Introduction: TIN CAN ALCOHOL STOVE

About: i am a photolab technician and an incurable packrat. i have made swords ,chainmail, crossbows.cameras,bike trailers,kayaks,guitars{slide and electric},knives,various film winders and vacum easels for the phot…

Hi Folks.

today were making a trangia alcohol stove(burner) knockoff.

it took about 2 hours to make(over 2 days). and cost about a dollars worth of jb weld epoxy.

all other items were scrounged /recycled .

before we start though there are a few warnings here.

if you make this you will be working with sharp metal and later alcohol fuels

DO NOT BURN ANYTHING EXCEPT ALCOHOL IN THIS.

if applicable get parental permission and or help.

Ok then on with the show.

Step 1: Stuff You Gonna Need.

to make this you will need

1. A Tuna fish can with the top removed using an opener that cuts the middle of the rim instead of the top or side.

2. The lid from the same tin. clean them both well or it will smell funny/nasty.

3. a Vienna sausage tin .well cleaned again( or a premium cat food can like IAMS in the small steel tins)

4. a empty spray can of foot powder (or you could use a 5.5 oz tomato paste can instead)

5. some aluminum muffler tape.

6. A handfull of fibreglass insulation ( carbon fibre felt if you can get it or cotton denim )

7. some jb weld high heat epoxy rated for 350 degrees F

8. a drill with a 1/16 bit

9. tinsnips

10. a strong punch to make holes in the tins

11.sandpaper and a file.

Step 2: Cuttin Time

first we need to cut the rim off of the sausage tin.

cut it right on the edge where the can sides go straight down from the top.

try to get this even as it will be resting on the inside of the burner.

then set the sausage tin upside down on the tuna lid(sorry i missed the pic for that)

center the tin then mark around it with a sharpie.

next punch a hole in the center of the tuna lid(i used a pocket knife for this) then using your tinsnips cut in a spiral

from the hole you just punched out to the edge of the line you marked.

test fit the sausage tin to see if it goes in (careful here sharp edges )

adjust with the file or a dremel until the can fits inside tightly.

and that`s the lower part of the burner finished.

Step 3: Burner Head

Now we make the center portion of the burner.

what you need are 16 little holes along the edge of the sausage tin.

take a drill and the smallest drill bit you have 1/16 being the largest you would use and make a hole in the edge of the sausage tin bottom right on that lip you see in the picture.

drill another on the opposite side of the tin (i marked with a sharpie before drilling any more)then split the distance between the holes/marks and make another .

do the opposite side again. you have 4 holes now one on each side of the tin continue putting a hole between each set of holes until you have 16 altogether.

take your small tin and cut the top off it (use the tomato paste tin the spray cans too risky to cut) using the same type of can opener as before.

cut the little tin off to the same height as the sausage tin and use the sharpie to mark the top of the sausage tin with cut edge of the small tin.

cut out the bottom of the sausage tin as you did the tuna can right up to the edge of the mark, fit the small tin so it goes in the sausage tin but the lip keeps it from passing through.

using your punch make 4 notches in the bottom edge of the small tin to allow fuel to flow.and make 3 rows of holes around the bottom sidewall of the sausage tin(see picture) this is also to allow fuel to move.

now press the little tin inside the sausage tin until the rim rests against the bottom of the sausage tin (im getting tired of typing sausage tin)

slide the tuna can lid over the sausage tin and slide up to the mark i forgot to mention earlier(again see picture) put the assembly in the tuna can and press it in so everything settles at its proper position.

and the metal work part is all done.

Step 4: Epoxy Time

Check everything and see that i all fits together tightly and level.

Take your jb weld epoxy and cut off a small piece and knead it together until it softens ,divide it in two.

you might want to have a bowl of water nearby to keep your fingers moist to keep it from stickimg to your fingers.

roll the larger bit between your hands until it forms into a thin string. when its long enough to go around the joint between the tuna lid and sausage tin use it to seal the seam.wet your fingers and smooth it out .depending on how smooth the hole in the tuna can lid is you can do this from the top or bottom.

do the same with the other bit of epoxy but it doesn`t need to be so long just enough to fill the seam where the small tin fits into the top of the sausage tin. smooth it out and be careful not to fill in the burner holes.

set the assembly aside for 24 hours for the epoxy to cure.

Step 5: Wicking Time

now the epoxy has cured we need to add a wick to draw the fuel up under the burner holes where it can properly vaporise.

for this we can use carbon fibre felt or fibreglass. you can also use heavy cotton canvas(denim) it seems to work well but may need replacing before the glass will.

i used fibreglass cause its cheap and i can actually buy it around here.

so as you see in picture 2 i bent the bottom of the central tin out so it wont catch on the glass.

