A V-8 moment

[Jeanette]

A few days ago a friend brought over his new wood burning camp stove it uses less wood and he only paid $195.00.
 It reminded me of something my father would make... a large empty coffee can and a church key and poof we had a stove he would cut a flap in the side of the can (to feed the fire through) use the church key to make air holes around the top side some times also on the bottom side and we had a cooker.
Wish I had thought to find someone to fancy that ol coffee can up and heck I would not have to work so hard.

[mullet]

Jeanette;

I'll post some pictures tomorrow of a small stove one of the boys that works for me is making. They are made from a popular Energy drink can that will boil water in 7 minutes using alcohol. Great for noodles.

[JW_Halverson]

Yet another reason why our ancestors all died....they starved while waiting for bottled propane to be invented for grilling!

[crooketarrow]

   They work really well. We always took a couple camping along the creek or river. After your camp fires cooked down to coals they work perfect in the can add wood as needed. I found out the in the hot summer stero with a wick works better yet. You can cook and make coffie in no time.

[RidgeRunner]

I have made several Wood Gas Stoves over the past few years.

It took a while for me to figure a few things out..... But the last one I built works very well.
It will burn for about 20 minutes on one load of fuel and does not smoke at all.

I burn old, very dry, hickory nuts in mine.  Make sure they are either cracked or have bore worm holes in them.  Otherwise it is like firecrackers in a tin can.

Will try and post a few pix of it when I get home.

David

[Kpete]

Be warned!  Wood Gas websites are addictive.  If you played with fire when you were young, watch out!  YOu are predesposed to this affliction.
I have built a couple handfuls of wood gas stoves from cans from juice cans to gallon cans.  Intriguing when you get blue jets of flame without bottled fuel or fans.  Little smoke-I would not say "no smoke".
I now have the urge to go strike a match and boil some water!

[sadiejane]

first little wood gas stove i made.

the pot holder is different now but i couldnt find a pic of its current incarnation. just an x of two metal strips and the pot is closer to the fire. they work great. this one is made from a quart paint can and a progresso soup can.
yup i have made numerous wood gas and alcohol stoves. theyre sorta like bows, ya cant make just one....
theres a website called zen stoves-a good place to start

heres a little alcohol stove took about 10 mins to make.

a larger kat food can and a smaller one inside. used a paper punch for venting.
wire coat hanger and a piece of copper tube from the scrap bin.
cooking coffee

a bit of steel wool where the alcohol goes

[mullet]

Here's the one the boy at work is making from the cans. It's hard to see the alcohol flames but they come out the holes like a gas burner on a stove when it warms up. It is great and cheap for making Ramin noodles while hunting.

[RidgeRunner]

Here are a few pix of the last wood gas stove that I built.

[RidgeRunner]

A few More.

[RidgeRunner]

Some more.

[RidgeRunner]

Here is what is going on in the pix that I posted.

In the first four pix you can see the cans and how they are altered to make the stove.
Look close and you can see two wires sticking out of the side of the largest can.  About 1" up from the bottom.
They hold the burn can off the bottom so it can breath.

The next four show the fuel and the starter twigs that I use.
The fuel is 3 dozen hickory nuts.  They are old, very dry, cracked and/or bore wormed.  See the tiny holes.
These nuts range in size from 3/4" to 1".  There are three dozen nuts in the can.  Notice how they fill the can only about half way.

The starting twigs are tiny branches from a Virginia pine.  The lagrest stump ends of the twigs are only the size of a pencil.
The little ends are tiny tiny.  Most of the twigs are broken to about 1" and dropped into the can on top of the nuts.  A few of the smallest twigs are lay ed on top of a few leaves.  When the leaves are set fire they light the tiny twigs and the fire starts to burn.

When it burns down a bit it is time to put the lid on.  The lid traps rising hot air that then inters the burn can through the holes that are about two inches from the top.  The lid also confines the smoke so it burns better.

The last pix is false color.  The can is NOT red hot.  I did that so the size of the flame could be seen.

This thing has it disavantages.  It big, dirty and MUST have dry fuel to work.  It will also black up a pot.
However, It is made from trash with nothing but simple tools.  No dought one could be made with nothing but a pocket knife.
It will also pump out some BTU's.  I have fried eggs and sausage on mine.
It burned for about 30 minutes today.

David
 

[Adam]

I've had good luck using an empty Altoids tin with fiberglass insulation in it. I put some aluminum window screen over the top and use a couple capfuls of alcohol from an old water bottle. The whole thing fits well in a folding Esbit stove and the Altoid lid acts a windscreen.

[stickbender]

      Those are some neat looking stoves.  I used to use a coffee can, when I was a kid, for a stove, when, some Friends and I went camping.  Just a Coffee can with holes made with a "Church Key" (old style bottle opener, with can hole opener, for cans without pop tops, and juice cans.) around the bottom sides.  Just fill it with whatever would burn.   
  My Brother showed me how, and then, I saw a show, that showed the Koreans, that lived outside of town, who lived in small huts, with a big hole in the ground under the hut, and during the winter, they stayed there, they heated it with a coffee can, with holes in the perimeter of the bottom, and then put tightly rolled up card board in it, and soaked it with kerosene, and it not only served as a cook stove, but as a very efficient heater.  I have one of Eddies little stoves, and they are really neat, and very effective!   I still need Eddie to get the guy to show how he makes them.  It is supposed to be a really easy method.  But when it heats up, it comes out around the can, through the tiny holes, like little jets!

                                                  Wayne

[RidgeRunner]

Stickbender:
I like the little alcohol stoves also.  They are small, clean, very fast to use and pack very well.  My Wood Gas Stove does not compair in those areas. 

The only two advantages of a wood gas stove is the BTU output and free fuel.

Have given some thought to trying to make a stove that would CLEANLY burn kerosene.
Don't think it can be done without a pressure tank or at least a wick.  Some old kerosene lanterns use a round "tubular" wick.  They made a lot of light and HEAT.

Eddy:  Get this guy you work with to do us a build along.

David