I saw the absolute neatest stove today. One of my students who is also president of the school backpacking club, showed me a cooking stove he made out of two tin cans. Maybe some of you have seen something similar. It really is spiffy. He plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail this summer and use only this stove. He burns alcohol in the stove.
I will try to describe it to you.
There are two cans, one slightly larger than the other. The large can has the top removed and a hole cut in the bottom and a church key was used to ventilate it along the sides. These church key cuts force metal to go inward, and the tension in these metal cuts is then used to hold the small can in place, inside the big can.
The small can also has its top removed and sits right side up inside the inverted large can, and is held in place by the church key cuts as described above. There is some space left between the top of the small can and the bottom of the large can.
Inside the small can, some insulation is placed around the edge and held in place by some wire screen. Not sure what insulation he used here. Something he scrounged, he said. It would have to be some kind of inflammable insulation.
The thing is an alcohol burner. You put the alcohol in the small can and light it and you have a cook stove. The flames shoot out the hole that was cut in the bottom of the large can.
My student uses some hardware cloth (screen) to go around the stove on the outside. The screen is free standing, a little taller than the stove, and is used to hold the cooking pot over the stove.
For small cooking chores, my student claims that this works like a charm and doesn't use a lot of fuel. His cooking pot is thin titanium and heats up rapidly.
I haven't seen it in action but I'm already looking for cans to build one for myself. This looks like a fun project and CHEAP.
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Hoodoo
No, I do not weep at the world--I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.
Zora Neale Hurston
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Lao Tsu
I will try to describe it to you.
There are two cans, one slightly larger than the other. The large can has the top removed and a hole cut in the bottom and a church key was used to ventilate it along the sides. These church key cuts force metal to go inward, and the tension in these metal cuts is then used to hold the small can in place, inside the big can.
The small can also has its top removed and sits right side up inside the inverted large can, and is held in place by the church key cuts as described above. There is some space left between the top of the small can and the bottom of the large can.
Inside the small can, some insulation is placed around the edge and held in place by some wire screen. Not sure what insulation he used here. Something he scrounged, he said. It would have to be some kind of inflammable insulation.
The thing is an alcohol burner. You put the alcohol in the small can and light it and you have a cook stove. The flames shoot out the hole that was cut in the bottom of the large can.
My student uses some hardware cloth (screen) to go around the stove on the outside. The screen is free standing, a little taller than the stove, and is used to hold the cooking pot over the stove.
For small cooking chores, my student claims that this works like a charm and doesn't use a lot of fuel. His cooking pot is thin titanium and heats up rapidly.
I haven't seen it in action but I'm already looking for cans to build one for myself. This looks like a fun project and CHEAP.
------------------
Hoodoo
No, I do not weep at the world--I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.
Zora Neale Hurston
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Lao Tsu
