Mini Altoid Gas Grill

The title has it all, you've seen the original Altoids Grill that uses small pieces of charcoal or even alcohol. We made the first Butane Lighter Altoids Gas Grill...

Keep in mind that this is not really safe for actually cooking something on it, but you can heat up water, pans, etc.

We hope y'all enjoy this 'able Here is the video link http://blip.tv/file/3059844 just in case y'all don't want to take the time to read out the FULL Instructable

Enjoy :)

Step 1: Getting your supplies

You need to obtain to get the following items.

Most importantly you need to get an Altoids Box A large one from the classic Altoids, and an Altoids Mini box.

Next you need a coat hanger that has no plastic coating on the outside of the wires.

You need to obtain a hacked lighter, you can find out how to make one by watching our Hacked Lighter video on this link Hacked Lighter 

You also need a bullet plug, you can find them at Radio Shack

and several pieces of aluminum tape in order to wrap up the burner. 

and lastly you need to get a small coffee straw or a straw from the end of a compress air blower.

Comments

[Dr_Stupid]

this is not safe by any stretch of the imagination. vaporized aluminum is a risk, as is back flash into the butane/propane container. There are better ways to use an altoids tin, and this is not one of them.

[bluumax]

Totally not safe. Serious risk of injury.
Compressed flammable gas + ignorance = explosive event / bad outcome.
Better option use a can stove.

[jsettlemyre]

You do realize that butane is not self oxidized so it will not explode unless your lighter starts leaking out of the tank

[bluumax]

Read my posts. Gasoline is not flammable unless oxidized either, but add 12yr old and Bic, BOOM.

[funky monk]

You do realise that's just a myth, right?

[bluumax]

That a cloud of butane is explosive? YES
Kids screwing around with valves on lighters = bad idea.
If that thing is going (watch the lighter hack part) while Jr. has it full throttle and it comes apart - POOF!.
Think about kids -v- intelligence, they get enough ideas on their own, I know I was one.

Exploding light trick would be very hard to do with this though.

[funky monk]

Merely saying that flames backing up into aerosols and lighters is a myth. To be honest though, if a lighter blows up, the most you're likely to get is a missing chunk of hair.

[bluumax]

It's not the mythical exploding lighter, it's the fuel air bomb they created.

I can just see 2 12yr olds bent over this, using the biggest lighter they can find, when the valve they've almost completely unscrewed lets go while young Jimmy is holding a lit match.
BOOM!!

Don't believe me, go ask the staff at the local burn unit.

[steve-lane]

flames cannot back up into the lighter because it is not self oxidizing which means there is no oxygen in the lighter its self so if it started to back up it would go out.
trust me my dad used to be a welder he knew his stuff

[funky monk]

If you've ever seen a lighter that's been put in a fire, it's rather dissapointing. The amount of gas the hold is too little to do any sinificant damage.

[bluumax]

This is the difference,.
A lighter rapidly venting in a fire has immediate combustion.
A light that vents NEAR a combustion source creates a gaseous cloud that ignites on Jimmy's lit match.
The difference is whooosh versus BOOM!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9xCgNdZPKk

Never heard of the exploding house due to a gas leak?

[funky monk]

I've played with fuel/air mixutres untill the cows come home, unless you confine it in some way the amount of gas you have in a lighter will merely make a subtle whoomph.

[sypher]

Walking is dangerous when not properly executed... yes?
Mentioning an exotic HE fuel/are explosive in the same sentence as a butane mini stove it quite amusing... I am indeed amused...

[harlyquin]

I was thinking the same.
I was one of those kids who opened the valve all the way and lit the still very isolated sputters of liquid butane with another lighter. I and my friend screwed around with the little refill canisters til they were empty. we use to fill our mouths with gas by pressing the nozzle against our teeth. heads tilted back , a gentle blow and a lighter, woof. you get a little heat in your face. (keep in mind we hoolagins were attending a private school for the "gifted and talented.")
A little butane lighter is about as dangerous as a kitchen stove. it's not in huge quantities under pressure in the way oh... a full sized LP grill might be? I think something that size and fuel and pressure might pose the sort of threat you're talking about.

