Coating for a fire Ring

[CampingJosh]

These fire rings were recently donated to the camp where I work, and I'm not sure how to keep them looking nice. They are bare steel, and they've not been used yet. Each ring is 15.5" tall and about 38" diameter. The guy who dropped them off said that they were made from 9' long sections of steel, which should make the diameter a little smaller than that, but I can only tell you what my tape measure said.

Is this something that could be Duracoated? Is that even possible for something this big? Or is there another way to keep these nice without breaking the bank?

View attachment 58503

 

[teddy12b]

Are you going to cook out of a fire that's in that ring? If so, I don't think you want kids cooking a hotdog or a smore in a fire ring with the duracoat, cerakote or whatever burning and fumes getting all over their food. If you're not going to cook or eat out of it, I'd look at some high temp paints, and probably something you can get cheap in a spray can so that touch ups in the future wouldn't be a big deal. It's steel, it will rust when it's left outside so touching up and maintenance will be a part of these if you want them to stay looking nice.

I don't know much about the durability of different patinas like mustard, or vinegar or etching or whatever, but that may be a safer option. Maybe some kind of cold bluing could work? Just throwing out some thoughts and ideas. They look nice and it'd be worth taking care of them.

 

[dvd1955]

Not sure how hot a campfire will get, but here is one possibility - 1200 degree stove paint. But as teddy12b said, not sure if this would be okay if you are cooking on that campfire.

https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...87-c-6881.htm?tid=-2905041802457867872&ipos=1

 

[Clay]

IMO it really doesn't matter what you paint on them it will come off after a few fires. I would leave them bare. They will rust, but with the heat being put on them they will rust anyway after the paint burns off.

 

[rosejm]

You might look into ceramic coating like what is done for exhaust headers. Shouldn't burn off, but might be more than you want to spend

 

[churchmouse]

Just leave them along and put a fire in them. No matter what you do they will rust eventually. It will take a long time for them to rust away. A long long time.

Unless you sandblast them, use a proper high temp paint after properly prepping the surface what ever you put on them will be pretty much gone in a few good hot fires and even if you do prep correctly these will get beat up just from use.

Fire them up and enjoy them.

 

[AllenM]

I agree with everything said about not painting it. nothing will last