There is a detail about that design of smokeless fire pits that many people do not notice. The holes at the top are the fill line. Any wood that is above the holes will cause smoke because that wood gas is above the secondary burn line.

Great vid! Can you put links in the descriptions? Link to products used & other videos. Loving the smooth jazz!

I think you did a good job. There are two real keys to not seeing smoke... 1- don't build your wood pile higher than the secondary combustion holes. Any fire combusting above that line of holes that point inward won't be pulled vertically back into the combustion chamber to be burnt. 2- the secondary combustion fully relies on no cool air seeping into the vertical airlift above normal intake at the bottom (making airlift take longer to heat because it doesn't fully heart travelling the full vertical height -or- if the open path is a path of least resistance you maybe siphoning off air you've already warmed vertically). Potentially, you could set off a 4th of July smoke bomb in each intake hole (after okeless pit is properly functioning and heated) and see if any colored smoke leaks out from the sides anywhere. This is kinda like the reverse of inflating a inner tube then soaping the exterior looking for bubbles to show you leaks.

Ok. So I built my fire pit. I used similar blocks but they were light gray. It gives it a rustic stone look. I used the same ring you did. But I drilled 1/2" holes in the top every 2". Then I drilled a 2" hole in the ring, in front of every other gap in the bottom row of blocks. That allows the airflow to get into the fire. Rather than cap stone, I just went with another row of the same blocks to cover the ring. I basically used one less block and pushed the top row in far enough to cover the ring. Everything fit together pretty well. I had my first fire in it Thursday. It worked great!! Very little smoke after the first 10 min or so. The fire really got going quick. I wish I knew how to upload a picture in the comment section. But I posted a 3 second video titled "Smokeless Fire Pit". Thanks for posting your video. It's very helpful!

I am truly sorry to inform you that this is not a gasifying fire pit. These are the reasons why. First you only have holes on the top of the burn chamber. Allowing the excess gases to escape through the top instead of being drawn through the bottom of the side holes there are not there. Second you got too many draft holes all the way around the outer chamber which is the cement bricks or concrete bricks. You should have concrete mortar all of it except for the bottom holes for your draft. So fresh air can be mixed with the gases and as we all know hot rises and cold falls as the cool air comes in it's heated and rises and will go through the top holes bring in the gases over the flames to be reborn. As to experiment with. Otherwise you have a very nice fire pit but not smokeless.

I think adding a couple holes at the bottom will help reduce the smoke by giving it more cold oxygen.

I think the issue is the holes are too large and your really need a raging fire to heat up the walls. The hole size is just speculation, but looking at a few other videos and inspecting the smokeless pits on the market, they all have small holes. Potentially for air pressure to "shoot" the smoke towards the center of the pit.

All you guys drilling all those holes ....it is a waste of time and effort. Just raise up the ring about 1" - 1 1/2" to allow oxygen to be sucked under it as the cold air is sucked in through the small spaces in the block. Then at the top of the ring make sure it is about 1" below the cap stone so the air can travel up and over the ring and be sucked in for the secondary burn. Those holes are only needed for Solo stoves and the like because they are self contained structures. You all are not thinking it through and making more work for yourselves.

Start with a smaller fire to cut down on start up smoke, then add wood. I built a similar fire pit and that's how I start my fire. I also don't like the heat and view of the fire being blocked by the wall.

Nice job. I think the holes in the top should be maybe 1/2 - 3/4" in diameter. Another suggestion is to remove some of the rocks under the ring in about 4 -6 spots. That will allow some airflow into the base of the fire. I plan to build a similar pit. I'll let you know how it goes. Great job! Very creative and inexpensive ideas!

I'd love to see how you setup and stacked your fire as far as what's below to get the fire going. Can you do a video on firepit fire making?

I feel like you could use thinner timbers. Maybe even thick dowels for the poles? Thanks for the inspiration. How is it doing so far in the second year?

The 3 key points that interact to make the solo stoves smokeless are: 1. Primary air control. You need some, but not very much. 1-2% of the bottom surface area works well for an 18” pit(larger pits need even less). 2. High fuel/fire to pit volume. An 18” fire in a 36” pit is going to have trouble burning smokeless. an 18” fire in an 18” pit works much better. The solo’s are smaller so they are easier to fill with fuel. 3. Heated secondary air. Too much primary airflow cools the fire and reduces the amount of time the heat has to break down the combustibles(smoke) too much means the flow will be up and out instead of in and even down. Fire too far away from the heat exchanger wall = less reflected heat back into the fire and less heat transferred into the secondary air. Fire too far away from the secondary air means it is not going to reach the smoke as well to interact with it. I think your secondary holes are a little large. It would probably work better by skipping the holes and simply leaving a gap between the top edge of the ring and the bottom of the capstones. I don’t drill holes in the ones I build… You want to fill the pit with fuel. Don’t want a fire that big? Build a smaller fire pit…I find about 15-18” is a god size and have been making dual wall pits this size for years out of 50-80 gallon scrap water heaters. You want to only deliver enough primary air so that the pit will try to draw in a little additional air over/around the top edge. This will cause it to pull any smoke that comes up around the sides, back out over the fire. It will also draw the heated secondary air out over the fire to mix with the smoke and combust/break down. With the right amount you will actually see smoke and flame sometimes drawn back down into the fire. Looked like you had good dry wood, but fuel over heat = smoke until it is up to temp. Try stacking your wood and build the fire on top of the pile. The heat will release combustibles under the fire so it will make a lot less smoke. It will take a little longer for the fire to grow but it will burn cleaner while doing so… Here is my current pit, recessed into the ground a little to increase exposure of the fire to the people around it…kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mbuIfKplrNLLnJc.html

Maybe, building up the wood above the holes in the fire ring won't create a smokeless situation. Thanks, for sharing!

Look great man! Great job

I see smoke in da thumb nail

That was pretty awesome bro

very nice build is this something i could do on a concrete slab as well ?

Good job, man. Looking to do a similar project in a couple of months. You should be proud and hope everyone enjoys it over the years. which solar cafe/market lights did you use?

I'm in the process of making nearly an identical fire pit. I must have got the wrong size cap stones because they just don't lay right for the 3ft fire ring. Yours seem a bit smaller. Any idea of their size? Mine were 16" wide end, 12" smaller end, and 11" sides

What steel ring was used?

I think if the upper holes were smaller you'd get higher velocity air coming into the fire for a better secondary burn.

I lucked unto your video about smokeless firepits. As a huge coincidence, I live in Oak Harbor! Cheers neighbor. Good video.

It's beautiful but i was afraid of there being too much smoke as i live in NYC and have a bunch of neighbors next to me that might complain

imagine sitting in that seat down wind during the start lol.

What is the diameter of your metal ring insert?

How many and size of retention blocks were used ? Jp Watson, Louisiana

@7:27 "Smokeless" fire xD

Bunch of smoke though

A little bit of continuous thick smoke here and there 😅

Where is the smokeless firepit?