape, then use a handheld grinding wheel to cut along the lines. Worked great for me!
Dude, your creativity never ceases to amaze me! Your artistry and craftsmanship are off the charts. I built a smokeless pit like this a couple years ago, based on Haxman's and your videos. It works great! Though, I would suggest a 24" ring for anyone else who might want to make one. You need to keep the fire hot to keep it smokeless. Bigger ring means more firewood required. Plumbing supply houses often have multiple size rings to choose from.
Love it! But I'm not sure how well this build works for sitting around the fire pit? Doesn't look like chairs will be sturdy. Have you sat around it yet?
So impressed with your creativity, dedication and thoughtfulness in teaching us how to concrete! I love that the direction triangles stick up higher than the round forms, yes I saw that detail and love it! I’d love to see you take inspiration from “Man About Tools” as he builds fabulous concrete forms and impeccable wooden structures and I’d love to see your take. Thanks a bunch, always look forward to your work
Thank you so much! That really means a lot to me because that’s what I’m going for. And thank you for noticing my little details haha. I’m a subscriber of “Man about tools” because I believe you pointed me in his direction in the past 😊
Omg I just saw your response 5months later smh! Well cool I’m glad, you and man about tools (I’ve got to look up his name) would come up with incredible ideas but I love your work, the quality is top notch and I’m back watching this video again because your beautiful concrete countertops reminded of how much I loved the fire pit. Make as many fit pits as you want, we all will watch and never get bored because everyone needs one!
Kudos for your shout out to HAX... You're awesome Michael !!!! PS.. I built the concrete table from you first video around 3 years ago... I still looks great !!
Another artistic use for this design could be a flag pole with a raised flower bed! The compass design would allow you to know the wind direction. Thanks again for your hard work.
Your videos never disappoint! Just a side note: My Home Depot doesn't carry 4x8 sheets of melamine. Lowes does, but they won't cut it. So I had to slide a full sheet out of my truck, onto a table, and use a makeshift tracksaw to cut it. Plywood blade works beautifully! Thanks again!
Brother, you're the man! Absolutely rad way to make a firepit!! And that rapid set is hands down the best product to work with!! Thanks for all the inspiration! I'll have to see how I could take this up a notch! Lol
Michael you never cease to amaze me, your energy level is through the roof and that makes each build you do that much more entertaining for us and that makes us feel like we can do just about anything. You give us such fantastic ideas with designs that goes above and beyond, thank you for everything my husband and I have lots of projects to work on!
Love it! The only thing I was thinking of was maybe putting more stone in at the end, to bring it level. Probably not as 'safety conscious' but we like to get up close to the fire with our chairs.
You could definitely do that but the nice thing is that it was putting off so much heat, you wouldn’t want to be any closer than the compass anyway haha
Love this! I have been watching you with all your concrete projects and this one is my favorite! I can see this in my yard because I am in the beginning stages of making a fire pit.
Hey Mr M, one visual hazard you might warn others about is the trip hazard of the points outside of the ring that's above the grass line. People not paying attention to the points and kids playing or running near would trip. Well great build I think I'm to build this Smokeless Firepit Compass. Thx and have Smokeless day Mr M.
I purchased the plans in your Etsy store, and just did the build buy out calculations. Assuming I already have all required tools, and 9% sales tax, it's going to cost about $815 to build this fire pit. I plan on making it for next summer, time to start saving!
You’ve turned me into a Rapid Set guy. They should make a countertop product that has a flow and set control built into the mortar mix. I’d pay $5 more per bag for it easily.
Fantastic build. You have inspired me to start playing with this stuff. Made some tombstones for our Halloween decorations. Thank so much for your channel
Enjoyed this video. I already subscribed to you and fix this build that. Just subscribed to the Haxman. Looks like another good channel to watch. Thanks Michael
Awesome build Michael! My son has a make shift fire pit so I sent this video to him. Hopefully it will motivate him to make some changes. Thanks & hope that you are doing well.... 👍👍
Beautiful design Michael. I was wondering if we need to put adhesive on the blocks and the cap. I also noticed the compass blocking the ventilation at the bottom. Might need to sink the compass further down.
