10 Minutes Alcohol Stove

So here you are 20 miles into the woods when you get up and are about to pack up and head on-wards. But you are unable to muster up the strength needed without that daily cup of "Joe", and don't have the time to wait for a good fire to get started then bring the water to a boil.

What you need is a small hiker friendly Type 1 phaser that melts rock in 5 seconds flat. Until then we can settle for an alcohol stove, that in this case runs for about 10 minutes per ounce of Denatured Alcohol and brought one cup of water to a rolling boil in 3.5 minutes. For this go around we are going to need:

• Two soda cans of your choosing
• One 1/4 in. Tee nut with a 1/4 x 3/4 in. Stainless Steel Collared Hex head Machine Screw. (Say that ten times)
• Sand paper ( I used 220 woodworking sandpaper)
• J.B. Weld
• Scissors
• Micro Drill set and something to use them with
• Sharpie
• Some extras things we will make as we go

Now before I get to far into this I want it to be clear that I have little experience with stove making and as a result haven't made any revolutionary design changes to the basic principal. Also if anyone here really follows stove making I drew info and elements from these two people as they were the basis of my research into the strangely addictive world of Alcohol Stove making.

• tetkoba's Alcohol Stove Addict
• Zen and the Art of the Alcohol Stove

And if any of you took the time to read this far you will know that near the end there will be a bonus instructable detailing a fuel storage container.

In order to start the stove drink at least two can of something. Just make sure they are the same size cans and possibly more than two in case you screw anything up. Easier than it sounds for us beginners.

To kick things off for the actual building sand the bottom half of one of the cans, this one will be used for the outside that we see. Place the can upright and measure 1 1/2 inches from the bottom in about three or four places. They will serve as guides for your Straight Line Device. There is a dark and secret order of people know as pipefitters and plumbers. They use techniques that are closely guarded to create perfect lines around the outside round objects. Today I reveal that method despite the risk.

They use a highly advance guide made from a long and flexible straight edge, that when the ends meet up and are evened out they will create the guide needed. We can recreate this by merely cutting a one inch strip from the top of your standard printer paper. Wrap the paper around your can and use it to create lines between your four marks. Now using the Scissors cut along that line.

Congratulations, you have just finished 33.333331% of your stove.

At this point if we tried using the stove we would only have a flaming cup that I would be afraid of knocking over. So lets create a lid that is a bit more controllable if anything happens. To do this take the second can and skip the sanding and go straight to the marking and cutting. For this half cut it at 1 1/4 inch from the bottom. Again leave the paint on this half it will help create a seal against unsightly leaking flames.

After cutting it out you need to make the jet holes that make this a stove and not a bomb. To make them use a pin vise and #76 drill bits with #77 for the joining jets. It's hard to explain in words so refer to the diagram as to the layout. (Pic. 3) More or less 5 evenly spaced holes to pas around the flame. More holes make it more reliable but eat more fuel.

The next thing you need for this half is somewhere to fill it up. That's why we needed the tee nut. In the center of the can make a hole just big enough to fit the tee nut and to be honest I don't know how big that is. That is why I used a reamer to slowly enlarge the hole until it was perfect. A guess would be around 5/16 hole but don't take that to court. Once the hole is big enough J.B. Weld the top and bottom of the nut and let dry over night. Don't forget to wipe off the excess to make it look nice.

Now we need to join the two halves together to make the final product. However you may have realized that the cans are the same size. Have no fear because we still have one can left in the 36 pack from this morning and will use this final one to stretch the sanded half to be just big enough. In fact we will still need a shim in order to get them to fit up.

Now that the bottom is stretched out, grab the top half and line it up. Slowly work it into the other can. You will probably need a shim made from another can. All the shim is actually is a guitar pick cut from the body of a unneeded can. Once together press until you have a 1/8 inch lip that runs all the way around the top.

At this point let the J.B. Weld dry if it isn't already. Then using a torch heat the lip you created briefly so that there is slight browning on the inside. This makes the metal keep the bend we are about to put in it. Once cooled use something like a metal rod to slowly work the lip down "flat" locking the two halve together. I say "Flat" because I like the look of the ridges going around but if you reduce the lip to around ~2mm it will become smooth and flat.

Now you can stand up and say, "I have a working stove and if that's wrong I don't want to be right!"

Continue for the bonus instructable.

(When writing this page my keyboard died and before I could replace the batteries it made 23 lines of "." marks) Ok so what's a stove with no fuel s lets make something to carry it. Think of this page as Intro two.

What is needed goes as follows:

• Empty spray paint can (Newer the better)
• 1/2 to 3/8 inch bushing
• 3/8 inch Street Elbow
• Hillman # 28 Compression spring
• Steel Rod (though even better would be a 3 inch long #6 SS screw with two lock nuts and a washer)
• Rubber stopper with a 1/2 inch top
• 1/8 inch drill bit

So this is all that is needed to create this.

So what I have found by standing in Hardware store and taking the caps off spray cans for 20 minutes is that Rustoleum spray cans are the best for this project. Mainly because the inner ring is perfect size the the bushing. Start by making sure there is no pressure in the can then bore out the metal in the inner ring on the top of the can. Now would be a good time to remove any paint left over in the can.

Alright this step is Simple enough, Fill inner ring with J.B. Weld and insert the Bushing. Allow to dry overnight.

This one will take a steady hand. The goal is to create a simple spring loaded valve for the fl to fl through. Start by taking the street elbow and carefully drilling a hole in it so that that a rod will pass through the bend and come out the middle of the male end.

Now I am going to recommend you change what I did here a bit. I did what I did because I didn't have anything to hold the elbow so I could make the hole bigger. If you can make the hole bigger slide a washer then the spring onto a 3 inch long #6 SS screw. Then slide the screw into the hole you just made. Take the Rubber stopper and drill a hole into it that is half the size of the screw, this will insure a good seal.

With the Stopper prepared press down on the screw a bit so that the spring has slight tension. While maintaining that tension work the Stopper onto the screw and into the opening on the elbow. Let the screw go and the stopper should be pulled up a bit creating a liquid tight seal there. Now take the locking nut and tighten it behind to stopper to prevent it from slipping off and losing the seal. Not that there is anything wrong with a hiking pack soaked in flammable liquids....

At this point all you have left is to screw the valve into the body and you are ready to go.

Sort of.

Things to remember is that we used run of the mill pipe threads and unless you Teflon Tape it will still leak through the threads. Also to fill it you will have to unscrew the valve so you have to re-tape it each time, but hey that's just part of getting ready for a trip out somewhere.

Hope you guys enjoy the Two in one feature this go around and if you have any suggestion let me know.