[KryptoTSD]

I suppose you're right about that...

[tr0gd0r]

What is the purpose of the bullet plug?

[SniperBEAST1515]

you could replace your burner with crushed charcoal, then cut a hole in the side, and put the airduster in that. squeeze the duster and... BOOM! A BLAST FURNACE!!! so you can smelt your food at 1200 degrees!!!!! haha

[joeydazombie]

when using the hacked lighter about how long does the butane last while in use???

[gunspyop2]

cool but be wornd that can cause the lighter to exsplod then you would be gfriling

[mdefilippis]

No.

[fsanchez1]

Aplaudo el ingenio humano aun y cuando no sea practico, ya que es ilógico desperdiciar el gas de un encendedor pudiendo hacer una fogata, pero me gustan todas las ideas que se puedan realizar con estas cajitas de Altoids.

[chunk_change]

I Love the idea here but i think i might have an improvement here. Now I didnt read all the posts but i read about 30 of them and what needs to be done is instead of such a large burner you would need a smaller burnner with charcol and and wood chips... this will allow you to ignight your charcol using the burner for an ammount of time and once your charcol is hot it will smolder and allow you to cook small amounts of food and stay lit in the wind. you could cut a vent hole in the base where the burner is to adjust for heat. just a thought. I will try to build this upgraded version and post an instructable. leme know what you think. and any problems with it, i literally thought about this for about 3 minutes

[gurnieBP]

why would you need this grill?it waste`s a lighter,puts out a very small energy level(heat),and is a bit heavy.The only practical use I can see for this grill is entertainment of little kids.If you need a small stove,juts make a super cat alcohol stove...

[ducktape100]

cool

[Alyakpink]

Sorry if somebody else has already written this comment, but have you heard of Maker Faire by any chance? Because I think you might really like it. I'm not going to bother explaining it in case you already know what it is. Very good instructable by the way!

[HM-Innovations]

Never heard of it :(

[Alyakpink]

Ok well I'm not sure if you'll like it or not (for i haven't met you) but here's the link to the mag website (theres a mag and a faire)

[Alyakpink]

oops forgot the link =) here tis: http://makerfaire.com/ hehe sry bout tht

[rhoaste]

I agree with the safety concerns here. Probably would have been better to use some kind of fire resistant sponge moistened with methylated spirits- like the burners in the Mamod model steam engines.

[pocdragon]

props to you!
this is sweet
make another one where you use a stick lighter

they have a built in electiric sparker and a good length of tubeing ment for butane

plus no matches to start it!

[the mechanical engineer]

I just have to comment on this to say it is pretty cool. This is also very safe. As long as you don't try to cook the hot dog like in the picture, you will not get hurt. the flame will not backflash into the lighter and explode, and even if it did, nothing would happen. a lighter in the fire is very dissapoiting. This is perfectly safe, a good idea, and I would recomend this to anyone. compleatly dissregard all other comments about this bieng dangerous. nice ible and 5*.

[darknet7]

Very Kool

[biffula]

mmmm. Nothing like a butane flavored wienie.

[Bobblank77]

Cool. Yes. Practical/useful. No. It's pretty cool but I don't think it's very useful because it wont last long enough to boil water. Also I hope you didn't eat that hot dog because butane leaves a black, sooty residue which would look like it burnt.

[Tumunga]

Burnt hotdogs are good, and good for ya! Plenty of natural anti-oxidents in the soot.

[Shiftlock]

I don't think he meant the hotdog would be burnt, he said "sooty residue." It's a greasy byproduct of the gas combustion. Not the same thing as a blackened hotdog on a real grill.

[rattyrain]

It's just carbon.

Hydrocarbon + Oxygen —> Carbon + H2O

[HM-Innovations]

yea dont eat anything that is cooked on this thing, while it might be a fun little project. Butane is toxic. The only reason I did that was for fun and giggles. It comes practical to boil some water, or keep around in your shop while torching stuff up (use it as an igniter instead of a sparker) or even Heat up hookah Coals etc.

[Tumunga]

oops. Too late. Should I drink some milk or something? :o)

[weaponscollector94]

seriously? well you posted this yesterday so you must still be alive...