Need a Brazier....tired of dig'n fire pits!

[ameling]

Man!, that shipping costs keep soaring! MT wants $25 shipping for their brazer! It weighs 11 pounds. Their postage sounds a little steep!

Most people have little knowledge of what it really costs to package and ship larger/heavier objects. It's more than just the physical cost charged by the Post Office or UPS. You also have to add in the cost of the box and packaging material, plus the cost of an employee to pack it all up and get it to USPS or arrange to have UPS pick it up. Those "other costs" get figured into that "shipping" charge as the "handling" part of the P/H amount they charge.

So there are often lots more to the cost of "shipping" than just the physical amount USPS or UPS posts on the package itself. So $25 might sound a bit high, but it sure ain't unreasonable. It ain't like you sending a pair of tenni-runners to your nephew - without figuring in all the TIME you put into it, and the cost of you driving to the post office to send it.

As I said above, the best way to buy one is at an event. That way you see exactly what you are buying, and you avoid those "postage/handling" charges.

Mikey

 

[atki]

Here is another source for braziers:
http://www.turkeyfootllc.com/Trekking.html

They have ones that are riveted.

WB

 

[BillinOregon]

Mikey: Occurs to me a guy could make up a reasonable round brazier out of one of those charcoal briquet-starter chimneys with some heavy snips and some hammering and bending. Just a thought.

 

[omarick1948]

Thanks everybody for all the information! I found what I needed and it's ordered. Should do the trick for my camp cooking. Now, all I have to do is get somebody to eat my vittle's!

Rick :hatsoff:

 

[Hawken12]

Thanx to all,been followin this one too,now what ordered one ,how does one cook on one,can you use coal,is it safe to heat tent?

 

[Blizzard of '93]

no - don't use coal at all in a brazier. charcoal or dry hard wood. and then vent the tent well.
I'll check on what's available for makeing some such a HC brazier. I think something around 14ga (.10") thick would last awhile and a round one on 3 sturdy legs. maybe around 12-14" dia.

 

[Hawken12]

funny ,we dig up old gas pipe all the timeshould be pretty easy to fabricate ,a bottom ,grill an such not
mite take a bit o work for the top ,but not a big deal,I'd think

 

[Blizzard of '93]

just judgeing by the apparent size of the brazier in the painting seems more like 14-20" dia.
that would be a handy size - could do some cooking on that. grill, fry, boil and stew.
bake too if coals were brought out of the burner to place atop the lid.

 

[ameling]

In these modern times, we so often have to make ... adjustments of old items/methods to meet current conditions. With the all too common open fire bans, and historic sites where NO digging of fire pits is allowed, we get "challenged" to come up with alternatives that look more than just ... acceptable or old-timey.

A raised/free-standing fire pit or LARGER brazier are two of those items. Some original items exist, but they were far less concerned about "burning the grass" than nowdays. From early Roman times on up to early Colonial times there were raised fire baskets. A strap iron "basket" built on a flat bottom plate, and set on a central pole - only about 2 to 3 feet above the ground. But ashes/coals will fall off of that bottom plate and out through those side straps. So now we have to come up with bottom pans/trays to catch those sparks/ashes/coals. An ... adaptation ... to meet modern restrictions.

The same thing applies to braziers. We now need more of the, or larger versions - for the shift to them as a primary cooking surface. The drawings of the sausage vendors start to illustrate some "larger" versions. Not that common, and kind of restricted to food vendors, but something that can be adapted to meet current conditions. Most people just pick up a second or third brazier. But a larger "vendor" type could meet their needs.

Just some more thoughts to ponder, on this historical journey.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. As I said, a section of stove pipe would work - if you cut off that modern folded click-together seam. So those briquette starters would be a good option. And they already have lots of air holes in them for good draft. That "scalloped" top is not necessary. Just make up a couple "legs" to attach it to a flat round bottom plate, and then several legs from that plate down to the ground. Plus your side legs could extend all the way up and then lap in a little on top - to support a pot or a grill.

