Tea light cup warmer

It does happen quite often that we forget time while working, while reading or while playing a game. You have a nice cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate to drink and suddenly you got a cold drink in your hands! The Cup Warmer provides a warm drink even when you are busy for hours. You simply put the cup or mug on the plate heated by a tea-light and your coffee, tea or hot chocolate stays nice and warm.

The Cup Warmer is easy to make and costs less than 10 $.

Step 1: Materials and tools

 

Materials needed:

• Wooden board (27 mm thick)
• Aluminum rod (12 mm thick)
• Aluminum plate (10 mm thick)
• Four machine screws 4 mm

Tools needed:

• Screw driver
• Drill
• Drill bit (3,5 mm, 12 mm, 39 mm)
• Sanding paper
• Bee wax
• Jig saw

Comments

[lime3D]

Nice. I read the comments, and wouldn't change a thing. Good job.

[idkwtf]

I went to lowes and home depot and could not find any aluminum plates or anything to cut it from. where did you get yours and where can i get one?

[HHarry]

Try to find a shop where they sell steel for welding, the shop where i go to is "american legerstock" but i don't think you have them in your area. If you cant find a local shop you could order the aluminum online.
If you can't find anything, let me know, i can ship it to you.

http://www.metalsdepot.com/

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=60&step=2&top_cat=60

http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/catalog/ALUMINUM/PLATE

http://www.discountsteel.com/items/Aluminum_Bar_Structural_Sheet_Plate_Tube_Pipe.cfm

[idkwtf]

thank your for the reply it is much appreciated. all i need to know now is which type of aluminum is best for this application? 2024, 5052, 6061, 7075, Cast? which did you use?

[lime3D]

ANY grade would work the same. The different grades effect machinability and strength, not thermal properties.

[HHarry]

I honestly have no idea which type i used (the commonly used type?). The following website can help you decide which type to use. Feel free to ask any other questions.
http://www.metalreference.com/INFO_Aluminum.html

[idkwtf]

Thank you very much for all your help, i have decided to go with 6061-T6 1/4" thick 4"x4". I have one last question(hopefully). Would it be a fire hazard if instead of using aluminum rod pieces could I use wood support the plate? Is that why you use the beeswax?

[HHarry]

Personally i wouldn't use wood support, it just looks too dangerous. I used the beeswax just because i have plenty at home. You can use other finishes, just something to take care of the wood and make the grain pop. Do not use varnish because it can potentially deform and bubble by the heat.

[tylerpienta]

couple questions
how long does it take for the aluminum to heat up?
and on a scale of 1-10 1 being ice cold and 10 being just from the coffee maker how hot does it keep the drink?

[SIRJAMES09]

Q: did you heat up the bees wax then brush it on the wood?

Or did you soak the wood in the bees wax?

How exactly did you wax the board? *curious*

[Skymeat]

I've made a really nice finish with Beeswax, Turpentine, and linseed oil. It comes out sweet and piny. Also you can apply it at room temp. A little goes a long way, I have a dozen baby food jars of it sitting around here.

[HHarry]

I used liquid beeswax. Apply to surface with soft cloth and rub in circular motion. Leave for 15 minutes and then wipe off with clean cloth. If you don't have liquid beeswax follow Broom his explanation.

[Broom]

Don't know how the author does it, but both methods work. Also: blowing with heat gun (carefully, so you don't scorch it), then rubbing with wax. Or warming the wood in the oven at low temp (170-200F).

The only problem is a residual "scum" layer of wax. Heating the wood back up again beyond wax' melting point will help the wood suck up the excess - or you can wipe it off easier then.

[farmsteader]

Ok , if i get my Forge working, what temp can i burn some beer cans to mold a plate for this ? Just a thought.

[SIRJAMES09]

aluminum melts at about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. this I know because I used to work in a steel mill

[farmsteader]

THanks SirJAmes09, will have to look into it, wanted to use a Rocket Stove type Forge, or propane .

[SIRJAMES09]

not a problem Sir. :)

Any time.

[daveand5]

just a quick note to let you all know, a 6"x10"x1/4" aluminum plate with small feet that provide about 1/2" clearance from counter top will defrost frozen meat in about 1/2 hour.
So this is a good idea for a warmer, just reversing the process. Aluminum has terrific heat transfer ability, far out stripping steel. But if you want to hold the heat long after the flame is out, steel would be a better choice, but it will take longer to heat up.

