Aluminum Can Stove

This project will show how to make a stove that uses isopropyl alcohol to burn. The higher percent your alcohol the better your results will be, feel free to take your own route and improve as you wish. We found our design to burn for over 15 minutes (before putting it out) and it was quite the large flame.

For this project you will need two aluminum cans, sand paper, a semi long drill bit, hammer, thumb tack, cotton balls, a drill, a razor blade/x-acto knife, isopropyl alcohol, and a pair of pliers.

Use the sand paper to sand down the sides of your can, this will make it look better and will also allow for a smoother fit when putting the two pieces together. You do not need to sand the entirety of the cans down.This is *optional* ,keep in mind that you don’t want to bend your cans and it is easy to do so. After this cut your cans in half with a razor blade. You will need about an inch and a half of workable material from the bottom of the can. Do this with both cans.

Take one of the two cans you have done step 1 with and use a pair of pliers to bend the outside of the aluminum inwards, this will allow you to fit the two cans together, you can also cut a small square out of the side of the can and bend the can into position. It should look like the one in the picture nice and flush.

Take your drill bit and hammer and punch a hole in the top of the two fitted cans. Then use your drill to make the hole larger and more of a circle shape.

Use a thumb tack to punch lots of holes around the outside of the can. These will allow more flame to come out and an overall better performance with a larger flame. Make sure not to make them to big or small as too big will burn too much alcohol and go out much to quickly to be usable, and too small will not allow enough oxygen for a flame to build. Use a drill and small drill bit to widen the holes if necessary.

Add lots of alcohol until it is filled and make a cotton ball “wick” by pulling a cotton ball in half and twisting it up. Make sure the wick is long enough or the alcohol will not reach it and the cotton will burn blocking off most of the oxygen and ruining the performance of your stove. Roast marshmallows or cook something with a pan if you want.