(notice the lack of an elegant solution here) using a popsicle stick just cram strips of the fibreglass in the gap between the tins until the whole thing is full. (dont over stuff it though)

if we were using carbon fibre felt or canvas just make a roll of it that fits between the tins and slide it on in.

(hmm there is that elegant solution after all).

Now assemble the top onto the tuna tin and take a narrow strip of aluminum tape and seal the seam.

there its done.

Thanks for looking at thi... what? you want instructions on how to use it? Burn tests?ideas for pot stands?

oh alright next page please.

Step 6: Lets Boil Some Water Shall We?

The potstand you see here was from an instructable i did in 2007

https://www.instructables.com/id/cat-stove-pt2-wind...

its too large for best results with this type of burner but it was handy.

for the test i used 100 ml of fondue fuel its mostly methyl hydrate but seems to have a bit of water in it too.when it was first lit you could see the water condensing on the kettle bottom later this went away and the flames got a nice pretty blue.

do your first burn outdoors unless you have burnt the paint off your tins before you started.

light your burner with a lighter or spark from a striker or even a match .

once lit it bloomed (fire coming out of the little holes like a flower) within 20 seconds and was ready to go.

i then put the kettle on with 6 cups of water...6? first thing i learned is you cant do that much water at once with this thing.

second a very windy day is also right out,even though i had a windscreen for it the flames were too far from the pot bottom . long story short is it didnt quite boil.

second burn was done with another tuna tin under the burner to bring it up higher but it was very windy and still wouldnt boil well.

so whats needed is a better potstand and an indoor test. (can do now the paints all burnt off)

Step 7: A Better Potstand and Success

as it turns out the best height above the flames for this type of burner is between 1 and 2 inches.

commercial potstands are not likely to fit as the burners we have made are larger than a trangia.

i tried several alternatives such as coathanger wire frames ,fondue burner stands and a pot. but this is the winner.

combining potstand and moderate wind protection the lowly tin can.

the first one is made from a rolled wafer tin and is a very tight fit on top of the burner, too tight really as you want to be able to lift it off to snuff the fire out. the second from a smaller condensed milk tin i believe.

first i cut the tins down to about 3 inches tall . i used my punch to make 16 or so air holes around the bottom part .

then about 1 inch from the top i cut 3 slots equidistant leaving about 3/4 inch in between to act as pillars.

then gently bend the metal above the slots inward to make a nice gentle curve careful sharp stuff until you smooth it off.

as you can see the milk tin did not curve gracefully, because it is corrugated it kinked rather than bent...still works tho

this stand will work with small pots/cups and if you balance it right even a kettle.

using this stand indoors i got 2 cups of water in a old boy scout pot to boil in 5:30 4 cups in the same pot took 11:20

it would take longer to do outdoors i expect but winter is upon us and i aint goin out there for a while.

Step 8: A Few Variations and Notes

here are a few different designs i messed with before i got it right.

1.on the left in picture 1 you see one made using a spray can top and a rolled popcan side as the burner top.

con - hard to light it needed to have another tin mounted beneath and be preheated.fail

pro - it burned well once going working about as well as the trangia knock off

2. next is an enlarged model of the fancy feast stove (see hiram cooks channel on you tube to see it in action) i may make a an instructable on making one next time im bored it is so simple it wont take long.

i actually like this one a lot and used it to boil the water for dishes while i was cooking breakfast on my coleman stove this summer

con - its hard to put it out once its going and if you forget to put the vent hole in it yer gonna burn down the forest.

pro - it has no trouble boiling 6 cups of water in my kettle

3. another spray can top this one was from the foot spray can used to make the first one .. fail also

4. our champion{tho why i have it resting on another can i cant say}

in picture two is the enlarged fancy feast stove

it is its own potstand so careful balance is required when using a big pot or kettle ,the hole you see near the rim is a must otherwise it will overflow the fuel and cause a big fireball.

picture 3,4 and 5 are of another burner i made this afternoon ( dec 2 ) to test out the denim and iams pet food tin.

you can see the 5 basic components laid out before assembly and all cans have been preburnt with a propane torch(except the bottom tin) it is alot easier to get the doubled and rolled denim canvas into the gap than fibreglass and although it scorched a bit it will work for a long time and be easily replaced.

an unexpected benefit to using the iams catfood tin{the kind with the pull off top} beside happy fat kittys is the lid from a small rolled wafer tin IE.. royal dansk or pirouline fits snugly enough to use as a snuffer cap but sadly not snugly enough to enable you to carry it with any fuel insude.

ok so thats it im done i may have a few things left out but i cant hold this back any longer.

if you have any questions or corrections let me know.

tootles all

lenny