Making a Pop Can Meths Stove & Hobo Stove

[Ashley Cawley]

Here is an article to show you how to make a Meths Stove out of old pop-cans: http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/kit/reviews/how-to-make-a-pop-can-meths-stove.html (http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/kit/reviews/how-to-make-a-pop-can-meths-stove.html)

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/images/articles/pop-can-stove/P1018575%20(Custom).jpg

Here is a video of Justin's Hobo Stove & Pop Can Meths Burner:


http://vimeo.com/9807635

[JEEP]

I have got to try this soon :D

[MikeWilkinson]

Also try looking at this

http://http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/ (http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/)

Sometimes need to prime it, but the pressurised action gives a really good hot jet, Can boil Pint of water in about 5-8 mins with just 20ml of alcohol.

I use a 5p coin rather than a penny, Ifound the UK penny a little to heavy for pressure regulation. The heavier the coin, the bigger the gas jets though.

[Ashley Cawley]

Interesting, thanks for sharing Mike.

[Kieran]

Also try looking at this

http://http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/ (http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/)

Sometimes need to prime it, but the pressurised action gives a really good hot jet, Can boil Pint of water in about 5-8 mins with just 20ml of alcohol.
Thats fairly similar to the one i made :) With the idea of using a penny. :P

I use a 5p coin rather than a penny, Ifound the UK penny a little to heavy for pressure regulation. The heavier the coin, the bigger the gas jets though.

This is similar to the one is made :) with a coin ontop.

[Howard]

I really like your brew kit leather sack. I need something like that too cause i am using a plastic bag which is neither looking good nor a very "green" solution.

I like hobo stoves but i found that a woodgas burning stoves works even better than a normal hobo stove. The kit i am using is a DIY woodgas hobo stove with a DIY can stove i altered a little bit (inspired by the best stove builder i know of, Tinny from Minibull Design).
At first i wanted to buy a Bushbuddy or Bushcooker and just try the DIY woodgas thing before to see if it fits my needs but when i finaly build one myself it worked so good i don't even need to spend 100 bucks for the same thing just a little bit more shiny.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3985/83064442.jpg
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/7617/methv.jpg

[young woodie]

loving teh stoves really cool

[Kieran]

I really like your brew kit leather sack. I need something like that too cause i am using a plastic bag which is neither looking good nor a very "green" solution.

I like hobo stoves but i found that a woodgas burning stoves works even better than a normal hobo stove. The kit i am using is a DIY woodgas hobo stove with a DIY can stove i altered a little bit (inspired by the best stove builder i know of, Tinny from Minibull Design).
At first i wanted to buy a Bushbuddy or Bushcooker and just try the DIY woodgas thing before to see if it fits my needs but when i finaly build one myself it worked so good i don't even need to spend 100 bucks for the same thing just a little bit more shiny.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3985/83064442.jpg
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/7617/methv.jpg

That stove looks pretty awesome!!!

[Mouldsy]

I have made a few of these and they are brilliant wee stoves and easy to make if your on a budget, I didn't like using hexy blocks or the gel jobbies you get for the crusader cooking unit so I made a stove out of a red bull tin that fits nicely with the cooking unit.

[Ashley Cawley]

...At first i wanted to buy a Bushbuddy or Bushcooker and just try the DIY woodgas thing before to see if it fits my needs but when i finaly build one myself it worked so good i don't even need to spend 100 bucks for the same thing just a little bit more shiny..That's great to hear! I've borrowed the Bushbuddy and can say that I loved it, it is a efficient and light. Although I couldn't bring myself to pay that much.

I do love the idea of making your own gasification stove and that is something I'll have to try, looks like you've done a good job there Howard. I would love to see a shot of each stove fire'd up if you've got one?

[Shewie]

Just made a couple of alcohol stoves this morning, I've been meaning to try one for ages too.

I use two coke canes and ended up with something around 50mm high. I remembered something I read on the Zen site about using an unopened can to make the bottom part open up a touch, it worked a treat on my second attempt. The first one split as I pushed it down, with second one I gave it a bit of veg oil and it went on much easier.
I don't have any of that ally tape yet but I still tried it out in the garden. I half filled it with meths and popped it in a hobbo to act as a windbreak, sparked it up and then popped my mug on. It took about seven minutes to get a rolling boil, I ran in the house and made our lass a brew :), back outside with another mug full and boiled that up in the same time. I left it to burn out to see how long it would run for, it took half an hour from lighting so I'm dead pleased with that.

Gonna make some more now :)

[Ashley Cawley]

Half an hour? Wow that's good, any chance you could post up a pic of the design you've put together?

