Spherical firepit: Getting the sphere?

[schwim]

Hi there everyone!

My wife loves the idea of a spherical firepit:




And I thought it would be fun to try to make one for her.  I've watched some Youtube videos and read some discussions on it and it seems that people either purchase spherical halves or cut the ends off an LP tank to get something to start working on.

I was just wondering if anyone might have ideas on another way to get a sphere to work with?  I like the idea of an LP tank being used (I could use the cylindrical part of the tank for firepit rings) but was just wondering if anyone might have another idea of how to get a sphere I could work with.

I appreciate any insight and thanks for your time!

[Mike E.]

Hello, and welcome to this great forum.

You might consider checking out a Marine Chandlery for some new or used nautical mooring floats.

[Vinny]

Welcome to the forum Schwim!!!

[schwim]

Hi there guys and thanks very much for the warm welcome!

There's not much in the way of navigable water around these parts but I'll do some searches for the floats and see what I can come up with. It actually brought to mind a better idea for a gift for her. If I get past the foggy idea stage I'll be sure to share all the exciting details of my mishaps :)

[TomG]

If you are ambitious, you could cut a crapload of triangles and weld them together in the spirit of a geodesic dome. Of course the smaller they are, the closer they get to a true sphere. Or you could use the ends of a propane tank.

Tom

[schwim]

That'd be a lot of triangles! :) Luckily for my free time, I lack the requisite skill and tools to take that on. I think for this project, the LP tank may be the direction to go, barring any unlikely marketplace deals :)

[pepi]

Just some standing outside the forest looking in comments...

Do you own a Plasma torch .......... if not you just might be in the market for one. My thinking is that piece was made that way/ Also wonder how big that is, picture makes is look fairly large, and could require a massive fuel source.

Standard Bar-B-Q tank not going to cut it.


It is very nice and looks to be at the very least difficult to self produce.

I never say never, one never knows someones level of talent. You get rolling on this I sure hope post and document the adventure. I'd like to learn more...

$0.02
Pep

[schwim]

Hi there Pep, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the matter!

When I say LP tank, I mean the big ones that the LP guy comes to your house to fill a few times a year. This youtube video shows one that the guy got at about 30 seconds in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYDXCZd-4J8

Plasma torches seem to be what everyone uses and I was considering getting one for the project. I would also need to upgrade my compressor as if what I'm reading is correct, it requires a ton of air to work.

[Vinny]

Take a look at the welding and casting forum, there is some discussion about plasma cutters there. May have to go in a page or two.

[Roadracer_Al]

Well, if you can't cut triangles, you probably won't be able to do this, either, but it's a good technique to contribute to the discussion.

In a nutshell, you would cut flat material to match the lines of longitude on a sphere/globe.

Then, you'd bend the resulting ()-shaped pieces into the radius of the sphere.

Then, weld them together.

Like the triangles, the smaller the pieces, the closer the approximation of a globe.

And, the number of pieces and the width of the pieces dictate the size of the globe - a 36" globe with 36 pieces 1" wide works. A 10" globe with 20 pieces would be .5" wide.

And, you'd know the length of the pieces because it's half of the circumference of the diameter of the globe.