I second the angle grinder! Either an abrasive wheel or diamond wheel work great. 35 years a mason, learned this is the way to cut that cheese grater lath!
Always love your builds Michael! Think I want to do the same but might incorporate N,E,S, and west and do blue resin since my property is by the ocean in canada
Michael, great built and tutorial. Question: how far in do you cut the wire mesh from the edge? So that it does not stick out from the concrete at the edges.
I love your work and used the rapid set method for my fire pit cap last year. It looked great, but after my 2nd burn they all cracked from the heat. Is there anything you know of that would have caused this; or something I should have done to prevent it? My pit is not smokeless and does not have a metal ring. It is masonry based with fire brick lining and a natural stone veneer. Not sure if that makes a difference.
Looks great! I love to compass the most. My only concern is that you did not seal the brick on the inside of the fire pit. Like how @Fix This Build That did with adding the layer of mortar to the inside to seal the hot air in. I feel that is an important step.
Not that this matters. And forgive me if this sounds like I'm nit picking. But when I do concrete I keep any metal reinforcements away from the edge to prevent both metal showing and rust color seeping out of the concrete over time. And to cut the mesh if you use the proper safety equipment a grinder works perfect. I enjoy your builds and have been inspired to create products to ad to my portfolio. Keep up the great work eh.
My original fire pit (rectangle) cracked. I originally put 4 pieces of rebar. Would you recommend I put fiberglass or mesh to avoid cracking a second time?
You can but unfortunately there’s not much you can do to avoid the cracking. Regular concrete and even Rapid Set can’t take the high temperatures so cracking is inevitable. I found that the metal lathe helps but not alot. Unless someone comes out with a pourable refractory concrete, this is all we can do.
Hi Michael! Love the videos! I have a question about making the finished concrete counter tops lighter: Can you add foam to the middle of the mold to make the middle of the countertop with less product than the edges? The idea I had was like making a nock out, but only half the depth of the mold. I am sure it reduce the thickness of the countertop so it may weaken the final product, but I would love to see it tried to see if the metal reinforcement could potentially compensate for the reduced strength. Also, could you make an aircrete type of product with the mortar mix? I have seen some people work with perlite in their concrete. Just curious as to what could make the slabs lighter. Thank you for the content.
I wouldn’t do it with this particular method. You can absolutely do that with GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) but I just wouldn’t trust my method at anything thinner than 1.5” thick.
So I was thinking...instead of all the holes at the bottom of the ring, I would think you could have just lifted the bottom of the ring up with some well placed pavers to leave nice air gaps. Would help prevent all the potential rusting out along the bottom perhaps? Just some off the cuff thoughts what someone else probably already thought of. Love the design.
If I want to put my kids hand prints into the concrete should I still use the flow control? Set control? Also about how long should I wait for curing before I have them do it?
You can use set control but don’t use flow control if you want the hand prints to stay. If you’re using Rapid Set have them do it as soon as possible haha
I too used Haxman as my main guide to this project. Hoever I used components of your vids for the cap. I used rapid set and did everything to specs. However, after about three uses, two of the caps cracked dramatically... to the point that I repoured all of them (with another product). Have had no issues since. My question is simple, but I cant seem to find anyone with an answer. Do you think that rapid set is not terrific with
continued from above... could Rapid set not be a good product as it relates to heat resistence? with another product I have had no issues. I will say in all honesty -- there is no question that each of my quarters (of the cap) with the NON-rapid Set product was significantly heavier than the rapid set counterparts -- Same forms were used
The truth is that none of the concretes that you can get off the shelf are rated for high heat. The only concrete that is good for high temperature is refractory cement which unfortunately is not formable. The key is to keep the fire at a medium size if that makes sense. More often than not us fellas always like to make our fires bigger than they need to be in the first place lol. Especially in a smokeless fire pit situation, you don’t want most of the flames going past the fire ring otherwise the system won’t work to begin with. I too have made caps out of other products and I found that they all crack up dramatically eventually. I plan on experimenting with different material ratios to make the perfect pourable, formable, fire resistant mix hahaha. Until then, unfortunately this is what we all have to work with.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your honest reply…didn’t expect to hear a response - I have kept all of my forms…and I’ll just repour if necessary. Thanks
Michael sorry to ask this question off topic of your video. But, how many bags of Rapid Set are used per square foot of say, countertops? I was afraid if I asked this question on your countertop video (several years ago), that it wouldn't be answered right away. One of the two projects I'm doing is a 36"x36" small island top. Thanks so much:-))
Michael is the Bob Ross of concrete projects!!! Always something unique. I love this
Thank you so much!
