Tin Can Sterno Stove

This is a soup can that I turned into a stove to use with the well known sterno gel fuel. It will heat up soup, tea, ravioli, hot chocolate, and a lot of those other canned/liquid goods. It can be used indoor and outdoor safely. This is my second instructable/ my dads first.

Step 1 Materials And Tools

You will need as follows:
-Can Openers (both like in the picture)
-Knife
-Screw
-Screw Drivers (one for the screw, and one for enlarging the holes)
-Pliers
-Large Can Of Soup
-Container That Can Fit All The Soup
-Sterno
-Coat Hanger

Comments

[Tim Temple]

To have full, one-way flow through a round hole, the minimum height above it would be 1/4 the minimum diameter of the hole. To allow for two-way flow (when using a Sterno can) the minimum height would be 1/2 the diameter of the hole.

Since the coffee can would be too hot to handle, toss the can lid in and poke it into place with the coat hanger. The fire will go out. Ten minutes later, you can take it all apart.

[chuckr44]

Holy crap! I just made one of these 2 weeks ago with the same design: coffee can with 2 thick wires at the top to hold the pan/cup. Except mine is wood powered and works great. I will test it camping in later October. For the wires I used 2 very long pegboard pegs (metal of course). It boiled 10 oz of water in less than 7 minutes. And you don't have to carry fuel if you use wood. (Unless you are in a wood free place like the desert.)

[flove101]

I think wood powered stoves are great (enough isn't said about the ambiance of fire), but I know that I am not proficient at lighting them with anything but tinder dry wood, something that is in short supply after anything more than light rain. and to carry lighter fluid to me defeats the purpose of carrying a wood stove.

[KittyF]

search Lint vasaline Fire starter. I saw that guy from Man, woman in the wild had some vasaline lint or vasaline and cotton balls in a foil packet and he used it to light the fire.

[mkslocomb]

Or look for Char Cloth (very easy to make) and some sort of spark maker. My blacksmith friend provided flint and steel (an old file).

[DanYHKim]

You might consider making a wire basket to lower the Sterno can into the stove, so your stove doesn't have to have the bottom removed. You can then light the Sterno and lower it into the can. Dunno if this is of any advantage, but it's another approach.

Thanks for the instructible. Last year we had a 3-day winter power outage, and I used Sterno to heat water. A small stove like this would have been handy.

[jshockley1]

Recommend adding some sort of insulated handle, maybe to the fork- that way you can't remove the can't and snuff the sterno when you're done.

[Johnny Bot]

Hey,  You can use almost any size can and custom fit it to your situation, and if you have a Handy Dandy P38 handy it will make it just like making a C-Rat stove, with out the triox tabs

[wolfen31]

It works pretty well.

[xboxteen01]

this is probably a dumb question, but if you were to burn wood in this kind of stove, would you need to cut a side door for the addition of fire wood or would you need to just slide the wood down the sides, in between the cup and stove wall.

[junits15]

Are you really an egale scout?  or is that just your picure?

[xboxteen01]

im an eagle scout with 1 bronze palm. class of 06

[junits15]

Thats awsome!

I hope that one day I can become an egale, right now im just a star scout though. 

[bylerfamily]

There is a site like http://www.ultimate-ultralight-backpacking.com/hobo-stove.html

[gamer]

no, the question isnt dumb. personally, if i were to make it into a wood burning stove, i would make more air holes, leave the bottom on, and make a door\hole to put the wood in. and maybe choose a larger can, like maybe a coffee can, or something. -gamer

[HeWantsRevenge]

absolutely rite

[tippymcstagger]

I agree with the larger can for wood. Even small sizes of coffee cans seem too small.

[ChaseReno]

As far as a survival type stove...we use small cans because they can be easily packed into your day pack. We put survival type stuff in the can as well...tea, broth, hook and line, matches etc. We put a small salsa or mushroom can inside the larger for our drinking cup (we use the skewer method just as you do to keep the can up off the flames). We also use wood to fire them. You can pick small sticks up as you walk along. In case of no dry tinder pack along a few tea light candles. We've roasted marshmallows over tea light candles. Not really a survival skill, but hey, who doesn't like roasted marshmallows?

[fungus amungus]

Nice and simple. Good job.

[gamer]

Thanks