Alcohol Stove DIY

Made another alcohol stove while on holiday over Easter.

Attachment 35832

It's made from two Tui cans that I salvaged while at Dad's. As you can see he prefers larger cans but any normal size soda/beer can would work.
The bottoms of both cans are used, with one of the ends having a large hole cut in the centre with smaller holes drilled around the outside.

In between the two 'bottoms' is a false wall which seats in a low point on both ends.
This false wall is wrapped with steel wool (to insulate) which is hidden between it and the outside of the cooker.

The bottom half of the can is crimped to fit inside the top (part with the holes). I forced the top on the first time and it split. So gently does it.

Attachment 35831

This is the template I went off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=027qdmJCRak
I didn't have the tool he had to cut the large hole so I used Dad's (wood) holesaw.
Which didn't hurt the blade or me (I didn't tell him).

Attachment 35830

Turned out well. Probably the only thing a can of Tui is good for really.

Would love to see what other people have made.
Post a pic if you've made/use one.

Top work @Blue Arrow I made one when at school. But I'm sure it wasn't near as good as that one!
Good idea with the mesh to hold the cup up in the heat.

Do how long to boil a cup of water?

yeah ive made a few

tetkobas youtube channel is a good resource

capillary hoop stove if I remember is a good one.

the best one is the red bull aluminuim bottles, cut the bottle neck off and press it into the base, cut some holes on the outside and all done

Did ta burn the Tui for the alcohol ?:ORLY:

Thanks @puku , it works, so I'm happy.
The mesh is really good but unfortunately not my idea, just borrowing other peoples ideas.

With a lid on the cup the stove boils 250ml of water in around 4mins.

The capillary hoop stove looks pretty hard out @scoped.
Yeah, I seen the aluminum bottles and want to do them for my next project.

Got any pictures?

No way @Maca49 , that stuff is toxic. Haha.

What sort of mesh is it? I tried some chicken wire mesh but it melted!

I had the similar problem with chicken wire @outdoorlad .

I initially looked in Mega Mitre 10, they had some nice thick gauge stuff
...but... was put off because you have to buy a whole roll .

I ended up getting this from Dad (I pinch all his stuff) it was just something he had already.
It was from some kind of filter I think. I was going to make a stand out of wire otherwise.

Here's a previous cooker I made, it was alot easier to make.

It's designed to have the pot sit right on the stove. You need a really flat surface for this stove to rest on because of that.
Fortunately my pot/cup has an indention ring which sits right over the mouth of the can keeping it in place.

As a bonus you can reuse the remaining alcohol.
...But... It is more temperamental to light.

Link to template: https://vimeo.com/64726512

got some pics of my capillary stove, sorry its a bit dark in the shed but you get the idea. I cant find my bottle one, think it got crushed but they are easy as to make.

follow tektobas instructions and it will be sweet, make sure you use the right measurements and can sizes - yes you can find them here. its all about the height of the stove which determines the efficiency and what not of them

but, they aren't shit hot for boiling water, if your cold and hungry id use my jetboil 10 times over. great little noveltly but you wont save any weight in the end and not as efficient as a jetboil either. not that great in cold weather, any sort of wind or at altitude. all right in the garage though !

if you build the hoop stove right, it will "roar" when fully up to temperature

That stove is pretty cool mate.
What did you make the stand out of?

Yeah I know what you mean regarding the wind and altitude my purple one is really temperamental.
The Tui stove seems alright with a bit of wind (using a windscreen) haven't tried at altitude yet.

Don't have a Jetboil myself just an old Kovea head that sits on top of a butane canister :TT TT: .

I'm interested in alcohol stoves, not so much to save weight as to save the annoying logistical issues of gas stoves - having a stack of half full canisters at home. Can you buy a decent lightweight pre-made stove?

@gimp
I haven't used any pre-made stoves but... A quick google came up with this:
Multi-fuel Stoves at EquipOutdoors

There's a couple half way down the page.