Ooorrr the The Christopher Lowell?
Killer fire pit, Michael! You're a true concrete artist. Appreciate the shout out 💪
BRAD FROM FIX THIS BUILD THAT COMMENTED ON MY VIDEO!!!
Wow, Michael! That turned out beautiful! Thanks so much for all the shout-outs.
Thank you so much Brother! That means a lot coming from you man!
When you build you build. I'm glad to see you out do everyone always
Lol 😂 thank you so much
oh wow! that's actually amazing!
Very Creative, Well executed. I’m really interested in building the smokeless fire pit. However, The points on the end of the compass point I could see as a tripping hazard. It’s a little thing, but something to think about.
Really cool looking, a bit of a tripping hazard. But really cool.
This pit blew my mind!!!
humble and creative DIYer, asks viewers to subscribe other's channels. gOOd jOb Man!
👍🏻☺️
Speed tip for the metal reinforcement. Lay it over the material and mark the shape, then use a handheld grinding wheel to cut along the lines. Worked great for me!
Can rebar be used to reinforce the concrete?
@@magicsforce Of course!
Micheal another awesome video, a little tip on drilling the holes try a 1/2 step bit, save you a bit of time
Thanks for sharing!
HAXMAN is one of my favorite channels. I 'see' this fire pit with blue glass/marbles or stones on the inside of the outer circle. love it!
I spent 4 hours looking at your videos
Omfg i cant focus now and world doesn't make sense
With all the ideas you gave me lol😂
GREAT JOB!!!
I was scrolling through you tube and I seen some of your concrete creations very impressive I will continue watching
THANKS MATT! You’re impressive too ☺️
Awesome build
Nice. Instead of river rock in the voids you could pour exposed aggregate.
Awesome project. I love the subtle Slash reference, too
That is a BAD ASSSS... Fire pit!!!
Haha thank you 🙏
Bro, this is one smoking hot smokeless fire pit 👏🔥👏🔥👏
Dude, your creativity never ceases to amaze me! Your artistry and craftsmanship are off the charts. I built a smokeless pit like this a couple years ago, based on Haxman's and your videos. It works great! Though, I would suggest a 24" ring for anyone else who might want to make one. You need to keep the fire hot to keep it smokeless. Bigger ring means more firewood required. Plumbing supply houses often have multiple size rings to choose from.
Thank you so much! And thank you for the suggestion
great suggestion, thank you!
Love it! But I'm not sure how well this build works for sitting around the fire pit? Doesn't look like chairs will be sturdy. Have you sat around it yet?
Any ideas for making a pathway down the side of a house? I hate walking on the rocks to get to the garbage barrels.
Beautiful project, I'll try to do something similar. Congratulations!
Beautiful Michael! And unique. Love it.
The project turned out amazing!!! 🔥
So impressed with your creativity, dedication and thoughtfulness in teaching us how to concrete! I love that the direction triangles stick up higher than the round forms, yes I saw that detail and love it! I’d love to see you take inspiration from “Man About Tools” as he builds fabulous concrete forms and impeccable wooden structures and I’d love to see your take. Thanks a bunch, always look forward to your work
Thank you so much! That really means a lot to me because that’s what I’m going for. And thank you for noticing my little details haha. I’m a subscriber of “Man about tools” because I believe you pointed me in his direction in the past 😊
Omg I just saw your response 5months later smh! Well cool I’m glad, you and man about tools (I’ve got to look up his name) would come up with incredible ideas but I love your work, the quality is top notch and I’m back watching this video again because your beautiful concrete countertops reminded of how much I loved the fire pit. Make as many fit pits as you want, we all will watch and never get bored because everyone needs one!
