I've constructed a few simple cement grills, largely from the ideas of these RU-vid videos. And it's super fun. Couple points of advice before you get started: a) don't improvise materials too much. If you don't have enough 'Styrofoam' just wait until you do, because it's perfect. Scraps of wood wrapped in 'cling wrap' also work well and release without a fuss. b) Pure cement flows well but doesn't offer a lot of strength with regard to heat cycles and resistance to cracking. So, insert steel reinforcing rod wherever and whenever possible. I like to use old wire clothes hangers, straightened out with a pair of pliers.... nipped/re-angled/fitted, especially around corners. c) Voids. Lifting and dropping short vertical distances helps get the bubbles out when trying to fill those low corners. Don't drop it too high though! Just a couple inches is good enough. Once its more than half poured, it may be too heavy for even a 'gentle drop' , for fear of splitting/distorting your form/mold. Just slap the sides of it, or perhaps apply the handle end of palm sander around the outside of the form to vibrate/compact any air bubbles. Do make sure to pour your mix there first, to find all the nooks. d) perhaps most important, let the whole thing cure at least 2 or 3 days before dismantling the form. Those lower corners, especially if you formed some 'legs or feet', these take the longest to set up and properly harden. There's nothing worse than going through the whole process only to become impatient and find that the feet either broke off or partially crumbled and need more point work or patching just to be functional, let only look pleasing. Also, I like to add some perlite to the mix to lower the density... these grills can get quite heavy if constructed purely of cement/sand/gravel. And, if you have't mixed cement in a while (or ever) its a good idea to make a small test batch of your 'mix' ahead of time, enough to pour into a large plastic drinking cup if nothing else, just to see how it cures, especially if adding sand/gravels/perlite, etc.
@@maurie0 The round (or even square) ones can be found online at an appliance parts dealer or someone who specializes in gas stove/range parts. I suppose technically they could be called a trivet but are generally referred to as a "grate" or burner grate.
this looks cool, although fire will destroy plain concrete quite quickly. While concrete isn't flammable itself, the heat from a fire will make it basically fall apart. That is why fireplaces use something called "firebrick." You can use additives to make it stand up to fire better, like silica.
@@privacy70 his comment is valid. It's well known fire or rather the heat will inevitably crack the concrete, there are as mentioned ways of avoiding this issue, various products range from fire rated cement, silica, fire bricks and fire blankets used in construction of Bombay pizza ovens all help to combat the expansion and contraction such a thing will have to go through. If your grandmother's is still going strong after years then it's likely to have been constructed using methods mentioned. Ordinary cement will not stand up to the heat generated...
@nemz and the ceramic would explode causing the deaths of you ,your dog,and whatever woodland creature is unfortunate to be within the blast zone of flying ceramic shrapnel.
I guess my question is "has any one ever seen what happens when you accidentally dry out and over heat concrete?" (cracks if your lucky, you hear it crack just moments before it violently explodes if your not.) So kind of concrete are you using? and maybe what are you sealing it with?
@@coolburn1511 Concrete was NOt used for the mold - didn’t you watch ? The fireplace was cast from concrete; using fireclay instead of Portland cement would prevent the cracking.
That's beautiful and really functional. I just wonder, where do you exhaust the smoke out? Will it be better if it has any exhaust hole to separate the smoke out from the stove? Thanks for enlightening me soon.
The smoke comes out of the top of each grill. The round one and the rectangluar one. This is an outdoor grill. Wood / charcoal below grill creates heat upward to cook item then exhausts up.
@@keithfreitas2983 you could probably wedge a round piece of foam on the side during making the wood stove, then when the concrete cures clean out the round piece and place a piece of metal duct tubing for an exhaust pipe
When the concrete is heated, the cement inside becomes dehydrated, losing some of its water as vapor. That water vapor begins moving away from the source of the heat, but becomes trapped inside the structure of the concrete. Hence when these explode they do from the inside out, which luckily saves your food but could leave you with a chunk embedded in your eye.
@@ZaibNMalik If you lived in the desert and could keep moisture off it then I'd say it should be ok, but then I'd like a chat about the fumes it releases. It's not a good material for fire or for cooking which is why we don't use it.
@Robin Sailo It makes no difference, It attracts moisture out of the air and even out of your skin. And if it's not 100% dry when you use it the moisture will explode.
