Hi! This instructable is about making alcohol primus stove of soda tin cans. It as easy to make as perfect it works! Super cheap, compact, nice-looking, this handmade alcohol stove will help you boil water or even cook some food in hike or when you are away from kitchen. It uses a volatile fuel like alcohol, gasoline, acetone and others, you just need to pour it in diy alcohol stove and heat stove's bottom with lighter, so fuel will vaporize and start flaming from holes, so that fuel consumption is really economical!

Hint: you can watch all process of making in the embedded video.

All you need:

2 tin cans for stove, +1 for cap, +1 for primus (a little bigger than last ones)
Scissors
Cotton pads
Fuel (alcohol, gasoline, acetone...)

Step 1: Top Part of Stove

I’m making a compact version of primus, but it can be made of cans with other sizes. Make a line across the can at about 15 mm from the bottom of it. Use scissors to cut the can via this line. It will be the upper part of stove.

Now we need to make tiny holes in it. Use a pointed nail if you don’t have an awl. Try to make them at the same distance from each other and with equal sizes.

Make a big hole in the center of this part of stove. This hole will be used for refueling, and also it serve as safety valve to prevent a primus from explosion.

Step 2: Bottom Part and Assembling

Make a bottom part of stove of another tin can. The height of this part is about 20 mm. Place some cotton pads inside it.

Now we need to put bottom part inside the upper part. And this operation is tricky. Use a little strip of tin can to make it easy.

Step 3: First Test

Fill the stove with an alcohol or another fuel. Cover a hole with some coin, and start to heat the bottom with lighter. Alcohol will start to vaporize and make a pressure inside the stove, and alcohol fume will start to come out of the holes and you will see a flame. And now stove doesn’t need an external source of heat, because it can heat itself.

Step 4: Making a Cap

You can make a cap for your stove of the bottom of another tin can and use some screw to make a tiny handle for it.

Step 5: Transforming Stove Into Primus

Then you need a tin can a little bigger than stove to make a stand and transform this little alcohol stove into primus. You can see that new can is slightly bigger than old one, they are almost identical. Make a mark on tin can on the height of stove, then another one at 5 mm higher, and then third mark – 2 times higher than 2 previous marks.

Next, make a line around can through all of 3 marks. Divide can into 6 segments with equal width and draw a straight lines along can.

Step 6: Cutting & Bending

Now you need to cut off the segments. Cut can between segments to make some petals. Like this. Make a big hole in the bottom of primus, it will be used for heating.Bend all petals inside the stove and press them all with pliers. Now primus is ready to cook some food.

Step 7: Cooking Time!!!

What about scrambled eggs? Pan is really hot now, and we can start cooking. It’s working perfectly, and now I can cook some food right at my workplace, or I can take it to the hike, and make some food without starting a camp fire.