[Shewie]

Just charging up my camera batteries Ash

It's identical to the one in your link except a little taller, and it's Coke not Pepsi :)

[TinkyPete]

Here are another couple of sites that have inspired me with my pop can stoves hope these help people:

http://zenstoves.net/
http://users.sisqtel.net/losthiker/pikastove/

The Zen stove site even has printable plans and alot of information on meths burners and cookers

[Shewie]

These are what I've knocked up today, gonna try some more tomorrow too :)

Left to right ...

First attempt (crushed while putting together so didn't bother drilling it), Second effort - Stands about 50mm high (the purple line shows where I filled it to and got the half hour burn time), an attempt at a pressurised version - Lyons golden syrup lid for priming pan (the fire cement holding the nut inside failed after the first burn :()

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd291/Shewie01/DSC02310.jpg

All good learning though

[Martin]

I love those Rich. Need to have another look to see if I can find mine in the garage. Great work there though, and inspiring to have a go at one of the pressurised ones.

Martin

[Ashley Cawley]

Thanks for sharing that with us Shewie, they're looking good .... right so it's Coke not Pepsi! :p

[leon-1]

Thanks for sharing that with us Shewie, they're looking good .... right so it's Coke not Pepsi! :p

Nope it's red rooster not red bull.

The first one of these I made was a pepsi can stove (they were still made from steel), since then I have used all sorts. The Mini Photon Stove has a base made from a tin of tomato puree can and the top from a generic energy drink can (Red Rooster, Red Bull or the like).

[MikeWilkinson]

Hi Shewie,

Those stoves are looking good my friend, I'll have to dig the camera out and get some photo's of my penny stove. You don't have to worry about the screw failing or the can exploding with the pressure build up. If it gets too much the penny lifts and you get a central burn until the pressure drops back down - see the link to the penny stove on the first page, nice and simple.

Here is the photos added. The last two are the differences between correct priming and over priming.

97989996100

[Shewie]

Hi Shewie,

Those stoves are looking good my friend, I'll have to dig the camera out and get some photo's of my penny stove. You don't have to worry about the screw failing or the can exploding with the pressure build up. If it gets too much the penny lifts and you get a central burn until the pressure drops back down - see the link to the penny stove on the first page, nice and simple.

Cheers for that Mike

I got chatting to some of the guys on the hammock forums last night and one of them suggested at least three small holes in the centre as opposed to one big one,no need for a coin either apparently. I'm going to give one a go this evening and see how it works.

[MikeWilkinson]

I suggets the coin, as with just the holes you always get a centre burn. And just in case the flame gets pulled into the can - Bang.

[Shewie]

Just finished tinkering with another one ...

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd291/Shewie01/DSC02313.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd291/Shewie01/DSC02316.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd291/Shewie01/DSC02314.jpg

I think I'm addicted

[Kieran]

I suggets the coin, as with just the holes you always get a centre burn. And just in case the flame gets pulled into the can - Bang.

Is it possible that if the flame gets pulled inside the can, it will explode?

[MikeWilkinson]

It has been known. if the centre hole is large enough to allow the alcohol to ignite within the stove, but not large enough to allow the pressure out, then they can pop! However It has never happened to me in all my experimentation. But it is worth keeping in mind.

[Kieran]

It has been known. if the centre hole is large enough to allow the alcohol to ignite within the stove, but not large enough to allow the pressure out, then they can pop! However It has never happened to me in all my experimentation. But it is worth keeping in mind.
Will the penny stop it?

[MikeWilkinson]

Yeah, the penny basically acts as a valve. As the alcohol boils, the pressure lifts the penny and gas burns in the centre of the stove, as the pressure reduces, the penny drops and seals the unit, preventing the flame entering the stove when there is little or no fuel left or when the stove is first lit.

[paul standley]

Here's a quick view of one of my DIY penny stove with my EDC mini-cook system.

Basically, the system comprises a cooking pot which is a stainless steel tea caddy and lid I had lying around and holds a pint of water and it's coupled with a side burner coke can penny stove. The stove holds around 2 oz of meths ( a little larger than most). It will boil 1 pint in around 12 minutes using 1 oz of fuel and hold that boil for 3/5 minutes. With 2 0z of fuel it becomes a long burner and is pretty versatile.

System also contains a small fabric water filter, a few chlorine water purification tablets, aluminium foil wind shield, foil ground shield, a 2 oz fuel bottle, some ezbit style fuel tablets, a tea light candle, small lighter, little 3 sided folding pot stand for the ezbit & the tea light.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90qxfhDgH-c

One Ezbit or the tea light can be used for simmering or the ezbit's can be used all together for boiling water so the kit (as shown) gives me 3 full boils of a pint each time.