Kudos for your shout out to HAX... You're awesome Michael !!!! PS.. I built the concrete table from you first video around 3 years ago... I still looks great !!
This is very cool! One addition could possibly make the N, S, E, and W using the sand grout technique. Thanks for the inspiration.
Another artistic use for this design could be a flag pole with a raised flower bed! The compass design would allow you to know the wind direction. Thanks again for your hard work.
Great video .... This is quite a bit of work and the end result shows it.
It was definitely a labor of love lol
Very nice! I’ve been wanting to do something similar around my flagpole.
Beautiful 😍
Your videos never disappoint! Just a side note: My Home Depot doesn't carry 4x8 sheets of melamine. Lowes does, but they won't cut it. So I had to slide a full sheet out of my truck, onto a table, and use a makeshift tracksaw to cut it. Plywood blade works beautifully! Thanks again!
Brother, you're the man! Absolutely rad way to make a firepit!! And that rapid set is hands down the best product to work with!! Thanks for all the inspiration! I'll have to see how I could take this up a notch! Lol
That is awesome thank you for all that u do!!!
No, THANK YOU!
Michael you never cease to amaze me, your energy level is through the roof and that makes each build you do that much more entertaining for us and that makes us feel like we can do just about anything. You give us such fantastic ideas with designs that goes above and beyond, thank you for everything my husband and I have lots of projects to work on!
Love it! The only thing I was thinking of was maybe putting more stone in at the end, to bring it level. Probably not as 'safety conscious' but we like to get up close to the fire with our chairs.
I would worry about the cardinal trip points as well around a fire pit. Definitely would want it level.
You could definitely do that but the nice thing is that it was putting off so much heat, you wouldn’t want to be any closer than the compass anyway haha
Love this! I have been watching you with all your concrete projects and this one is my favorite! I can see this in my yard because I am in the beginning stages of making a fire pit.
Dude! This looks fantastic! I think my wife will be on board to do something like this in the spring.
Hey Mr M, one visual hazard you might warn others about is the trip hazard of the points outside of the ring that's above the grass line. People not paying attention to the points and kids playing or running near would trip. Well great build I think I'm to build this Smokeless Firepit Compass. Thx and have Smokeless day Mr M.
That is badass brotha!
That turned out amazing! I love the compass design, very unique! Nice job
Love your vid's, bro. Won't be long and you'll have 500k subs!
That looks awesome
This video better go viral!!!! Great job!!! 🤯
great job, great video!
Tripping hazard face 1st into fire pit. Great Job
Gee thanks…
I purchased the plans in your Etsy store, and just did the build buy out calculations. Assuming I already have all required tools, and 9% sales tax, it's going to cost about $815 to build this fire pit. I plan on making it for next summer, time to start saving!
I'ma start using rapid set watching your videos answered allotta my questions without even asking . (is allotta even a word?)
So dope! Absolutely love watching your videos! And everyone should still subscribe to your channel!
Lol 😂 thanks man! 👍🏻
Love these big projects!!!! Some day!!! Great work Michael! HAXMAN/Fix this build that here I come!
Hell yeah! Hey, thanks for being such a great supporter on my Instagram as well! I can always count on some “Strange” every time I post haha
My absolute pleasure! I hope that in a couple years me and my boys will start making some of these projects! Keep 'em coming!
Great Work. Love it.
#STAYSAFE
#PHILLYPHILLY 🇺🇸
You’ve turned me into a Rapid Set guy. They should make a countertop product that has a flow and set control built into the mortar mix. I’d pay $5 more per bag for it easily.
