Companion forum thread to:

Make Your Own Gear: The “Z-Stand” Pot Support for Alcohol Stoves

Hi Jay,

Where do you source your titanium wire? I've seen 2 mm diammeter relatively pure titanium available on the web... but for research purposes only.

Are you using 6Al4V or 3Al2.5V alloy?

thanks,

I bought a whole bunch of jewelry grade titanium off ebay for about $20, including shipping (which made a couple of z-stands and 12 titanium stakes). If you can't score an ebay deal, there are several distributers who sell titanium rod. As the article indicates, BPL hopes to have some for sell this fall. I would buy 6Al4V, because I am more familiar with this material from cycling. I don't know how different 3Al2.5V is from 6Al4V. Any metallurgists out there?

Jay

http://www.matweb.com/search/SearchSubcat.asp

Also, check onlinemetals.com and mcmastercarr.com for prices of different Ti pieces / rods / sheet...

Hi Jay,

I got this once from an old friend who was a metallurgist.

6Al/4V (6% aluminum, 4% vanadium) is the harder of the two alloys and is used where tensile strength is paramount (ie bottom bracket spindles) whereas 3Al/2.5V has more "give" so its used in bike frames. My deduction of this is that the 6/4 alloy would be harder to bend and probably be more brittle than 3/2.5

My specialty is in functional genomics so this should be taken with a grain of salt.

John.

Hi Jay,

I got this once from an old friend who was a metallurgist.

6Al/4V (6% aluminum, 4% vanadium) is the harder of the two alloys and is used where tensile strength is paramount (ie bottom bracket spindles) whereas 3Al/2.5V has more "give" so its used in bike frames. My deduction of this is that the 6/4 alloy would be harder to bend and probably be more brittle than 3/2.5

My specialty is in functional genomics so this should be taken with a grain of salt.

John.

Hi Jay
Good looking article as always, Mom

Hi Jay
John is right.
Ti-6-4 is harder to bend than Ti-3-2.5.

Elongation of Ti-3Al-2.5V is better than Ti-6-4 so it is easier to make pipe out of it, so as the bike frame.

Dixon

Looks like Ti-3-2.5 is the material of choice. Though, if you can't find a good source for Ti-3-2.5, would the Ti-6-4 work well enough in this application. Aluminum rod works afterall, and aluminum has very poor bending properties.

Jay

Jay, I was hoping to pick your brain on the bending portion of this project. I'm having a hard time getting the legs to match up after I bend. I've tried placing the wrenches at different places around the marking line, but I just can't seem to get them very accurate. Being somewhat of a perfectionist, I'd rather not end up having to make the stand crooked to have it hold the pot level. Any ideas?

You can email me directly at grnthumb <at> gmail <dot> com

Thanks Jay, this is great.

As another variation, I ungloriously copied the Gossamer Gear Pot Stand design using the Ti Rods. It is very strudy and has the nice advantage of folding flat. I prefer it and it also helps to reinforce the wind sheild too. I can send you a picture if you wish.

Evan

OK, I went looking for Titanium rod on ebay as an earlier post suggested. And what did I find but a listing for a guy selling the Titanium rod that was previously mounted INSIDE HIS BROKEN LEG! He figures it cost about $40,000 to install and remove the rod. It is going for the bargain price of One Dollar (No reserve.)

I may be frustrrating myself for no reason. I have tried the original design and then the first modification. I am still softening the stand and the last two times I used it the full pot fell off the stand after a bit of heating . I have a small soda can alcohol stove and am trying to use the small MSR titanium pot that is 4.5 " in diameter. This design forces me to press the stove right against the wire stand in order to get it to fit.
What am i doing worong, or could this work with a pot that is wider? I can't even think about a large Heinekin can for boiling...