I picked up an optimus 45 last year for a fiver. Just the stove, without flame spreader or legs. I’m thinking of having a go at making 3 legs. From what I read here the originals would have been 6mm steel, but what kind of steel? It is a somewhat rhetorical question as I suspect bending 6mm steel is beyond my current means. Would 6mm aluminium be able to stand up to the heat? -R
Timely, I was in B&Q earlier and noticed they still stock metre lengths of 6mm cold drawn mild steel bar, something like £3.50 for 1 metre, probably as cheap as other sources for small quantities given potential postage costs. Mild steel would have been the original material- there's plenty of info on leg making here. It can also easily be heated to red with an ordinary blowlamp/torch, and either worked hot or bent in a few stages with annealing in between.
You can make them from aluminium, but buying suitably shaped tent pegs is easier. See this link for example https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1-pint-vertitas-plus-2-pint-burner.20048/#post-206064
Screwfix sell 6mm alloy rod which is ideal, they stock other diameters as well. I made some legs for a 1 pint RM stove a few years ago and it does not melt or deform
Most of the original legs were made with ordinary mild steel Subsequently coated with a tin or zinc coating. Read also:
Brass- Pros: Easy to work with. Resists corrosion. Looks lovely. Cons: High cost. Heavier than steel. Less strength than steel. (But it's fine for what you're using it for) Aluminum- (not recommended) Pros: Easy to work with. Resists corrosion. Cheaper than brass. Light weight. Cons: Loses 90+% of its strength above only moderately high temperatures ~250°C. (It starts losing strength at only like 100°C) Has a tendency to become brittle with bending and bends will be left with significantly reduced strength. (Brass does this too but not as extremely as aluminum) Mild steel- Pros: Cheapest of all. Very strong for what you pay for, even at stove temperatures. Cons: Harder to work than Brass, but not bad. Very poor corrosion resistance. Alloy Steels- that's a rabbit hole that would take days to explain Stainless steel. Pros- Much stronger than Brass. Stronger than mild steel. High corrosion resistance. Also can look lovely. Cons: High(er) Cost. Heavier than steel. Much harder to work than mild steel. (You're just bending it, that's probably fine, but its annoying to cut it and it REALLY sucks to drill holes into it.) If I were you then I would just buy replacement legs on eBay
Where’s the fun in that? New legs would cost more than I paid for the stove, and more fundamentally, this is a chance to try/learn something new. On the latter, your reply is a great summary of options (thank you!). On the former, I’ve spent a few pounds on 10 aluminium tent pegs. With only a wee vice about 3” across I’ve bent four into ‘roughly similar’ shapes, cut three to differing lengths and snapped one trying to fix that. I rapidly concluded steel was way beyond my very limited ability to work, but after your followup may have a go with brass once I’ve set up some sort of jig (which I will hopefully get a chance to have a shot at over the summer). Lack of time and space are my two biggest obstacles. -R
Yeah it's definitely not as fun to simply just buy it but I'm really trying to consider the best options here. Brass is a great choice in this situation, with one caveat. In fact, it's good that you have the aluminum tent pegs because they are low cost and offer an opportunity for you to practice your bends and fine tune your set up. The reason I say this is because brass is EXPENSIVE. It's especially expensive if you make mistakes and end up scraping parts, and at that point buying legs is always going to cost less. But once you get a good set up, feel confident in where your bends will be, and can assure repeatability of those bends, then brass is by far the best option for you. And hopefully the aluminum will allow you to get to that point, use it to practice. Brass really is wonderful to work with, much easier than any other metal, yet it's still strong enough for what you need it to do. I just assumed that you didn't do this a lot and I thought it would be silly to tell you to buy something as expensive as brass or 316 stainless, only for you to make one bad bend and suddenly need to buy more expensive stock material. When it comes to forming metal, mistakes are incredibly expensive and the cost adds up fast. Also, if you want to make the bends easier to form, you can heat the area with a blowtorch. At high temperature both brass and mild steel will become much softer while the metal is still hot. (Dull red hot, nothing crazy) Just heat that specific area and nothing else, it'll really reduce the strength required to complete the bend.
Make a frame/jig with a board and nails. Bend warm stainless rods. It's not that difficult and is fun.
The jig doesn't need to be complicated. Allow excess length at both ends and cut to length after the bends have been made. Two Primus 96 Stoves dated 1959 and 1961
I suggest making them from 10K gold. They won't corrode and will closely match the color of your Optimus 45. Ben
@z1ulike Too heavy, it's a collapsible stove for those on the move.... titanium would be more in keeping? Caution required- Some types of brass can be hot worked, others just crumble... working cold and annealing as required is usually as simple.
Hello, I bought three very cheap midsize paintrollers. Took the handles off to use as potlegs for a Optimus (48 I think)
That’s a good idea! I now have my three aluminium tent peg legs. Far from perfect, but they will do for the time being: -R
I used to make such. Pot supports from a paint roller They were perhaps too high, but after proper shaping , they can be suitable. It is a strong material.