Oh heck yeah!
I agree 100% . Probably also offer a white color as well
Heeey! Michael!!! 🥰 I absolutely LOVE this fire pit! I don't quite understand the physics behind the smokeless but I love it! ❤
😊😊😊😊I hope you like this one! 😊😊😊😊
A couple of those Michael Builds patrons are pretty famous😂
😂 I hope everyone has fun with those Easter eggs lol
Fantastic build. You have inspired me to start playing with this stuff. Made some tombstones for our Halloween decorations. Thank so much for your channel
Michael- do you have a video or tips to make garden edge pavers or continuous garden border?
Enjoyed this video. I already subscribed to you and fix this build that. Just subscribed to the Haxman. Looks like another good channel to watch. Thanks Michael
Awesome build Michael! My son has a make shift fire pit so I sent this video to him. Hopefully it will motivate him to make some changes. Thanks & hope that you are doing well.... 👍👍
Gonna be hard to put a chair around it. But super cool design.
I would have recessed the concrete designs to be flush with the ground. I envision a lot of people tripping and stubbing their toes.
Beautiful design Michael. I was wondering if we need to put adhesive on the blocks and the cap. I also noticed the compass blocking the ventilation at the bottom. Might need to sink the compass further down.
Job well done!
Great work , you can add the letters of the compass from concrete [N,S,E,W], AND MAYBE ALSO [NE,NW,SE,SW]
You should try cutting the steel reinforcement with an angle grinder to make it easier.
I know right?! Lol 😂
I have these big shears from my high school summit job doing lathe and plaster. Shocking I still have them.
Or a cutting wheel on a Dremel works, too !
I second the angle grinder! Either an abrasive wheel or diamond wheel work great. 35 years a mason, learned this is the way to cut that cheese grater lath!
Always love your builds Michael! Think I want to do the same but might incorporate N,E,S, and west and do blue resin since my property is by the ocean in canada
Have you tried a 4.5" grinder with a zip cut disc to cut the expanded metal?
After scraping away the excess caulk, do you need to do anything to remove the glass cleaner?
Definitely a cool build but I could see that compass being a trip hazard after a few cold ones lol.
I have an excess of pea gravel I need to repurpose (it was a poor landscaping choice). This looks like a great option.
Michael, great built and tutorial. Question: how far in do you cut the wire mesh from the edge? So that it does not stick out from the concrete at the edges.
Try to make cement look like marble using different coloring. That would be cool
What is the fire rating on Rapid Set. Would you add fireclay and perlite for high temps?
I love your work and used the rapid set method for my fire pit cap last year. It looked great, but after my 2nd burn they all cracked from the heat. Is there anything you know of that would have caused this; or something I should have done to prevent it?
My pit is not smokeless and does not have a metal ring. It is masonry based with fire brick lining and a natural stone veneer. Not sure if that makes a difference.
Do those fire rings really last with fire burning in them? Seems like they couldn't take the heat.???
Looks great! I love to compass the most. My only concern is that you did not seal the brick on the inside of the fire pit. Like how @Fix This Build That did with adding the layer of mortar to the inside to seal the hot air in. I feel that is an important step.
Wouldn't the compass arms block the ventilation holes at the bottom?
Not that this matters. And forgive me if this sounds like I'm nit picking. But when I do concrete I keep any metal reinforcements away from the edge to prevent both metal showing and rust color seeping out of the concrete over time. And to cut the mesh if you use the proper safety equipment a grinder works perfect. I enjoy your builds and have been inspired to create products to ad to my portfolio. Keep up the great work eh.
awsom!!!
Where do you get the flexible 1/4" whiteboard?
Super!!!!!
You’re Super!
My original fire pit (rectangle) cracked. I originally put 4 pieces of rebar. Would you recommend I put fiberglass or mesh to avoid cracking a second time?
You can but unfortunately there’s not much you can do to avoid the cracking. Regular concrete and even Rapid Set can’t take the high temperatures so cracking is inevitable. I found that the metal lathe helps but not alot. Unless someone comes out with a pourable refractory concrete, this is all we can do.
