Outdoor Fireplace Screen [Video]

Tom often gets asked to build custom items from friends and neighbors. Neighbors down the road were having problems with sparks flying out of their new outdoor fireplace.
Lyman and Marge McDonald recently purchased a new house just south of town. Their new home came with a great stucco wall off their back entrance. A wonderful large size chimenea was built into the patio wall. Marge asked Tom to design and build a chimney topper as well as a screen frame for the front opening.
Tom began by measuring the circumference of the chimenea flue. He then formed a metal ring out of two by one eighth inch metal strap to serve as the base of the topper. Tom fabricated the cap by forming a square out of fourteen gauge hot rolled steel and fashioning the side with steel pieces cut at a forty five degree angles.
Galvanized steel screen with one eighth inch openings was attached to catch lose sparks.
Tom measured the front opening of the chimenea by making a cardboard cutout. He then fabricated the screen frame out of three eighths by three eighths inch solid square steel stock. The slight arches in the frame were rolled using a Shop Outfitters Ring Roller.
Next sixteen gauge perforated steel sheet with one half inch holes was welded onto the frame. Tom used a metal grinder with a cut off wheel to take off the extra steel sheet. A flap wheel was the attached to the metal grinder to remove burrs from the edges.
The handles for the metal screen were made using five sixteenths round hot rolled steel stock. The final step was applying paint. Tom used black, high temperature Krylon, especially designed for BBQ’s and stoves.
With another job well done from the shop, Lyman and Marge don’t have to worry about sparks flying from their chimenea anymore.