Gimp, I'm looking at getting one of these White Box Alcohol Stove from Hikelight.com

And carrying the meths in one of these 16oz Rum Runner® Flask

I played with those for a while. In the end, I ended up going with a Sterno stove and generic Sterno used mostly with a US military canteen cup.

For times I don't want to be tied to a separate stove, I use Trioxane fuel tabs with the canteen cup's stove. (The canteen nests inside the canteen cup, and the canteen cup nests inside the stove. The whole works nest inside the canteen carrier. Nifty lil' setup.)

I fish and hunt when I have time, and this type of thing works very well for me. I carry a canteen anyway, and there's not much extra weight.

But yes, those alcohol stoves are nifty.

Josh

Quote:

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Originally Posted by outdoorlad

Gimp, I'm looking at getting one of these White Box Alcohol Stove from Hikelight.com

And carrying the meths in one of these 16oz Rum Runner® Flask

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That's a good looking solution. Can you stop one of these stoves once it's lit, or do you just wait for it to burn out?

you can wait or choke it out, i have the "cat tin stove" that i made
looking to change to gas as the meths cooker are good if you want a cuppa or cook some noodles
but you need to carry extra meths if going over night etc
all a weight game i guess

I just use a fire maple hornet with a 100gm canister, as light as I need. These can stoves are cool though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gimp

I'm interested in alcohol stoves, not so much to save weight as to save the annoying logistical issues of gas stoves - having a stack of half full canisters at home. Can you buy a decent lightweight pre-made stove?

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I had the same hatred of half full canisters, until I found out you can refill them from a standard LPG BBQ bottle. Much cheaper and you don't get left with a heap of half full canisters. Alot of people don't recommend it but provided you are careful it can be done safely. This revelation has meant Ive gone back to using canister stoves again.

I use one of these
Attachment 35895

Screw one end onto the canister and the other onto your LPG bottle and away you go. A scales is used to determine when its full.

In saying that, @Blue Arrow you have just cost me two days researching and building alcohol stoves. I never thought it would be so much fun. Who doesn't enjoy tinkering and fire!!!! I'll be trying one of those capillary stoves tomorrow, just need to buy some more meths, as i used it all up today.

I made one out of a redbull can like scoped described. Works fine. Now that its cold and I'm hunting high its jetboil time.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blue Arrow

Made another alcohol stove while on holiday over Easter.

Attachment 35832

It's made from two Tui cans that I salvaged while at Dad's. As you can see he prefers larger cans but any normal size soda/beer can would work.
The bottoms of both cans are used, with one of the ends having a large hole cut in the centre with smaller holes drilled around the outside.

In between the two 'bottoms' is a false wall which seats in a low point on both ends.
This false wall is wrapped with steel wool (to insulate) which is hidden between it and the outside of the cooker.

The bottom half of the can is crimped to fit inside the top (part with the holes). I forced the top on the first time and it split. So gently does it.

Attachment 35831

This is the template I went off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=027qdmJCRak
I didn't have the tool he had to cut the large hole so I used Dad's (wood) holesaw.
Which didn't hurt the blade or me (I didn't tell him).

Attachment 35830

Turned out well. Probably the only thing a can of Tui is good for really.

Would love to see what other people have made.
Post a pic if you've made/use one.

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Nice stove BA, Here's a couple of quickies I tried, Seem to work ok, Boil water in no time.

Attachment 35899

Bman. Where did you get that from? Half empty canisters are a pain.

I've made various alcohol stoves, great fun, except when I burnt a bit of our outdoor table, her indoors wasn't too impressed! Lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by outdoorlad

Bman. Where did you get that from? Half empty canisters are a pain.

I've made various alcohol stoves, great fun, except when I burnt a bit of our outdoor table, her indoors wasn't too impressed! Lol

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Firstly I want to say, I am not responsible for anybody who decides to try refilling canisters. So don't flame me if you get flamed. With that being said, here is how I've gone about it.