[SIRJAMES09]

TY Sir.

you just shot a few holes in the arguments of the nay sayers. 8P

[jcreitz1]

You can buy aluminum bushings at the hardware store, and they aren't expensive. That would seem to be a lot easier than drilling holes through aluminum rod...

[HHarry]

Thanks for the tip, but drilling through the aluminum rod was actually easy, drilling through steel is a different story.

[SIRJAMES09]

AMEN!

Drilling through steel can be a pain to say the least....and can also be dangerous.

[jcreitz1]

It's not the aluminum part that makes it hard - aluminum is soft. I love working with it. But I don't have a drill press, and drilling a straight centered hole through a rod of anything (even balsa wood) is almost impossible. Just my 2 cents. If you have a good drill press, no reason not to do it your way, I suppose.

[SIRJAMES09]

here's an Instructable on making your own drill press:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Drill-press/

there are TONS more I have found through GOOGLE.COM....

Hope this helps. :)

[SIRJAMES09]

Q for JC.

can you build a drill press & then add whatever drill you have? I'm sure that there is an instructable on here somewhere that shows you how to build it...if not, try the net....I would REALLY be surprised if there was not something on the net about building one...

Not trying to tell you what to do with your life, just trying to help you out....

[jcreitz1]

Could do, sure, but in this particular instance, it's so much easier to buy aluminum bushings than to build my own drill press just so I can drill through aluminum rod. Rod or bushings, either way, it's a trip to the hardware store . . . just sayin.

[Remag1234]

This will stir some of you up a bit.
The eco, Green crowd should stop trying to save the planet. It's been around for millions of years and has done well. While the screwballs are whining China and India are polluting the air in the entire world so your effort to make tea candles etc. is outrageously dumb.
A small ceramic dish can hold the tea candle and eliminate the burn factor.

[SIRJAMES09]

Here's a thought.

instead of drilling INTO the wood for the candle, what about making the whole thing a wee taller;

then have a "holder" for the candle that sits above the wood just enough to let air flow underneath(to keep it cool enough so as to not start a fire).

The "holder" could be glass, metal, whatever...

Again, just a thought.

[HHarry]

I think the overall risk of potential fire and black smoke is to big.

[Broom]

I like this, because I've seen a wooden candle holder burn to a black stub when I left a candle in it unattended once. There was a brass "retainer" to keep the flame away from the wood... which clearly didn't work.

99.9% of the time, it's overkill. The rest of the time, it can kill.

[Ericc815]

Awesome idea... I will build using a non-flamable base with a right-size cutoff of metal pipe/tubing as a candle holder so the candle cannot slip off base.

[HHarry]

Thanks, show your result when it's ready.

[patmac]

If you are very eco responsible, you can even refill the tealights with leftover candle wax you may have around the house. This is a great idea, simple and useful. I wonder if I can make a slightly larger one for my teapot?

[HHarry]

Of course you can, but you will need two or three candles to maintain the heat.

[farmsteader]

Good idea, i wonder if the paraffin candle burning creates toxic fumes ? Wonder if a Rocket Coffee Heater is in order here ....

[HHarry]

Like "SIRJAMES09" says don't worry about the fumes.

[SIRJAMES09]

The paraffin could create a toxic smell if you had maybe 1 or 2 TONS of the stuff...
otherwise, no....no, 1 tea light candle nor the amount of paraffin will create a toxic smell...so worry not about that....

[codongolev]

it might be fun to try to capture maximum heat from a rocket engine. I'd probably start with a custom mug with a heatsink sticking into the coffee and a heatsink sticking down at the rocket. that way it would conduct it right into the coffee.

or a microwave. but that's not fun at all.

[linuxsapien]

Can I congratulate you on this. Its impressively simple and prob effective.

Still, watch those little fingers, or the side of your hands; I trust this would give quite a scolding.

Also, a note. I use something similar when I am camping, and the best thing I got was, a flat bottomed cup/mug. You may notice most cup/mugs have an inverted bottom.

From experience these are wonderful, and I also have owned a electrically powered one, but we all know candles will be the most efficient.

[HHarry]

Indeed, a flat bottomed cup would be ideal.