The whole lot stows away inside the caddy pot which I've shown along side a normal coke can for a size comparison. Caddy is 4 inches (100mm) diameter.

OK, it's not pretty or hi-tech but it works, it's light, I got a kick out of making it and it was sooo.. cheap...!

Could be a little lighter and might boil a little faster with an aluminum pot instead of stainless steel so there is room for further improvement.

I'm going to make a foil/bubble-wrap pot cozy and I'm looking for a 4.5 or 5 inch (125mm) tin can that I can make into a hobo wood burning stove that I can fit my caddy system into and then I've got all bases covered in one tight package...!

[OKBushcraft]

I enjoy this thread. I made a couple last year but was doing something wrong. This encourages me to try again. Thanks, John.

[karl82]

i bought the bushbuddy ultra had to wait 3 weeks for it when it finaly got here and i fired it up i was realy impressed with how efficient and light it was. i bought it coz i wanted the lighest wood burning stove i could get.

[Bush_Men]

Made a Red Bull 5 cent (not penny:p) stove. Here it is:

http://c6.quickcachr.fotos.sapo.pt/i/Ba20578d3/7746061_0JqrK.jpeg

at the 9 minutes mark with 30ml of 96% alcohol, it was boiling 500ml of water (and probably if I stopped opening the lid constantly to see how it was going it would started to boil earlier)
http://c8.quickcachr.fotos.sapo.pt/i/B750588a3/7746093_PpaSc.jpeg

It ran out of fuel shortly after the 20 minute mark.

It was my first attempt and I've yet to solve one little problem in the primming, but i'm relatively happy with my efforts for now.

[paul standley]

Hi Bush_men - A couple of ideas for priming in case you hadn't seen them or thought of them yet...

- Put your stove on a small piece of aluminium foil (say 75mm square) turn the edges up just couple of mm and put a few drops of fuel in the foil "priming tray" and light that.

- Wrap a piece of wicking material (glass fibre or carbon felt) about 8/10 mm wide aroung the lower part of the stove like a belt and put fuel on that and light that.

either priming options work well.

Paul.

[Bush_Men]

Paul, earlier I solved the problem with the first option you gave, but it felt a bit strange set that thing on fire...If I carry the stove to the outdoors I think I don't feel confortable doing that even with the aluminium foil specially when the windspeed rises.

[paul standley]

Paul, earlier I solved the problem with the first option you gave, but it felt a bit strange set that thing on fire...If I carry the stove to the outdoors I think I don't feel comfortable doing that even with the aluminum foil specially when the windspeed rises.

Bush_men - either option for priming is a standard method for pressurised alcohol can stoves if fact, because of the physics, it's actually a need.

To make pressurised can stoves work it is necessary to increase the temperature of the alcohol inside the stove so that it vaporises and builds up a little pressure inside to force the vapour out of the jet holes where it will ignite and burn. Once burning, the heat from the jets heats up the stove and keeps the fuel vapourising and keeps the stove running.

There are other types of pressurised alcohol can stoves (open pot types) where you ignite the fuel in the pot and this heats the can stove (from the inside) but what you have made is a classic "penny" stove and so priming is done from the outside.

To prime it using either of the methods I describe, you only need a few drops, maybe 2ml only so priming will only last a few seconds (approx 10 sec) and this is enough to cause the stove to bloom (gas jets ignite) and away you go.

You can help it along by igniting the primer and then putting a foil windscreen around the stove until it blooms. Most of these stove types when used in the field work better with a windscreen so try that and see how it goes :-)

Paul.

[Roadkillphil]

This is quite an inspiring thread. I love tinkering and makin stuff out of other peoples crap. Went scavenging round a mates last night for cans and tins, got a skivey day at work today so I'm gonna try a few designs from this thread.

[Swamprat]

Made my first stove today, then realized we did not have any alcohol to test it out. Heading to the store to pick up some stuff and grab some alcohol. Not sure if they sell this meths stuff that you guys talk about, but I will see what I can find. Just built a basic one for now, will try the penny type later.

[Realbark]

Ive made a couple of these and bought one as well. The priming on these is the issue - they dont like cold temps and can use a lot of fuel just to prime properly. Three minute plus to prime against about a minute on a Trangia. I only really play with mine occasionally and use a purpose built stove for my field cooking. IMO they are only an emergency cooker - not a day to day one. As far as carrying the kit - i use the 58 webbing ammo pouches - rolled into my tarp they are robust and flexible to pack on the bike.

