After an exhausting search for a suitable kiln stand that didn’t cost a fortune in shipping, ending with no stand and keyboard cramped digits, we decided to make one ourselves out of some salvaged boxes that were acting as a temporary resting place for the afore mentioned kiln. Here’s a Do-It-Yourself step-by step guide so you too can construct a $20 kiln stand…

STEP 1 — Gather your materials:

• Salvaged Base (ex. wood shipping crates, old work table etc. Check garage sales, Thrift stores, or local salvage yards)
• Steel Flashing (DO NOT use aluminum, it has a much lower melt point)
• Roofing nails
• 1/2″ compressed board (check the scrap bin at your local hardware store for a deal)
• Flat & “L” brackets
• Screws
• 3M Metal repair tape
• Hammer
• Metal Awl (for punching screw holes)
• Power Drill
• Tin Snips or Metal Abrasive cutting saw
• Cut resistant gloves
• Safety glasses
• Paint (optional)

I happened to have picked up a few old wooden crates from work that were being tossed out that had formerly been flat files for storing film. I snagged them thinking they would make great glass storage crates, however I was a bit overzealous and realized four was way too many. You need to find a base structure that is sound, can hold the weight, and will end up being the correct working height for you once the kiln is on it. My biggest hurdle in finding a stand was that since I’m not overly vertical, having a top loading kiln chest high was not going to work for me.

STEP 2 — Reinforce your base:

For this particular stand, we needed to attach the two boxes to each other and also add the top board for extra strength. We used two flat brackets on either side of the boxes and then used four “L” brackets to screw the top down to the base. We also chose to paint the boxes black beforehand for a more finished look since they were originally powder blue…

STEP 3 — Heat resistance:

Even though this kiln has a built in raised venting base, for heat resistance it is recommended that the kiln rests on a metal surface. We picked up roll Steel Flashing used for roofing to accomplish this. We first laid the roll so that approximately 3″ was left to hang off of the side edge and the sheet would overlap roughly 1″ down the center. Next, we used the snips to trim the roll leaving 5″ hanging off the ends. The remaining roll was about the same length so the two pieces fit just right for overlapping the seam and leaving enough edge to fold down over the corners. We used the awl and hammer to pre-punch nail holes and then tacked it all down with the steel roofing nails.

Once the flashing was secured to the top of the base we made a short cut in each corner so that the sides could be folded down, much like wrapping a gift, the hammer was handy at this step to tap down the edge to give a tighter fold. A few strategic nails to hold down the fold and some metal repair tape to cover any exposed sharps from the tin snips left a pretty neat and safe corner.

STEP 4 — Finishing touch

As a last thought we decided to cut the scrap from the top board into two panels roughly 4″ high by the width of the end to screw in over the exposed sharp edge of flashing. Not only did this make the stand safer and a bit more finished looking, but as an added bonus provided a handle grip for picking the box up to move into place. Two hours and $20 later we had finished our stand…

A note about safety. It is probably a better idea to invest in an actual kiln stand, there are a few on the market, or have someone make you a heavy duty welded steel stand. I’m sure an all metal stand provides better heat resistance and a higher weight bearing limit. However, for us, for now, this was a good solution and reused some materials which would otherwise end up in a dump somewhere… if you choose to build your own stand be conscious of the requirements of your kiln, and of course be safe