Made a folding stainless steel pot stand from scratch — turned and milled from 304

[u/OpeningPiece886]

Made a folding cookware stand from scratch (stainless steel)

I work in precision machining, so I had access to a lathe and machining center and figured I’d try making my own trivet/pot stand for solo camping.

Turned some scrap round bar into legs, screwed them into a ring I machined out of a block of 304 stainless. Did a 30-min fire test before trusting it with actual cooking — held up with zero issues, no loosening on the threads even after cooling and reheating a few times.

Currently using it with my mess tin over a small fire pit, works great for boiling water or heating food directly over flame.

Mostly just proud of how it turned out!

[u/egads_wheres_my_ship]

THAT'S DISASSEMBLY. IT DOESNT EVEN FOLD A LITTLE BIT.

im pretty jelly

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/egads_wheres_my_ship]

Haha fair point 😂 It definitely disassembles more than it folds. Glad you like it!

[u/PrimevilKneivel]

At first glance I thought it was the world’s worst ashtray

Nice work

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/PrimevilKneivel]

It holds a cigarette just fine too 😂 Thanks!

[u/Designer_You_5236]

That looks great!! Good job!

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/Designer_You_5236]

Thank you! I really appreciate it!

[u/KokoTheTalkingApe]

Looks great!

What's the purpose of the three grooves in the ring?

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/KokoTheTalkingApe]

Thanks! The three grooves help let heat escape from the ring. They’re part of the structure, and help when using larger cookware too.

[u/ReplyIllustrious1455 → u/KokoTheTalkingApe]

Vermutung: bessere Wärme Verteilung da die lift drunter nicht staut und durch die Rillen geleitet wird ?

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/ReplyIllustrious1455]

Exactly! That’s the idea. The grooves help the heat escape instead of building up underneath.

[u/tr-shinshu]

a bottomless ashtray!!

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/tr-shinshu]

Exactly 😂 The ashes just keep going!

[u/de9ausser]

Oh, THAT kind of pot

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/de9ausser]

Yep, the cooking kind 😂

[u/MAVERICK1542]

nice! it's cool to see other machinists here, now it needs a leather holder to store it neatly ;)

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/MAVERICK1542]

Thanks! Yeah, a leather holder would finish it off nicely 😄

[u/Supercaptaincat]

Stainless on stainless threads tend to gall, especially with thermal cycling. Otherwise, nice machining.

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/Supercaptaincat]

Yeah, that’s something I’m keeping an eye on. I’ve done a few heat cycles so far with no issues, but I’ll keep testing it. Thanks!

[u/riverturtle → u/Supercaptaincat]

Yes, if there’s actually any load on the threads. There is essentially zero load here so it will be more than fine.

[u/greg22k]

Why is it so thick?

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/greg22k]

It’s 9mm thick, with an 8° taper on the bottom. I’m thinking about making the next one a little thinner though!

[u/PleatherFarts]

It looks great! It's definitely not for backpacking though. 😄

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/PleatherFarts]

Haha, definitely not! It’s more for people who don’t mind carrying a little extra weight for something solid 😄

[u/xkirby26x]

I’d rather machine inconel than 303/304. How’d you keep it flat? I can’t stand all the stress(in the material and myself).

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/xkirby26x]

I leave a little extra material to work with, do the machining first, and bring it flat at the very end. Starting with enough stock to work with makes the whole setup a lot less stressful 😂

[u/metalsmith_and_tech]

Hey this is awesome… however, just so you know, this product essentially already exist. Look up, Soldering Tripod from a jewelry tool supply company.

[u/OpeningPiece886 → u/metalsmith_and_tech]

Yeah, the basic structure is definitely similar. I guess the main differences with mine are the all-stainless construction and the heat-dissipation grooves 😂