After viewing some article on an inexpensive and rather easy to make stove. I decided to give it a try while camping in Kenting.
This stove will come in handy during survival situation only if you can get yourself an empty beer or soda can.
What so special about this stove is that it burns completely and leaves only white ashes. In technical terms we called it "complete combustion" thus making this a very efficient stove. Here are the simple steps to follow.
first find an empty can, well that was what I had most during camping..hehe
remove the top with a knife
here is how it should look like
using the same knife, make 8 holes on the top and bottom. Try to make the holes in the bottom bigger.
gather some twigs of different sizes and break them into smaller pieces.
You will be surprised how long these twigs will burn.
place the bigger twigs at the bottom and fill up the can to the rim. Try to compact them closely
I used my tent pegs as a support for my kettle
using a fire starter I place it on top of the twigs and light it up
next I added more twigs to let it burn
it seems like the fire is out but in actual fact the superheated air is slowing burning the wood below
After 8mins, I then place my kettle and let it boil with 400ml of water
not sure if you can see this clearly but from the vent hole, the wood is burning at the top and bottom simultaneously
after 16mins the water started to boil
after 30mins, all is left are just white ashes. All the twigs have been completely burnt
There are few version of wood gas stoves, some use a PC fan to create a downdraft action while others uses 2 can to create a super heated air chamber. Goggle it and you find all these information on the internet. Among all, I felt this is the easiest to make and it perfrom pretty well.
My favorite version of the beverage can wood gas stove: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk19VkPDk6U
ReplyDeleteIt burns with a nice steady blue flame without smoke and it can be moved moved or held while burning.
It uses the same can as yours but it needs a sheet of aluminum foil rolled into a cylinder and inserted into the can. Here is my video of my first attempt to replicate it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOFtmyiBBXo See description for detail.
@jw934
ReplyDeleteSaw your YouTube vid. Your design would be a Downdraft Wood Gasifier Stove. Here is another stove http://outdoorkopitiam.blogspot.com/2011/04/heineken-wood-gasifier-stove-downdraft.html
Nice Work on the stove.
Saw this article, just had to try it - and might I say, it worked wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteI used a regular can opener and took the top off of a Coke can. I used a small axe and shaved off some small pieces of some cottonwood firewood that I already had. Using my pocket knife, I put 8 small slits around the top, and 8 longer slits on the bottom. I stuffed a little dryer lint into the middle of the wood pile, and sparked it up with a plain old fire striker.
I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of heat and flames that immediately popped up. I placed a foldable sterno stove grate over the can, and put a small camping pot with 2 cups of water in it. 7 minutes later, it was boiling.
To know that I can boil water (quickly!) with tools as simple as a spark, a soda can, a pocket knife and some small twigs is nice to know.
To those wondering, the heat that came from this little stove was much more than if I'd simply built a fire using the smallll twigs. The design draws air from the bottom, and then superheated air and flames jet out of the top, like a small torch.
Good stuff, great site.
A quick sidenote and follow-up to the last post: after allowing the can and pot to cool off, I took the pot inside to empty it and found a large amount of incredibly sticky, gooey, sap-like substance on the bottom. It could have either been from the wood I burned, or perhaps from the paint burning off of the Coke can. Either way, if you try this, try it first on a pot you don't mind losing a little paint off of, and maybe burn a load of wood through it to get the paint off beforehand.
ReplyDeleteThe substance was so sticky, I had to use steel wool to get it off of my hands and my pot - even dishsoap yielded no results at all.
Thanks for your update, the reason for the dark sap under the pot was from the twigs used, they were not dried completely. I had the same problem.
DeleteTo clean off, you can try diesel or some petroleum substances.
A gas stove can actually save you a lot of money. Unlike with gas stoves where the size of the flame is an indicator, you have no way of judging the heat level and making small adjustments on an electric stove.
ReplyDeleteSO interesting and a small mater you make an excellent sound here to know more see..wood furnaces Buy a Greenwood wood boiler that saves 70% on your home heating bills. We offer the world-class wood gasification heating appliances on an affordable budget.
ReplyDelete