this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2026
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I'd imagine even "low quality" stainless steel will hold up pretty well. And it has to at least have enough carbon in it to avoid rusting from all the water.
But WHOA BOYEEE it gonna get HOT!!! Not a bad thing per say, but as pictured there's nothing to prevent against an accidental leg brush. My firepit has a ring/lip around it that if you walk by you'll hit it first before the MUCH hotter body of the bowl itself. I feel like this needs something for a little protection. Even just a ring of very large rocks as a way to keep people away from walking too close.
Incoming internet pedantry alert: It's not the carbon in steel that makes it stainless. It's the carbon that makes it steel (otherwise it would just be iron) but it's the chromium and/or nickel in the alloy that'll make it varying degrees of stainless. Or at least corrosion resistant.
Nicer washing machine drums are stainless, but cheap ones will just be porcelain coated regular old mild steel. Either way it ought to stand up to at least a couple of burns.
To be even more pedantic,
Remember that stainless steel is NOT completely Rosta Frei. It's merely stain - less. It can rust and stain, (the high temps in a fire doesn't help), it just takes longer than plain carbon steels. And washing machine tubs are probably going to be either 303 or more likely, 304 or similar more corrosion resistant alloys.
Yeah I'm an idiot and chose to use about 1 of my brain cells on that part of the post. I won't embarrass myself by admitting what my VERY long ago undergrad degree was in. Thanks for the correction.
was it in forgery?
Washing machines have an inner (spinning) and an outer (watertight) drum. I plan to use both for my firepit, which should allow it to be smokeless and also mitigate the "it gonna get HOT" problem.
(I haven't actually made it yet because my outer drum has some butyl tape or something I need to remove first. Anybody know the best way to do that?)
Fire! Remove the tape with fire!
ugh, sorry, I forgot it's the dull mens club, then I don't know.
I've considered it, but (a) it's the outer drum that (I'm hoping) won't get very hot, and (b) I'm worried that burning it off would leave a residue.
There's nothing much insulating the outer from the inner, so it'll get as hot as the fire, just with a small delay. Putting in some type of insulation would reduce that, but that complicates things and I have no idea what would work that wouldn't eventually become a fire hazard. Asbestos? lol (don't do that)
In theory, the design of a smokeless fire pit creates a convection current where cool air keeps getting drawn into the cavity from outside the fire pit. I'm sure the outer drum surface won't be cool, but it shouldn't be as hot as the inner drum either.
Yeah, tbh, I've never looked at the metallurgical composition of a washer drum... I honestly always kind of assumed they were aluminum.
I cannot say for 100% surety, but they are most probably either 303SS or 304SS, (SS = Super Shit). They are among the more corrosion resistant stainless' cheaply and easily available.
Me too, and the first thought was melting point. But I guess they'd have to be steel to hold the weight they do.
Remember, appliances are typically made out of the cheapest crap possible. Aluminum costs more than steel.
Almost all washing machine tubs are enalemed steel or stainless steel.