 

[ameling]

If you look closely at that street vendor lady, her setup is a metal framework with a flat plate grill on top. And then a shelf below that with a separate fire box. This would help in the maintenance and cleaning of it. But if somebody were to make one up without getting ... too carried away ... tweaking its design, it would work well for many applications nowdays. The tricky part would be not getting too carried away adding ... features.

The other lady's brazier is kind of interesting. The painting almost makes it look ... cast ... from some sort of metal. But even her table-top brazier has its drawbacks on heat. It will radiate a LOT of heat down to that table top. So precautions need to be taken to block that heat before it reaches the table top beneath.

Details ... those pesky little Details of history.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Blizzard of '93]

well, some thoughts to ponder regards design. rivets to fasten would be authentic AFAIK and any welded 'grate' could be finished to appear as a casting.

 

[Coot]

For what its worth, and not addressed to any one reply, the originals that I have seen are fairly thin sheet iron (perhaps 1/16 thick) and are a combination of mostly iron rivets & a bit of forge welding. They seem to have been a military/commercial item not seen in a typical home. That said, the earlier comments re today's needs (fire restrictions, etc) are perfectly valid. I use one for light cooking & am glad to have it. I prepack loads of the 'chunk' charcoal (Walmart) with a bit of fatwood kindling in brown paper lunch bags to just fill the brazer. Put in a bag, light it at the bottom & you are cooking in a few minutes. Good for a quick, light breakfast & no fire to dowse before heading to the range or vendor row. Please do not use the "self starting" charcoal brickets (sp?) as the starter tends to lose effectiveness within a few days but the 20th c petroleum smell is easy to pick up as it drifts to neighboring camps. I use the brazier on the ground & yes, it will burn any grass underneath. I have seen some people put a piece of roof slate on a table as a way to use a brazier up higher. I suggest buying them at an event so that you can see the construction in person & avoid shipping.

 

[Bullmoose]

I bought a little brazer for $5 and a garage sell a few years ago. It kind of reminds me of a GI stove for tents. It has this inside coal holder and the ashes fall down into the bottom and there is this little clean out side lid on the bottom side too. The top looks like a round 10 inch grill and you can cook burgers on it or set your cooking pan on it. all Cast Iron, kinda looks like a witches brew pot too. very small and about 10 inches high too.does the job for me. most likely a "China made piece back in the 70's" but I like it.

 

[omarick1948]

Check out the stoves and iron wares!

https.//www.strinztipi.co

 

[hack]

check this guy out www.randrmetalworks.com
he has documentation on his stuff :thumbsup:

 

[ameling]

check this guy out www.randrmetalworks.com
he has documentation on his stuff :thumbsup:

Well, I guess he has documentation. Just like Crazy Crow has documentation for their brazier.

His are a much simpler "adaptation" of the original braziers shown in the books he used as "documentation". Adapted to mass production using modern metal working machines. Quick, simple, and of a similar "style/function" as the originals. "Historically inspired" would be better phrasing. They look every bit as good as the Crazy Crow imports.

Yes, I do have the books he references. And documentation is only as good as you follow it back to the source. And this is just my humble opinion. Take it as such.

Mikey

 

[Harold1950]

All this talk about a brazier and I guess I wanted one. So I made one, doesn't look PC but will work for what I need. what do you think? The base is made to come off, one picture shows the base removed and the base.

 

[BillinOregon]

Harold: You, sir, a a heck of a fabricator. Nice work.

 

[Harold1950]

Thanks Bill and for what it is worth, I didn't mean to steal the topic, I appoligize for that. I just looked at the pictures of the original that was posted and got dimensions from sites that were posted. After I got the metal cut it went together pretty well. Now I need to figure out what to use in it to cook.

 

[gbsclohn]

Lump charcoal is the way to go :thumbsup: