[at-l] pot stand for can stove

[hopefl@juno.com (Lamar Powell)]

Last night I made a pot stand out of a wire coat hanger. I wanted the
bends to be uniform and relatively acute so I made a little jig out of a
scrap board and some nails. This is basically what the stand looks like: 
  -/\/\/\/\/\-   Of course this is a flat representation and the real
stand is curved so the two ends, which are formed into hooks, can be
connected. It is fairly easy to unhook the ends and reform the stand so
it is flat but I think I will keep the curve in it and either carry it in
my pot or around the outside of the pot. 

I wanted the height of the stand to be two inches to accommodate the can
stove and allow an inch between the bottom of my cook pot and the top of
the stove. Once I have had a chance to experiment to find the optimum
distance between pot and stove, I will make another stand if needed. It
seems that if the stand is too high the pot will be unsteady and I don't
want that.

To make the jig for forming the sharp bends in the coat hanger wire, I
drew two parallel line on the scrap board. Each line was mark at one inch
intervals so I could put nails at a uniform spacing. The intervals on one
of the lines were offset by half an inch from those on the other line.
Next I put a finishing nail in between the two lines to be used in
forming the hook on each end. At each of my marked spots I put in a nail
and then removed it. The idea was to make pilot holes for the nails to be
put back as I formed the bends into the wire. The jig was help in place
on the work bench with some clamps. 

By unwrapping a coat hanger and using pliers to straighten out the bends,
I was able to get a piece of heavy wire about 30 inches long. Still using
the plies, I formed the first hook and put it around the first nail. I
had already formed a bend about 1/4 inch from the hook so the wire had an
angle in it leading to the second nail. I found that by holding the wire
several inches away from where it contacted the second nail it was easier
to put a sharp bend in. As each bend was formed, I replaced the next nail
in series and formed the wired back on itself. When laying flat the stand
forms a zigzag pattern. When curved into a circle the two ends are kept
together by the hooks.

The stand seems to be very stable, it weighs about one ounce. There are
no sharp edges I do have some concerns that the sharp bends which will
rest on the ground may tend to sink in if the ground is mushy. Time will
tell.  While playing with the scales, it occurred to me that I could cut
off about one inch from the end of my pot lifter. So, I did. It now fits
much better inside the mess kit and it is lighter by about half an ounce.
 Hopeful

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