I love the compass theme! Do you sell the mold itself??
Hi Michael! Love the videos! I have a question about making the finished concrete counter tops lighter: Can you add foam to the middle of the mold to make the middle of the countertop with less product than the edges? The idea I had was like making a nock out, but only half the depth of the mold. I am sure it reduce the thickness of the countertop so it may weaken the final product, but I would love to see it tried to see if the metal reinforcement could potentially compensate for the reduced strength. Also, could you make an aircrete type of product with the mortar mix? I have seen some people work with perlite in their concrete. Just curious as to what could make the slabs lighter. Thank you for the content.
I wouldn’t do it with this particular method. You can absolutely do that with GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) but I just wouldn’t trust my method at anything thinner than 1.5” thick.
So I was thinking...instead of all the holes at the bottom of the ring, I would think you could have just lifted the bottom of the ring up with some well placed pavers to leave nice air gaps. Would help prevent all the potential rusting out along the bottom perhaps? Just some off the cuff thoughts what someone else probably already thought of.
Love the design.
Can you build a round water fountain?
Just a suggestion, cutting your metal reinforcement is a lot easier with an angle grinder.
So that concrete won’t crack under heat? I used re-bar in mine, and I’m thinking that’s why it cracked.
If I want to put my kids hand prints into the concrete should I still use the flow control? Set control? Also about how long should I wait for curing before I have them do it?
You can use set control but don’t use flow control if you want the hand prints to stay. If you’re using Rapid Set have them do it as soon as possible haha
@@MichaelBuilds thanks for the quick response! Love the videos!
Do you make this and set up or people? I'm love to buy it. If not do you sale a ready made kit?
I too used Haxman as my main guide to this project. Hoever I used components of your vids for the cap. I used rapid set and did everything to specs. However, after about three uses, two of the caps cracked dramatically... to the point that I repoured all of them (with another product). Have had no issues since. My question is simple, but I cant seem to find anyone with an answer. Do you think that rapid set is not terrific with
continued from above... could Rapid set not be a good product as it relates to heat resistence? with another product I have had no issues. I will say in all honesty -- there is no question that each of my quarters (of the cap) with the NON-rapid Set product was significantly heavier than the rapid set counterparts -- Same forms were used
The truth is that none of the concretes that you can get off the shelf are rated for high heat. The only concrete that is good for high temperature is refractory cement which unfortunately is not formable.
The key is to keep the fire at a medium size if that makes sense. More often than not us fellas always like to make our fires bigger than they need to be in the first place lol. Especially in a smokeless fire pit situation, you don’t want most of the flames going past the fire ring otherwise the system won’t work to begin with.
I too have made caps out of other products and I found that they all crack up dramatically eventually. I plan on experimenting with different material ratios to make the perfect pourable, formable, fire resistant mix hahaha. Until then, unfortunately this is what we all have to work with.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your honest reply…didn’t expect to hear a response -
I have kept all of my forms…and I’ll just repour if necessary. Thanks
Michael sorry to ask this question off topic of your video. But, how many bags of Rapid Set are used per square foot of say, countertops? I was afraid if I asked this question on your countertop video (several years ago), that it wouldn't be answered right away. One of the two projects I'm doing is a 36"x36" small island top. Thanks so much:-))
I am definitely NOT showing this one to my wife! 😂
Can we place an order for these molds lol. I dont have the tools to make this at home :*(
Rather than expensive sprays for the silicon, a simple washing liquid and water in a spray bottle does the same thing.
Metabo w/ 6" cut disc for expanded metal.
How much would you charge to make a set of the concrete pieces with your molds for local pickup?
Great video but no place to put seating.
you can use a sawzall with no blade to vibrate it.
On today's episode @Michael Builds a pentagram and summons the devil. 🤣
😂
KLATU VERATAS NICKLE! I said the words. Sort of....
Maybe I should make a video about their concrete so they can send some more for my build lol