Luckily the yanks have done a lot of the problem solving already. Have a read of this link first if it interests you.

Adventures In Stoving: Refilling Gas Canisters

Its a similar principal its just we are using LPG. The big difference (and where all the warning come from in the US) is their BBQ gas bottles are generally 100% propane which is dangerous for refilling. However NZ LPG is a 60:40 propane/butane mix ideal for canister refills, so the adapter I showed which isn't recommended in the US, is Ideal here.

now you ask where to get them from, I bought mine from ebay..

Propane Refill Adapter LP Gas Flat Cylinder Tank Coupler Adapter Valves Picnic | eBay

I wasn't too sure if it was going to work but given it was so cheap i thought it was worth the risk. From memory, I paid around $5 all up including shipping. I did have an issue that the thread on the BBQ bottle end did not fit, but as I had a spare fitting lying around, I simply switched them out.

You can also get them from Aliexpress too

Shop propane refill adapter online Gallery - Buy propane refill adapter for unbeatable low prices on AliExpress.com

Anyway apologies for digressing this tread.

I've got time off work at the moment, so my goal for today is to build a capillary stove and a red bull bottle stove. Mr Tetkoba makes things of beauty!!!

@B_man what a great idea!

Haha, glad I inspired you. I'm not a pyro (I don't think) but there's something about staring into a flame isn't there?
Chuck a couple of pictures up when you tinker again.

Nice, look at the flames on those things.
Do you call them your Sweet Little Demon Stoves @BushHunter?

yeh, flames is good. but you don't really want too much orange, blue flame means that its burning efficiently and hot. the rest is just wasted gas. that's why I like the capillary hoop stove as its not as fuel hungry as the bottle upside down ones

also have a play with the hole sizes , I found .8mm was the best, 1mm a tad too big. and also instead of drilling straight in, drill on an angle so the gas comes out more smoothly

Just be careful with using stoves like this in doors , there is a possiblity of starting a fire inside your house ( donot ask HOW I know this ) , and maybe your insurance company will not payout ?

Anyway risky either way IF something goes wrong , I have used the meths cookers , and they are not bad , however they are ON or OFF , no real smimmer control , they ARE however simple & robust .

I use a kiwi disposals swiss stove its a good little unit

Here a collection of stoves that I've built over the past week all thanks to you Blue Arrow. First ones on the left progressing to the most recent on the right.

Attachment 35964

Now do a boil off!

NINE stoves?!? Awesome work buddy.

Which one is the best/favourite @B_man ?

Attachment 35975Attachment 35976Attachment 35977

I have the Esbit Titainium meths cooker setup, was an impulse buy at a clearout sale, normally use hexi, have done for the last 30yrs - the burner full holds enough meths to bring 7 x 250mls to a rolling boil, the first 250mls water boil takes 8mins as the fuel load is slow to heat, after that a 250ml water (that's a coffee mug full) takes 4.5mins. If it were for heating to brew temp, not boil, would likely do 11-12 brews. All up weight with a full fuel load is 480gms

These setups are fine in the garage playing, but in the real world these stove types a just way too sensitive to the mildest wind, offered to send it to a forum member so he could try one built to a commercial standard and get a feel for how they actually fare against usefull cooker/boil systems, but he didn't seem keen, think he sussed they aren't much more than a toy.

Couple of weeks ago, my boy had enough of my (apparently) stone age habits and gave me a Jetboil setup and hid my hexi cooker so I had to take this new fangled thing up the hill (cause I like my brews!), well fuck me! good bit of kit, pleased he has his own, cause he ain't getting this one any time soon. Still gonna carry hexi though, cause you just never know ( and hexi tv is a relaxing thing to watch!)

as for the can stoves, I found that the smaller the holes the better the "jet" and faster boiling/cooking.