[Fletching]

Ive made a couple of these and bought one as well. The priming on these is the issue - they dont like cold temps and can use a lot of fuel just to prime properly. Three minute plus to prime against about a minute on a Trangia. I only really play with mine occasionally and use a purpose built stove for my field cooking. IMO they are only an emergency cooker - not a day to day one. As far as carrying the kit - i use the 58 webbing ammo pouches - rolled into my tarp they are robust and flexible to pack on the bike.

I'm with you Realbark, they are an emergency cooker - albeit an absolute essential - I don't want to burn meths but they are part of a proven (survival) BC kit, and it's good to have an idea of the variations out there. Personally, I'm not into individual stove 'performance' for these type of burners. I used to use the Trangias but now use a Tatonka as my 'no dry twigs to be found' burner.

Steve

[Swamprat]

Well, learned something new today. Went out and picked up some regular isopropyl alcohol. As I'm sure most of you guys are aware, this type of alcohol does not work in a jetted stove like this. After thirty min. of aggravation I turned to the net to figure out why it would not burn through the jets. Come to find out, isopropyl is 70% water and does not get hot enough to get a proper burn(though I read that it does work fine for an open burner setup). So soon as I can I will pick up some denatured alcohol and try that.

[paul standley]

Like everything else in life, it's different strokes for different folks...!

If you like to tinker then DIY meths and wood stoves can easily over-take you and I know, I've made loads and spent more time on it than is healthy for me but I know that given a drop of alcohol or some hand gel and a tin can then I'm sorted for a way to boil water efficiently so it's given me a good understanding of the topic.

That said, I am looking at the Tatonka alcohol stoves, they look pretty good although on the face of it, they are slow but I'm going to get one to try in my kit. The main advantage I see with the Trangia's and Tatonka's is that they have screw down sealed lids that retain the fuel and this isn't easy to replicated in DIY stoves....

Paul.

[OKBushcraft]

Yeah it isn't in our best interest here in States going around asking for "meths" Law will come down hard on the misunderstanding. Meths here sounds too much like Meth-short for Methanphetamine- a drug made out of chems from the hardware, drug and grocery stores.

Swamprat, Heat will work but a can of Denatured Alchohol from Wally World will work. It is cheaper there than Home Depot I have used it and even use it in my Trangia stove.

[Swamprat]

Thanks OKBushcraft. Have to pick some up next time I'm in town. And yeah, have to be careful about asking around for meth's on this side of the pond.

[OKBushcraft]

Thanks OKBushcraft. Have to pick some up next time I'm in town. And yeah, have to be careful about asking around for meth's on this side of the pond.

The denatured alchohol is what I prefer. I also prefer my trangia Swede Mil Surplus stove over my homemade ones. With a double refill on the trangia I can get in excess of 20 mins cook time. Fill it up, let it sit for about 5 minutes allowing the wick in the walls to soak up the alchohol and then refill and light. Not sure if that is correct, the 1965 Swede stove did not come with any instructions. Actually it is made by Svea-another military contractor.

[Roadkillphil]

Made one

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5352112426_7f4975d05b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7904270@N07/5352112426/)

And an experimental brew

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/5352112424_3f4937f124.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7904270@N07/5352112424/)

[joshua]

dude i has a stove it is cheap it is bad-ass it is



HEXI

[kINGPIN]

Made one

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5352112426_7f4975d05b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7904270@N07/5352112426/)

And an experimental brew

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/5352112424_3f4937f124.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7904270@N07/5352112424/)

That looks really good, about time I made one!

[OKBushcraft]

Looks like it is working good to me. My 1st one did not come out so good.

[basicbushcraft]

working well that im going get round to making mine this week sometime when girlfriend goes away to her mam's lol

[chris_lothian]

Fantastic thread, i've gotta make me one of these. Thanks for all the info guys.

[cuppa joe]

put the jet holes 1 cm down the side and you can just sit the pot on the burner....with no stand......i fill mine with toilet roll during the build process so if you knock it over all the meths doesn't spill out.http://back2dabike.wordpress.com/my-rides/tour-of-oahu/homemade-stove/

[Juanodaxis]

Nice. I think I'll be trying to make one of this tomorrow.
Cuppa Joe, the instructions in that link are really good and the pictures are nice and clear. Nice one.

[Kieran]

great video's Ash!
Seen you on wikipedia, wrastlin!

[tent peg]

sorry Tapatalk gone mental posting in random threads...

[DuxDawg]

A few interesting vids:

http://youtu.be/v5u-GmutJns

http://youtu.be/JExr3FY5crg

http://youtu.be/avHdhuSMOIY

Cheers.