Rustic Desktop Fire Place

In the winter keeping a little fire burning, always brings warmth and happiness. I always wanted to have a small personal fireplace, most of them being made of concrete and steel are either tiny or too big. So I decided to make one myself using copper and wood.

Copper tube - (I'm using 22mm OD, 1.6mm thickness, you can use bigger one)

Copper Sheet (1.2mm, This is to cover the end of the tube, scrap pieces are sufficient)

Woven wire mesh - Any size works, better to use one with larger vent.

Wood block or wood pieces (for the base)

Wood Glue

Half round file

Aviation Snip

Angle Grinder with Cutoff wheel, Grinding Wheel, Flap Disk (Dremel will be a better option).

Steel wool / Scotch-Brite scrubber

Butane Torch

Copper Brazing Rod

C clamp

Sanding Paper

Ceramic Wool (best option) or Cotton/Rayon Balls or wick cloth. (I'm using wick cloth)

Ruler and Marker pen

I made a quick sketch on how the fireplace has to be, 1feet wide with two burners.

Securing the copper tube with the C-clamp, mark the dimensions on the tube.

Mark the required length and width on the wire mesh. Cut using the aviation snip.

Using the same copper tube, roll the mesh so that it fits securely inside the tube. You may use a mallet if you use a thicker mesh.

Secure the tube using the C clamp and then use the angle grinder to cut the marked area.

For the curved portions I used the rounded file and after an hour of filing the tube was perfect and burr free.

Both these tasks can be done quickly using dremel tool.

Note that I have not cut the tube to length, since it'll be easier to handle.

After deburring, cut the tube to length.

To start with seal one end of the tube first, I dropped in bits of brazing rod into the tube positioned above the copper sheet and brazed it.

Slide the wire mesh into the tube.

Stuff the wick cloth/ceramic wool/cotton balls inside.

Make sure you dampen the wick material at the open end of the tube.This will prevent it from burning off while brazing.

Now braze the other end. Voila! we now have our burner tube.

(This is the first time I happen to weld a metal, do drop your comments to make it better!)

Using the aviation snip cut off the excess copper sheet from the tube.

Grind off the edges using the grinding wheel and flush it with the tube.

Using the steel wool, I gave it a nice rub and burner became shiny.

The idea for the stand is to use a carved wooden block so the burner tube sits sturdy on the top, I had no wood block around, so I took a few pieces of pinewood, sanded flattened and glued them together.

Mark the dimension of the tube on the wooden cube and using the flap disk I just carved them off. To make it interesting I gave it a charred finish using the butane torch.

Now we have the base and the burner, lets fill the fuel, pour the bio-ethanol gently over the mesh and light it up.

Your desktop fireplace is ready!